UK Shoplifting Frenzy Has Shops Resorting to Secret Guards and Dummy Products
- Thefts at record high as criminal gangs target pricey items
- British retailers say ‘epidemic’ has cost almost £1 billion
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From his hardware store in Cambridge, England, Neil Mackay has seen a sharp rise in the number of tools being stolen. This year he’s lost more than £1,000 ($1,248) worth of pliers, while his shop was broken into in January. Stealing has become so common that Mackay, 68, keeps a rogues’ gallery of CCTV images of suspects pinned to the wall.
In one case, a shoplifter was caught on camera attempting to stuff a 3-foot bolt cropper, used for cutting metal, down his trousers. “Often, we’ll find empty packages hidden,” said Mackay. “For every product that’s stolen, it takes 12 more items to get back what we’ve lost.”