Shoplifters step up a notch

By KELLY MAKIHA in Rotorua
Rotorua shoplifters are becoming more aggressive and brazen as their reasons for thieving intensify.

Retailers say teams of shoplifters are now carrying lists from gang members or are stealing to supplement their drug or gambling habits.

Rotorua police say it's not uncommon for mum, dad and the kids to spend their family time at the weekends shoplifting.

Others are so cocky, they walk into shops and walk out with king-size beds and 42-inch plasma televisions.

The Warehouse in Rotorua deals with at least one shoplifter a day.

Manager Jim McCall said while parents and grandparents teaching their children how to steal once shocked staff, it was no longer a rarity.

And although groups of girls aged between 12 and 16 were often a dead giveaway as potential shoplifters, Mr McCall said shoplifters were now from all walks of life.

He predicted the Rotorua and Manukau Warehouse stores were the worst hit in the country mainly because the stores were big and attracted criminals from neighbouring areas, such as Taupo, Whakatane and Tauranga.

"The shoplifting scene is changing.

"People are taking more desperate measures, whether it is to supply their needs or others."

Mr McCall said he had seen shoplifters carrying lists of items to steal and others that were so bold they tried stealing large items of furniture and televisions.

"One guy bought some brand new shoes, went outside in the wet and got them them all dirty. He wore them back in the store and put them in a box and helped himself to another pair and walked out wearing them."

Mr McCall said that in the past shoplifters accepted their fate once caught but nowadays they became aggressive, possibly because they were high on P or other drugs.

Retail Rotorua chairman Knocker Dean said that while stealing a $25 dress might not seem like a big deal to a young shoplifter, the store might only be making a $4 profit from each dress.

"That shopkeeper then has to sell five more dresses to make up for it.

"It's not worth claiming insurance but it's enough to be very harmful".

Mr Dean said the justice system also sent the wrong messages to young shoplifters by not imposing harsh sentences.

"It's the justice system that lets down shopkeepers. The offenders plead poverty when they are caught but they can afford to drink and smoke.

"Until we start getting real and making them pay back every cent, we will not get anywhere."

Rotorua police shoplifting liaison officer Christine Stewart said retailers met with police every Wednesday to discuss who the "hot" offenders were as well as the latest shoplifting trends.

"Sometimes there are whole families that do it.

"They will go into a shop as a group and send the least conspicuous member to distract the shopkeeper."

She said it was not uncommon for parents to teach their 12 and 13-year-olds the tricks of the trade.

While the actual figure shoplifters were walking away with is unknown, retailers predict it may be worse than they think.

The truant-free shopping zone instigated by the Rotorua District Council has helped curb teens from shoplifting and gives security officers a good reason to ask truants to leave.

The programme means children under 16 without parental or guardian supervision cannot enter shops that display the "truant-free zone" signs.

Police figures show shoplifting increases dramatically during school holidays, which was when the truant-free zones were not in place.

Council community safety projects officer Juanita Seymour said she encouraged more businesses to become truant-free shopping areas.

Posters and retailers' guides can be collected from the City Focus or the council offices.