An Analysis of the Prosecution of Shoplifters

Abstract

This article examines the decisions to prosecute shoplifters by Canadian retail investigators. A hypothetical case method that permits a statistical simulation of an experimental design is used. The findings support recent research which indicates that both the value of the item and the age of the suspect are the most important predictors of investigators' decisions to prosecute. In addition, our results identify admission of the offense and the suspect's appearance as important predictors of these decisions. In general, characteristics of the offense rather than of the offender are found to be most important factors in the decision‐making process. Further, the results support the argument that investigators' decisions tend to maximize company profit. How‐ever, profit maximization is revealed as an unintended conse‐quence of these decisions.

Policing Young Offenders: What Role Discretion?

“…There are other financial disincentives too. Shop owners must consider the costs of attending court through time lost at work, as well as the value of the stolen items (Feuerverger & Shearing, 1982).…”

“…Clifford Shearing argued long ago that the use of police discretion is dependent upon the officer involved or situational variables (such as offence characteristics), or both (Shearing, 1981). This extends also to the decision to prosecute (Feuerverger & Shearing, 1982). Since then, much more research has focused upon police discretion and consequent decisionmaking (Alder, O'Connor, Warner, & White, 1992;Arcuri, Gunn, & Lester, 1979;Barry, 1993;Riksheim & Chermak, 1993;Wundersitz, 1996).…”

Private Security: Implications for Social Control

“…While the public police sometimes attempt such direction by establishing crime prevention squads and acting as consultants, private security personnel often mocked what they saw as presumptuous police officials who set themselves up as "crime prevention experts." Furthermore, because private security are usually the first to encounter a problem, they effectively direct the police by determining what will and what will not be brought to their attention (Black, 1980:52;Feuerverger and Shearing, 1982). On those occasions where the public police and private security work together--for example, police fraud squads with bank security personnel--it cannot be assumed that the public police play the leading role, either in terms of investigative expertise or in terms of direction of the investigation.…”

US Retail Store Detectives: An Analysis of Their Focus, Selection and Training

“…LP personnel are supposed to impact on loss by auditing compliance with LP procedures, creating LP awareness at all corporate Only rarely does the scholarly literature discuss store detectives, 9 and then usually only as a part of the research project and not as the subject of the study. One exception 10 analyses the decision processes of store agents regarding the sanctioning of apprehended store thieves. Another study 11 examines store detectives and their role in curbing juvenile theft.…”