I am a former store detective. As everyday low prices become everyday higher prices, I expect shoplifting to skyrocket, both by the poor and by bored and entitled middle-class kids. Welcome to the sub, we were waiting for you.

I am a former store detective ("loss prevention".) I worked as a store detective ("LP") for two big-box retailers from '98 to '03. This experience was formative for me, and really shaped my worldview, for better or worse. I became a detective in my early twenties, as soon as I was legally able to carry a firearm.<br><br>I now work in a totally different field, but I'm still fascinated by human behavior and thrills, so I joined this Subreddit. I have been reading your stories for a few days, and I enjoy them. I see myself in some of them.<br><br>We used to joke in training that shoplifting was a recession-proof crime. Even when the economy went in the gutter, people still needed to steal everyday essentials: food, razors, baby formula, thrush medication, weapons, street drugs, etc.<br><br>I was there during the 2008 crash, and sure enough: we did catch more people during that time. Sometimes, we'd even catch someone who had a job, but whose job was now gone, and who now had no safety net, so they're shoplifting food to feed their kids.<br><br>I bring this up because we're due for another crash, or at least a big recession. As everyday low prices become everyday higher prices, I expect shoplifting to skyrocket, both by the poor and by bored and entitled middle-class kids. I'm not commenting on whether this is right or wrong. I am only saying that it will happen. Welcome to the sub, we were waiting for you.<br><br>Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe people will just accept their reduced circumstances, and be content to eat ramen and live in their parents' basement forever.<br><br>People here have asked what a real LP looks for. They've asked what a typical shoplifter looks like. They've asked about my most memorable busts. They've asked how to cover themselves, and whether theft is ever justified. I have answers for all of these questions.<br><br>So let me answer some common questions, share a few stories, and talk about what it's like to be an LP. If people want more information about something, let me know and I will write a follow-up.<br><br>\-------------<br><br># Common questions<br><br>#### What do you do as LP?<br><br>As a store detective, my job is to catch people who are attempting to steal from my employer. My work is actually pretty easy. I don't have to fill out much paperwork, I don't get interrupted all day by coworkers with questions, and I don't have to deal with customers most of the time. I do have to spend most of my day sitting at a desk overloking the sales floor, and I have to spend hours each day reviewing camera footage. I usually work alone.<br><br>I only deal with three types of people. Shoplifters, fellow employees, and cops. I spend most of my workday doing nothing. If my department is very short-staffed, they'll occasionally ask me to work as a stocker or as a cashier. Sometimes I have to work overnight to review footage, but never on the holidays.<br><br>Once a year, me and the other LPs will do an inventories. This means that we'll actually count every item in the store, and compare the count to what our computer says we have in inventory. This is a way for us to measure shrink. In some areas, we experience a lot of shrink. If an item commonly goes missing, we'll put a camera on that area and step up our coverage, or change the packaging, or change the vendor, etc.<br><br>I have been spit on, punched, and stabbed at. But that comes with the job, and I always have a gun with me. If I catch someone shoplifting, I typically give them a one-time warning, or detain them to be arrested by the police. I have never had an armed shoplifter, but I work in a gun-friendly area, so it could happen someday.<br><br>I don't want to be a cop, but I do want to carry a firearm to work. I have to be prepared to defend myself at work, and I sure as hell don't want to tackle anyone who is armed with a syringe. The syringe is getting more common these days.<br><br>I love being a detective. I've always been a loner and introvert, and I love watching people and studying their behavior. I love being able to do that at work, and I especially love the thrill of the chase. I get to know the regular troublemakers and the local gangs. I get to analyze data to figure out where they're coming from, and who they work with. I get to interview people, and I get to watch for tells in their behavior. It's like being a real detective, except that instead of investigating murder, I get to investigate shoplifting. If I catch you, and I usually do, I'll let you go off with a warning the first time, but I will also annoy the hell out of you and embarrass you in front of friends and family. That's a small price to pay, but most people don't want to be humiliated, and they don't want to have this incident on their record.<br><br>A lot of people who shoplift are people of low moral character. I've caught a lot of shoplifters in my time, and I'm sure that many of them were regular criminals. They're just practicing a crime that they think is "safe," because they know that we typically don't prosecute.<br><br>#### What does a typical shoplifter look like?<br><br>There is no typical "profile." They come in all ages, races, and sexes. Some are in desperate straits, while others are wealthy students who are bored and looking for a thrill. I caught a lot of everyday-looking people, both men and women. I caught a lot of teens and twenty-somethings. Some had a street-wise look to them, but there was no typical "look" or profile. I caught a wide cross-section of people from all walks of life.<br><br>In my experience, most shoplifters were impulsive. I would say that about half of the shoplifters I caught had a drug problem. Some were in the middle of a craving, and they needed money for their drug of choice. Some just got bored while they were in the store, and decided to swipe something on impulse. Some shoplifted because they felt like they had no moral reason not to. (More on this below.)<br><br>I caught a lot of kids, and they were usually just bored and looking for a thrill. The kids were easy to catch, and they always broke down when I pushed on them a bit. I caught a lot of street gangs, and they were usually easy to catch as well. I caught a lot of street hustlers, like thrifty street artists and enterprising immigrants who were reselling goods at a markup.<br><br>I caught a few kleptos, but I didn't really keep track. I caught a lot of thrifty-looking retirees who were obviously shoplifting for fun. I caught a few groups of travelers, like carnies or railroad workers. I caught a small number of traveling professionals, like salesmen, who were reselling thr stolen items at a markup. I caught a lot of people who had access to credit, and who were reselling the items that they shoplifted.<br><br>I caught a lot of people who actually worked at the store, and who were stealing items. Sometimes, I'd catch an employee working with a customer, an inside job. Employees would most often takedvadvantage of training on a new job to steal. For example, if they were learning to work the register, they'd "accidentally" scan a 50-dollar pair of boots for one dollar. If they were learning to work a forklift, they'd "accidentally" drop a pallet off near the dock door. I didn't have many female shoplifters, and most of my shoplifters were white, but that reflects the demographics of where I worked. I caught a lot of homeless people, and a lot of toothless meth addicts.<br><br>I caught a lot of white-collar workers who were reselling items on ebay, and who felt that they had "found a loophole" in the system, because we didn't prosecute most shoplifters. They'd do this for years, until I caught up with them. I caught a lot of students, and a thrifty-looking professor, who were reselling their stolen items at the student bookstore.<br><br>I caught a couple of professional booster gangs. Professional boosters are organized gangs that resell their goods with other gangs, who then sell them through normal retail channels. These were harder to identify and catch, but their MO was always the same: they'd steal a little bit each day, from the same areas, at the same time. If you paid attention to their behavior, you could figure out their method, their roles, and their personalities in a few days of surveillance. Once you knew who they were, you could catch them easy, but sometimes we'd let them go and hope that we could catch their resellers, who were harder to identify.<br><br>I caught a lot of resellers. Some were reselling on Craigslist, some on facebook, some at the flea market. These were usually easy to catch.<br><br>I caught a small number of people who were stealing to feed their families. Some had jobs, some didn't. Either way, they were barely scraping by, and shoplifting was a way to supplement their income. These cases were sad, and I usually let them go with a warning. I was paid way more than minimum wage, and if the company really cared about shrink, they would have paid their employees more, or they would have raised their wages.<br><br>I once