What's the first thing that comes into your mind when you
see young kids shoplifting? It is "just one of those things" ? Is it
"where are their parents" or something more akin to "if someone
doesn't straighten that kid out they're going to wind up in jail"?
For most of us, we're not concerned about their gender, race
or anything else. It's just the fact that they're are brazen enough to steal,
usually right under the noses of management. In many locations, store
management and security are hamstrung in what they can and can't do when it
comes to shoplifting, particularly when it involves juveniles.
Sadly, shoplifters tend to know this better than anyone. Not
only do they know the best and easiest ways to steal from stores, they also know
how each store responds along with what items will likely get them in serious
trouble the quickest.
This knowledge is not just something adults or professional
thieves know, but it's also something that younger kids seem to pick up on
quickly too. They also know that if caught, it's unlikely much of anything is
going to happen to them because they're minors. That's one reason professional thieves
often employ minors for riskier crimes like breaking and entry, drug dealing,
and, of course, shoplifting.
As a result, stores lose millions annually, at least on
paper. In reality, they simply raise prices to offset the cost of the stolen
merchandise, leaving customers to pick up the tab. According to a Forbes article from November of
2022, shoplifting has become nearly a $100 billion dollar "industry"
that we, the ordinary consumer, have to pay for.
The magazine, "Loss Prevention", wrote in January
2018 that nearly 55% of adult shoplifters and criminals got their start as
juveniles. An article published by the National Association for Shoplifting
Prevention, stated that nearly 1 in 4 adults started shoplifting between the
ages of 12 and 14. Stores lose on average some $45 million dollars a day to
shoplifters while law enforcement authorities estimate that approximately
550,000 shoplifting incidents occur daily.
The report goes on to say shoplifters are caught just once
out of 49 times they steal, yet less than half are turned over to the police.
Chronic shoplifters are arrested just once out of 100 attempts to steal.
Lastly, 75%
of criminal justice
professionals acknowledge that shoplifting, often starting out while a young
juvenile, go on to more violent crimes which often includes some form gang
activity. It's also worth noting that most juvenile shoplifters are white; some
70% according an FBI report.
The Office of Justice Programs reported that between 14% and
30% of juveniles join gangs. Their age
range when they join is between 12 and 14, which is about the same age range
that youngsters start shoplifting as noted above.
Approximately 39% of black youth living in large cities join
gangs compared to 32.7% in the suburbs.
45% of Hispanic or Latino juveniles from large cities tend to join gangs
with 51% of those living in suburbs do so.
As for whites, just 9.7% living in big cities are likely to
join a gang compared to 9.1% living in the suburbs. Meanwhile, 5.8% of other
racial groups such as Asians living in larger cities are likely to join a gang.
Just 7.2% of those living in the suburbs will probably join a gang. As an
aside, males are far more likely to join gangs than females. However, females
gang members are more common in suburban and rural areas, 45.3% and 49.5%
respectively.
In 2022, more than 1,300 juveniles between ages 12 and 17
were killed by gun violence with another 3,800 injured. In 2021, the number
juveniles killed or wounded by guns topped 6,000. In 2022, 300 kids age 11 and under were
killed by gun violence. 700 were wounded.
Most violent crimes committed by juveniles (64%) typically occur
on school days in the hours after the end of the school day through early
evening (that is, between the hours of 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm).
On non-school days, violent crimes committed
by juveniles tend to happen between 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm.
67% of black families are single parent, meaning that the
majority of children lack the guidance of a father figure. 8.6% of black adults
are unemployed according to the National Bureau of Labor Statistics latest
report of 2021, followed by 8.2% for Native Americans. Meanwhile, the unemployment
rate for Hispanics is 6.8% and 5.0% for whites.
In addition, as of 2021, almost a third of these families
lived at or below the poverty line, meaning their mother is likely working
and/or their children are being cared for by an elderly grandparent or
neighbor, which in effect means little in the way of family structure.
I was recently watching a video on a Twitter site hosted by
the Hodges twins, Keith and Kevin. The Hodges are conservative stand-up
comics and political commentators (and for what it's worth, they also happen to
be black which neither here nor there). I've been watching them for some time
now and really enjoy their humor which is mixed with some really insightful
social observations.
The video, which included a comment by the Hodges ("kids
are being taught to do this shit..."), showed the apparent commission of
crime being carried out by four or five wannabe "Jesse James" types. These
wannabe gangsters were probably between 9 and 12 years old and male. The crime was a "scoop and scoot"
at what appeared to be a neighborhood drug store. The "goods" looked
to be petty stuff, mostly chips, cookies, candy and so forth.
In the video you can see a store employee speaking with
someone on the phone. The expression on his face is one of disbelief.
Apparently the employee, aware of the crime in progress, had shut and locked
the store door. Whoever he was speaking with had apparently told him that he
couldn't do that and to open the door.
The employee reluctantly unlocks and opens the door as the
"James Gang" make a break for it, shoving the employee aside, running
across a busy intersection in triumph while other employees start picking up the
mess left behind.
Finally, I feel that
it's important that I should mention that everyone involved---the kids and
employee---were black ( you'll understand why I mention that in a moment).
I could see the expressions on their faces of utter glee of
a successful heist. I don't know if this was a spur of the moment job or if any
planning had gone into it. Was this a first time "scoop and scoot" or
had they or one of gang done it before? Perhaps it was a dare. With kids of
that age, it could be almost anything. However, I had just started work on this
article so I was already aware of the statistics.
I knew, thanks to the articles and statistics already read, that
this little raid should be reason for some concern, not just for the store or
its employees, but for the parents, teachers, friends and neighbors of these
kids. Being male, a minority, and living in what appeared to be urban environment,
the odds of staying out of trouble weren't too good.
As it is, gangs are usually associated with all sorts of
crimes (especially violent crimes and drugs), are the most prevalent in cities.
Although blacks make up just 13% of the total population, the percentage of illegal
drug use among blacks is 6.9% (the national average for drug use among other
races is 7.4%), and young males are the most vulnerable.
So as you might expect, I had to make a comment. Here is what I said:
"Thieves.
Soon, perhaps in a few years, we'll be hearing about how they died. Maybe gang
related. Maybe in a shootout with police. Perhaps a homeowner defending their
property. And it will be their parents and neighbors bemoaning the injustice of
their deaths".
Now, you'll notice that
there was no mention of race, gender, or anything else. My comment was one of
empathy for their parents who, if this type of behavior goes unchecked, may
find themselves crying over the body of
their child and wondering
"why" and "how" this could have happened.
Based
on the reports and statistics mentioned above, this is not a remote outcome . A
kid laying dead somewhere, the victim of a drive by shooting, gang violence, drug
overdose, or a crime gone wrong is far too common. Perhaps instead of being the
victim, they got caught trying to rob someone or selling crack and now they're
facing prison. Maybe they're the one who accidentally killed someone.
There's
a whole myriads of bad results which started innocently enough with some petty
theft. Heck, I just saw a video of a group of older teenagers randomly opening
bags of chips, Cokes, cookies in a store helping themselves, and then trotting
out after obviously enjoying themselves.
Well,
you can well imagine the responses I received. According to the Hodge's site,
my simple comment generated some 10.9 million views along with 2,452 comments.
It also generated 21.6 thousands "likes" and was shared 5,140 times! The
vast majority of comments were positive with most agreeing that this kind of
behavior could have very serious consequences for these kids.
However,
there was a minority of commentators who wasted no time in playing the racist
card (which, of course, I'm far from) and making all sorts of racial slurs
toward me, alleging that I was stereotyping these kids, that I was wanting
these kids die while referring to me as "sick and deranged", an
"old white clown", openly wishing I would die or "rot away", and so
on.
Fortunately,
as I said, these were minority, but still I found it amazing how people could
twist a simple remark about empathy into something barring no resemblance to
the comment itself. Nothing in comment related to race (but their responses
did). Nothing in my comment mentioned wishing death on anyone (but their
responses did). Nothing in my comment mentioned joining a gang (although their
responses did). I did, however, say they could end up being the victim of
violence if this kind of behavior continued and statistics support me in that
statement.
I
suppose this little exercise demonstrates how vicious and reactionary some on
the "woke" Left can be. They certainly can't stand a contrarian opinion,
at least on this occasion! They demand tolerance, but for them. Not you. They
call you "racist" while they're on a racist rant. They claim to
oppose hatred, and yet their comments are as vitriol as they can be. They claim
they're wanting to avoid an argument while trying to trigger one with name
calling, distortions, and not so subtle innuendos and implied threats.
In
fact, several excused the shoplifting youngsters by saying they "might be
hungry" while others blew the theft off all together as no big deal. Perhaps
I should have condoned the theft since I'm white, "privileged", and
all that just as they did. But that would be morally wrong.
A
few wanted to compared the shoplifting to "mass shootings" (which are
obviously unrelated) by claiming that they are routinely carried out by whites
to the relative banality of the shoplifters. They also claim that I ignore
these type of crimes as well.
To
set the record straight, I do routinely condemn mass shooting along with any
other form of mass murders including wars over economics in my articles as well
as directly online regardless of race, gender or any other factor. Secondly,
how would they know unless they regularly read my articles?
However,
despite their apparent racial undertones, they are correct that whites are
largely responsible for mass shootings. According to
Statista, 74 mass shooting were committed by whites while 25 were
committed by black individuals between 1982 and April 2023. Hispanic were
responsible for 11 such shootings and Asian for 10.
Native Americans committed just 3.
There's
no question that shoplifting is a serious gateway crime which all of us
eventually pay for. Although much of it is committed by adults, those under 17
years of age are responsible for a significant portion. Of those, many wind up
on a path no one would wish on them.
Many
come from an environment where the odds are already stacked against
them---poverty, high crime neighborhoods, single parent households, little to
no consistent adult supervision, underperforming schools and few opportunities
in their neighborhood. Some are even taught to fear or hate police officers,
disrespect teachers, and come to admire gang lifestyle. They see crime and
drugs as easy money. But it's also a fast ticket to prison or to a short and
tragic life.
We
have to do better as a society. While pre or after school programs, especially
when those programs can provide some nutritional meals are great, nothing
replaces the active involvement of a parent in the daily lives of their kid just as nothing beats a good education. There
has to be a refocus of school curriculums to civics, critical thinking and
business skills with an emphasis on basic math, proper English, the sciences,
and history.
After
school and summer programs working in the community is another great avenue for
teenagers. Perhaps too is redirecting those about to graduate from high school
into the trades. College isn't for everyone and trade schools are a lot less
expensive, pay well and have great benefits. It's also an opportunity to
opening your own business at some point if that's what you want to do. We have
to do better by our kids. What we've been doing is obviously not working.
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Shoplifting Has Become a $100 Billion Problem For Retailers
The Shoplifting Problem in the Nation
A record number of American kid's were injured or killed in
gunfire in 2022
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency PreventionStatistical Briefing Book
BLS: Labor force characteristics by race and ethnicity, 2021
Number of mass shooting in the United States between 1982
and April 2023, by shooter's race or ethnicity.
Hodgetwins
