'It costs nothing to look the other way. Food is essential': take down of shoplifter sparks debate

[Demovictory9]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/it-costs-nothing-to-look-the-other-way-food-is-essential-senior-citizen-takes-down-alleged-shoplifter-taking-groceries-at-walmart-sparking-debate/ar-AAVrQeb

‘It costs nothing to look the other way. Food is essential’: Senior citizen takes down alleged shoplifter taking groceries at Walmart, sparking debate

A video showing a senior citizen-aged woman successfully stopping a shoplifter at Walmart has garnered 7.3 million views and sparked a debate about the ethics of stopping shoplifters in its comments section.

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In the video, a man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and ski mask is pushing a full cart of what appear to be name-brand groceries when he is asked by the person filming if he is going to pay for it. He replies "yes" and keeps moving toward the door when he is stopped by an older woman who is about to cross the threshold of the sliding doors. As he attempts to push past her, she pulls his mask up, revealing his face. She and the person filming yank his cart back into the store.

Commenters are debating whether it is ethical to stop shoplifters who may not have money to pay for laundry detergent or other items that were in this man's cart.

"Society is a construct and since we can automate things eventually everything will be free," one commenter wrote. "Why should companies profit and poor people suffer?"

"Is mostly food I would’ve just let him leave," another commenter wrote. "Workers really out here doing the most for companies that will replace them in a heartbeat smh."

"He looked really sad I feel so sorry for him," a commenter wrote. "I don’t agree with what he did but I wouldn’t have stopped him if that makes sense?"

"It costs nothing to look the other way. Food is essential," another said.

[Dial H For Hero]

1. I doubt very much that this guy is a 21st century Jean Valjean. Presuming all is as it appears,

good for her.

[rpannier]

2. I agree

Good for her

[Demovictory9]

5. ...

[DanieRains]

3. Get A Job

[DavidDvorkin]

4. Of course it costs something to look the other way

The question is whether other considerations outweight that cost.

[perfessor]

6. "The law, in its majestic equality,

… forbids both rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, to steal bread.” ~ Anatole France

[KPN]

8. Ummm, maybe in France's time. Today, his quote could leave out "in its majestic equality", "both

rich and" and "alike" to be contemporaneous and accurate.

[jimfields33]

7. The comments are interesting today the least.

Are we all going to go and walk out with groceries? That seems to be the consensus of the chosen comments.

[KPN]

9. I get the sentiment. Also, the sentiment will be irrelevant if we continue on the trajectory we've

been on the past 45 years or so.

[FrankBooth]

10. Cool story bro

NM

[stopdiggin]

11. we're becoming awfully gullible

(and ethically - disoriented?)

[wackadoo wabbit]

12. I really wish some of these Boomers would stop making the rest of us look bad

Who was this woman, one of the Waltons?

If she wasn't, then why was she working (unpaid, I might add) to help a corporate overlord?

[Kaleva]

13. She tidked much doing what she believed is tight

What have you risked,? My guess is nothing..

[wackadoo wabbit]

21. The Jan. 6 protesters also did what they believed was right

Sometimes, what someone thinks is "right" is actually not.

And, further, I would say that that woman risked absolutely nothing. She was being a busybody and sticking her nose into a matter that was none of her business.

[Kaleva]

22. The woman's actions were lawful

The rioters acts weren't and that's supported by the fact that hundreds have been arrested and many of them have already been sentenced

Maybe we ought to not stick our noses into her actions. It really is none of our business.

[USALiberal]

30. She doesn't like thief's maybe! None of your business! Nt

[CrackityJones75]

41. I don't think so

The people smearing shit on the walls likely didn’t belive that was right.

[Dorian Gray]

55. Oh good lord

Stopping a shoplifter is not the same as storming the capitol on January 6th.

We can argue the merits of what punishment shoplifters deserve. Or debate whether we should stop someone in this circumstance. But it's not ethically or morally wrong to stop someone from stealing.

[Dial H For Hero]

14. How exactly does stopping theft make someone look bad?

[wackadoo wabbit]

17. Just out of curiosity, did you ever read Les Miserables? /nt

[Dial H For Hero]

18. I confess I'm only familiar with filmed versions and the stage musical. My question stands.

What exactly is there to criticize about this woman's actions in preventing a theft?

[USALiberal]

31. I thought she did the right thing! Nt

[Dorian Gray]

56. Jean Valjean stole a loaf of bread...

he didn't try to walk out of his local Walmart with a cart full of name brand items.

[Calculating]

34. We all need to pay more to cover theft losses

Screw shoplifters and thieves in general. Get a job.

[Donkees]

15. I think the photo is recycled from an older story ...

I recall the photo of the 'skimask' getting pulled off by the woman. Don't recall for certainty whether it was claimed then to be staged (?)

[ProfessorGAC]

16. It Clearly Costs Something

So that argument needs more context.
We can debate whether the loss factor figured in for inventory shrink covers it, so the store suffers no substantial harm.
But, it's not cost free.

[USALiberal]

32. I 100% agree! Nt

[Coventina]

19. If it was only food, I would have sympathy.

With expensive things, like laundry detergent, my sympathy goes out the window.

It is well known that laundry detergent is a commodity on the black market.

[DemocraticPatriot]

47. Really? I didn't know that...

I think I know most "well known" things...


"It is well known that laundry detergent is a commodity on the black market."

[Flaleftist]

52. I had a friend who grew up a poor area tell me this once.

Laundry detergent was an item people would steal and then sell in their neighborhood. Some people would even get "shopping lists" then go steal all the stuff to sell to them at a fraction of the retail price.

[ruet]

20. Shoplifiting is Bad.

It's not the laymans' duty to stop it, however. Mind your own business.

[USALiberal]

23. Mind your own business for any crime you see?? Nt

[ruet]

43. Is That What I Said?

Is there invisible text there somewhere? Was it in code?

[dumbcat]

50. Where do you draw the line

for a 'layman's duty to stop" between shoplifting, and, say, child kidnapping? Mugging? Assault?

[USALiberal]

24. So, now we need to determine what people can freely steal?? Ntt

[USALiberal]

28. +1000! Nt

[dumbcat]

51. Exactly what happened in a neighboring city

In the original downtown area of the city there was so much shoplifting at the major grocery chain store and the chain pharmacy that they both closed down and left. They built and re-opened in a newer section of the city that was being developed and more upscale. Many of the other businesses downtown followed.

Now, of course, the residents near the old downtown area are complaining that they are in a "food desert" and can't get their meds without taking a taxi or bus to the new area of town. Actions have consequences.

[LuckyCharms]

26. I think an interesting and related question might be...

You are in a chain drug store. You see a woman who appears to be very poor. She is with her very young baby.

You see her shoplift some baby formula.

Would you stop her?

Would you say something to an employee about it?

[roamer65]

33. No.

I’d offer to buy it for her.

I remember I was in a local grocery store. There was a woman with a couple of kids ahead of me. The boy saw a toy near the checkout. He obviously wanted it very badly, but I she told him no. They were obviously scraping by. I picked it up ran it through the scanner and said to mom here u go. She almost cried.

He looked at me and smiled and hugged the toy.

I was happy the rest of the day.

[LuckyCharms]

35. I would also, and I think the point of my question is...

that my answer to the question being discussed in the original post would entirely depend on the circumstances.

However, my tendency would be to let the store handle it.

I am not a law enforcement officer, and I am not all-seeing such that I can assess the complete facts of every situation that I see in a few seconds. I can only make assumptions. Having people in my life that depend on me, it would probably be unfair to them if I put myself at risk over something that could get me, or someone else, hurt or killed.

In the case of the woman stealing the formula, it's a rather simple assumption that she needs to feed her baby, and she cannot afford the formula. I would therefore quietly ask her to escort me to the register and then pay for her purchase. If I am wrong about my assumption in this case, the cost of me being wrong is minor, and there is no risk of injury to anyone.

[roamer65]

36. +1000

[LuckyCharms]

37. We think alike.

I was in the Salvation Army once, making a donation. I left the donation in the shed outside and went in into get a receipt for tax purposes. There was a woman in line ahead of me trying to buy this little stuffed animal. She was something like $1.50 short. The cashier refused to sell it to her. Pissed me off. I bought it for her and the cashier, an older woman, looked at me like I had three heads, so I told her off.

The woman with the stuffed animal struck up a conversation with me. Said she needed to get home and had no bus money. I asked her where she lived, and told her I was going the same way, and I'd give her a ride, which I did. In the meantime, the cashier is giving me hell for offering a ride to a stranger. In retrospect, I'd probably never give a stranger a ride again, but for some reason, my sense told me it was alright to give this woman a ride.

I've paid for people's groceries before if they were a bit short.

The way I look at it, if I am wrong, and they are actually a scammer, so what? It's not like it's costing me much, and it makes me happy for days if I am able to do something like that.

[Duncan Grant]

27. Mind your own business. Let the store take care of it, ffs.

No one should endanger themself policing something of this insignificant level. Lives weren’t at stake here.

The store has in-house procedures and trained personnel to handle it. Step back, Dirty Harry want-to-be.

[ripcord]

29. Maybe the people judging the little old lady who stopped a crime

Should mind their own business.

[KentuckyWoman]

38. I would do the same.

I can't afford to lose my local store. I also am already struggling a bit with food costs. However, in the process of raising a fuss I'd be sure people have something to eat.

Food stamps, pantries ... something. Depending on the situation I might even buy the groceries.

Assuming they aren't stealing high ticket items to resell or exchange for drugs. Apparently that is a local problem as well.

[lame54]

39. Is he quoting the NY DA?

[Lucid Dreamer]

40. "A video...sparked a debate about the ethics of stopping shoplifters..."

I think it stopping the shoplifter was ethical...but perhaps foolhardy.

The risk of harm to oneself is hardly worth the confrontation.

As much as I would like to stop crime like this, I cannot. I'm armed. My motto is "the best place to be in a fight is elsewhere."

I worked in "loss prevention" for a department store back in the good old days.
Our rules for the employees were "Observe, not detain."
Loss prevention personnel would not confront customer inside the store. On site police were notified by radio and customer was not detained until outside the store. We try to deter our shoppers from intervening for their own protection.

The losses from retail shoplifting pale in comparison to loss from thefts committed by employees. That was the big part of our job.

My summary:
Shoplifting is not ethical.
Intervention of shoplifter is foolhardy. Report don't touch.
Let the retailer staff take care of it. They have the training and tools to handle that.

[Demovictory9]

45. True about employee thefts. Decades ago, i worked stocking new Target

Staff went on an orgy of theft

[Polybius]

42. To the person in the article that commented "Why should companies profit and poor people suffer?"

You're the reason that we lose elections.

[DVRacer]

44. Looking the other way can cause problems

Case in point here in Tulsa there is a grocery store desert on the north side. Many retailers have put in locations only to be robbed blind. Then they close and leave a void only filled with Dollar stores forcing those to travel about 10-15 miles to a fully stocked store. Theft costs everyone eventually. Part of our local issue is TPD they also look the other way as the sit in upscale areas parking lots actively discouraging theft. While ignoring the north side, I have heard officers outright say whelp they should have known better than to open.

[mercuryblues]

46. At a Wal-Mart I would definitely look the other way

They rarely prosecute shoplifters. My brother managed one for a decade and had shoplifters arrested, corporate refused to prosecute and dropped the charges.

[David__77]

48. I once saw a young girl stealing a pregnancy test.

I didn’t turn her in.

[hunter]

49. I saw a woman shoplifting eggs a few years ago and posted about it here on DU.

She looked so sad and desperate and embarrassed that I looked the other way.

Nobody steals eggs to trade, I think.

On the other hand I did get hit upon by a scammer in a shoe store once. She started telling me her tale of woe while standing in line, and how she'd been saving up for a special pair of boots. She also had this flirty thing going on. At checkout she came up short of cash and looked back me.

I'm almost 100% sure if I'd fallen for her scam she would have returned the boots the next day and made a little over $20. I just shrugged her off and she left the boots on the counter and walked away in a huff. The sales clerk just rolled her eyes, and gave me a "Some people!" look.

[Flaleftist]

53. I would ignore something like that.

It's more often expensive items like fillet mignon that are targetted. You don't get to steal the most expensive foods and then cry about not being able to afford it.

[maxrandb]

54. Instead of stopping him, buy his cart of groceries.

Seriously, we could, as a nation, do this. As individuals, we could do it a couple of times. What's a full cart? Depending on what's in it, groceries would maybe run you $100. Most of us give more than that to our church each month.

Of course, that would be rare, but instead of grabbing someone's cart, why not say; "can I buy those for you"? Isn't that the Christian thing to do?

Part of the problem is that people don't want someone else to get over. Sure, some people are lazy and some people are fraudsters, but damn...some ungodly number of hardworking Americans don't have a pot to pass in.

How many people are just one missed paycheck, or unexpected bill away from not being able to feed themselves or their family?

I know I am a dreamer, but that is the way this story should have ended.

[Dial H For Hero]

57. Buy groceries for thieves? Why?

This wasn’t some elderly person crying at the register because their card was declined. This was brazen theft.

[alphafemale]

58. A thief is a thief and I hate thieves

That scum would just as soon steal his grandmothers jewelry.

He would break your car's windows for $1.35 in change.

If you think in your misguided notions you are defending the poor.

You are not.

You are allowing these people to continue to prey mostly on their own communities.