More shoplifters being caught at Newton Walmart

People with an urge to leave the Newton Walmart with a little extra something hiding in their pocket or purse might think twice. The store’s loss prevention program seems to be on the move in recent months.

In what appears to be a growing trend, reported thefts at the Newton outlet between Jan 1. and Feb 28 of this year totaled 13 separate incidents. During that same time period in 2010 only one theft was recorded, according to Newton Daily News archive records.

Newton Police Department Lt. Gary Dodds said he has also noticed the increase. He attributes the rise to Walmart’s on-site private loss prevention officer who seems to be influencing the uptick.

“Somebody’s working loss prevention. When ever he’s working, we see an increase in shoplifting reports,” said Dodds.

A majority of the shopliftings reported are between the hours of 3 to 8 p.m., and 13 out of the 14 suspects reported this year have been woman between the ages of 12 and 37 with one outlier age 59.

“We’ve noticed that too,” said Dodds “There seem to be a high volume of thefts attempted between these time periods (at Walmart).”

Dodds has seen this trend come and go in his time with NPD, and said it’s a phenomena that “goes in waves.”

“This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this happen,” said Dodds. “Walmart has done this on and off through the years, increases in its reporting.”

Ryan Oshel, Store Manager of the Walmart Supercenter said that they cannot discuss loss prevention practices at the store level, but directed Newton Daily News to their corporate offices. Walmart Corporate had not returned calls as of Friday morning.

However, theft is a growing problem for retailers big and small nationwide. Joe Larocca is the Vice President of Loss Prevention with the National Retail Federation (NRF), a national trade organization educating and representing local and national retailers. He says the NRF conducts a yearly study over losses taken from theft. According to their 2009 survey, the retail industry lost $33.5 billion nationally from theft. The 2010 study will be released mid-year.

Larocca says there are several things a company looks for when hiring or increasing loss prevention officers.

“Any company in the industry will look for theft trends in departments, store locations and trends with break-ins” before making a decision on the extent of loss prevention action said Larocca. They also look for “amateur vs. organized” crime.

According to Larocca, the training starts with the local employees and associates on what to watch for in customer behavior. Depending on the size of the outlet and in what community it lays, the store may or may not be able to benefit from a corporate loss prevention program.

“Most larger ‘box stores’ have a greater number of loss prevention officers,” he said. “It’s everyone’s responsibility from the stock associate in the back room to the store manager to recognize and report theft.”

Retailers in smaller communities that don’t have access to a corporate loss prevention program will sometimes rely on local law enforcement, but the NPD says that the personnel for that in Newton is not available.

“We don’t patrol for shoplifting because we don’t have the staffing for that,” said Dodds. “It may take pressure off the store and serve as a deterrent if word gets out that they are activity looking for shoplifters.”

Mike Mendenhall can be contacted at 792-3121 ext. 422 or via e-mail at mmendenhall@newtondailynews.com.