Post by kokonutwoman on Apr 5, 2008 7:10:19 GMT 12
Police look to charge Caregivers and Parent (Stuff.co.nz)
Children as young as five are shoplifting in Invercargill shops and are being used as distractions while their parents do the same.
New Zealand Retailers Association security adviser Steve Davis confirmed Southland shops had fallen victim to a phenomenon that was growing throughout New Zealand.
"Nobody suspects children," Mr Davis said.
A retailer in the Invercargill central business district said she had last month watched a child - possibly as young as three years old - try to take something from her shop.
The child made "adult shoplifting moves" : she hid the object in her hand, moved behind a shopping stand and put what she had taken off the shelf beneath her clothing.
It was deliberate and fluid, and seemed like practised and "learned" behaviour, the retailer said.
The retailer challenged the child, who denied taking the object.
When the parent was told and the concealed item was found, the child was picked up and taken away "without a word" , she said.
The child seemed to know what she was doing. It was situation one would "absolutely not" expect.
Mr Davis said using children was just one of many new forms, styles and techniques of theft being tried by shoplifters, he said.
Shoplifting cost New Zealand businesses an estimated $1.9 million each day. That was 40 percent more than a decade ago.
"More and more people are shoplifting nowadays and getting away with it," Mr Davis said.
Senior Sergeant Olaf Jensen, of Invercargill police, said children-in-shoplifting incidents had been reported before. Children younger than 14 years old were referred to Youth Aid.
Under the Crimes Act they cannot be prosecuted for shoplifting.
However, caregivers could be charged as a "party to the offence" if they had actively encouraged their child to steal.
"They (the parents) are as guilty as the person undertaking the crime," Mr Jensen said.
The Invercargill gift retailer who caught the shoplifting child last month said she had dealt with a similar situation last year.
Then, she watched as a pair of children younger than 10 years old waited for her to turn her back so they could "pocket" an item from her shelf.
"I looked at them and thought 'oh my goodness, you're trying to steal from me, what is your parent doing'," she said.
The parent appeared to have moved stock behind a stand with the intention of coming back later.
"We've seen the (crime) shows, it does happen and it happens here in Southland," she said.
Reprimand the child, learnt behaviour in children can be unlearnt. As for the Parents and Caregives throw the who damn encyclopedia collection at them this is total abuse especially of the 3 year old
Children as young as five are shoplifting in Invercargill shops and are being used as distractions while their parents do the same.
New Zealand Retailers Association security adviser Steve Davis confirmed Southland shops had fallen victim to a phenomenon that was growing throughout New Zealand.
"Nobody suspects children," Mr Davis said.
A retailer in the Invercargill central business district said she had last month watched a child - possibly as young as three years old - try to take something from her shop.
The child made "adult shoplifting moves" : she hid the object in her hand, moved behind a shopping stand and put what she had taken off the shelf beneath her clothing.
It was deliberate and fluid, and seemed like practised and "learned" behaviour, the retailer said.
The retailer challenged the child, who denied taking the object.
When the parent was told and the concealed item was found, the child was picked up and taken away "without a word" , she said.
The child seemed to know what she was doing. It was situation one would "absolutely not" expect.
Mr Davis said using children was just one of many new forms, styles and techniques of theft being tried by shoplifters, he said.
Shoplifting cost New Zealand businesses an estimated $1.9 million each day. That was 40 percent more than a decade ago.
"More and more people are shoplifting nowadays and getting away with it," Mr Davis said.
Senior Sergeant Olaf Jensen, of Invercargill police, said children-in-shoplifting incidents had been reported before. Children younger than 14 years old were referred to Youth Aid.
Under the Crimes Act they cannot be prosecuted for shoplifting.
However, caregivers could be charged as a "party to the offence" if they had actively encouraged their child to steal.
"They (the parents) are as guilty as the person undertaking the crime," Mr Jensen said.
The Invercargill gift retailer who caught the shoplifting child last month said she had dealt with a similar situation last year.
Then, she watched as a pair of children younger than 10 years old waited for her to turn her back so they could "pocket" an item from her shelf.
"I looked at them and thought 'oh my goodness, you're trying to steal from me, what is your parent doing'," she said.
The parent appeared to have moved stock behind a stand with the intention of coming back later.
"We've seen the (crime) shows, it does happen and it happens here in Southland," she said.
Reprimand the child, learnt behaviour in children can be unlearnt. As for the Parents and Caregives throw the who damn encyclopedia collection at them this is total abuse especially of the 3 year old
very sad .. these wee kids no ,no better. If they have been coached ... parents should definitely be charged and cyfs should be called in .
