Smash and Grab Thefts

Yesterday I watched some of Dr. Phil's show covering the spate of smash and grab thefts occurring in the U.S. The audience expressed shock and outrage at the scale and brazenness of the thefts, but after a while their sense of non-involvement and non-complicity made me stop watching. It felt like they were sitting in judgment -- Look at what others are doing. Isn't that appalling? We're not like that.

The deeper issue needs more discussion: the thefts are the symptom, not the problem. The problem is we've fed people for decades on the idea that money is king, showcasing the Kardashians as desirable, pasting advertising in every possible space, pushing for a robust economy over the health of the planet, rewarding dishonesty, feeding entitlement, and allowing the distance between the wealthy and the poor to widen. We've let poverty -- and price-gouging on essential medication -- continue, and we haven't addressed people's desperation. Add to that the fact that we've eroded people's trust in authority, in government, in the police, in educators, in sports and celebrity figures, in just about anyone they could hope to look up to. And then we're astounded when people apparently ignore all moral consideration and flaunt their thefts in others' faces. As a society, we've fed this. As a group we are collectively responsible. Because we've bought into that value system too. We have no right to sit back and look down our noses in disapproval at what's going on if we're feeding our own greed and not seeking equity for all.

That leads to the tandem issue: people wouldn't be stealing the merchandise if they couldn't sell it. Someone is buying it. 

I think what we're seeing is just a manifestation of the dichotomy of need and greed. You can't generalize that the thieves have one and the buyers have the other -- you'll find both motivations on each side. Some of the thieves might be desperate fathers trying to feed their children. Grandma may not be dressed in black swarming the malls, but her need for medication she can't afford may force her to buy off the black market, thus giving motivation to someone to essentially steal it for her. That desperation is a deeper problem that needs addressing. 

On the other hand, some of the thieves are just looking to make quick money, and as long as it is profitable for them, they'll continue to do it. It's the greed of the buyer, in that instance, that feeds the greed of the thief. If people would stop buying the stolen Vitton handbags on the black market, there would be little incentive for the hordes to steal them. No one seems to be talking about that aspect of it.

Do I think we'll stop need and greed in our society any time soon? No. Meanwhile, there are some short-term solutions stores could consider. 

One Band-aid that stores could apply would be to gate their entrances, and only allow a handful of customers into the store at a time. With a two-gate "airlock" type of set-up, it would be impossible for hordes of thieves to enter at once, and they could lock down (essentially trap) individual shoplifters between the gates until they gave back what they took. I suppose someone would complain that it was unlawful detainment, but do we really care? Even a single metal gate would help, but someone would have to be on duty there. You're still then left to determine what to do with the thief themselves, and it sounds like the law is pretty toothless. You may have to release them, but it would give you some control and at least you'd have a chance of getting your merchandise back.

Malls could also hire people to patrol the parking lots looking for cars without licence plates and immediately putting boots on them and impounding them/towing them away. If you use a car in the commission of a crime, can it be legally impounded? I don't know. But then the thief would come out of the mall laden with merchandise and couldn't drive away with it (plus there'd be the headache and cost of getting their car back out of the pound). No Uber driver would pick them up because they'd be abetting a crime and therefore an accomplice. And in possession of stolen goods, also a chargeable offence. (And yeah, why not charge the person with possession of stolen goods, rather than the crime of shoplifting, if that's the thing that's toothless?)

In the end, we can come up with a myriad of Band-aids and legal solutions, but until we address the dichotomy of poverty and greed, the related issues of racialization and corporate greed, and our own complicity in those, there will be no long-term fixes.