Five-finger discounts on this scale are no slap-on-the-wrist crimes
It's time to take a more effective anti-shoplifting policy down off the shelf.
As Frank Main reported in Thursday's Sun-Times, retail theft in Chicago has soared 46% through October of this year compared with the same period in 2023, according to a report by the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice.
The statistics are ringing up in such developing shoplifting hot spots as parts of Lake View and Irving Park, as well as in perennial areas downtown, including the Gold Coast and the Loop.
Police and prosecutors have many other crimes to tackle, some of them more serious than the stealing of goods from businesses. But that isn't to say retail theft is a minor crime. It can threaten the survival of some businesses, be a risk to employee safety when goods are stolen through "smash and grab" raids and ultimately raise costs for everyone.
No one likes to go to a store where merchandise is locked behind glass. No one likes to see a favorite neighborhood retail business close because theft, along with other factors, has made it too hard to make an acceptable profit. No one likes to shoulder a larger share of paying for government services because some people buy stolen items upon which sales taxes are not charged.
Retailers have long complained the Cook County state's attorney's office has a stated policy of not pursuing felony charges for shoplifting for hauls of under $1,000, unless the perp has at least 10 felony convictions. State law says the cutoff should be $300. Offenses below that dollar amount are considered by the state to be misdemeanors.
Some store owners complain police are reluctant to investigate misdemeanor retail crimes because they could involve lots of paperwork only to see the charges tossed out in court. Some feel Cook County's policy has encouraged shoplifters to brazenly steal with impunity.
The incoming state's attorney, Eileen O'Neill Burke, has said she will hew to the state cutoff of $300, above which shoplifting would be a felony. That might be a bit low for the cutoff, as inflation has eroded the value of $300 in recent years, which is something the Legislature might want to take a look at. But $1,000 is too high.
Retail theft is a problem across the state. A Capital One report cited by the Illinois Retail Merchants Association said Illinois merchants lost more than $2.9 million in revenue in 2022 to shoplifting. That's money that could be better devoted to lower prices or other retail improvements.
Illinois' new policy of no-cash bail removes the risk that low-level shoplifters will languish in jail while they await trial.
Now it's time to remove the risk that excessive shoplifting is just too easy.
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