Petty theft and shoplifting are pretty similar types of criminal offense and both refer to the act of stealing something from someone. However, there are some notable differences between the two acts in terms of their factual elements. Yet, despite those differences, both types of crime pose a serious problem to today’s society – a problem that’s often not well understood or sufficiently explored.
In the next lines, we’ll briefly explain how the two acts are factually different, and then we’ll focus a bit more on their social aspect, and the reasons why neither petty theft nor shoplifting should be underestimated and taken lightly.
Petty theft
Petty theft is a legal term that’s typically used to describe the act of taking an object from its owner with the intention of claiming ownership of that object without the owner’s permission. What sets petty theft apart from other types of stealing is that the monetary value of the stolen object is comparatively low. The monetary value threshold below which a theft can be considered petty is different depending on the jurisdiction, but is typically anywhere between $500 and $1000. Likewise, the punishment for petty theft is typically rather lenient and usually involves a relatively small fine (usually no more than $1000), community service, probation, or short-term imprisonment.
Shoplifting
Shoplifting can be considered a type of petty theft, where specific additional elements need to be present for the theft to be defined as shoplifting. The first important element is that the object or objects must be merchandise taken from a retail shop. The second element is the act itself. Shoplifting can be performed in different ways and not just by taking a piece of merchandise and bringing it outside of the shop’s premises without paying for it. For instance, switching price tags or circumventing the self-checkout system is also considered shoplifting.
Since it is rare for an act of shoplifting to involve the stealing of merchandise that exceeds the petty theft monetary threshold, in most cases, shoplifting falls in the petty theft category. However, if the stolen object or object’s price tag exceeds that threshold, the crime will be defined as grand theft.
Impact on society
Any type of crime has a negative impact on society, yet it’s easy to underestimate the impact of less severe criminal acts such as petty theft or shoplifting. After all, the monetary value of what is stolen is rather small, and, especially in the case of shoplifting, stealing a piece of merchandise will have an insignificant impact on the retailer’s business. However, in the case of these two crimes, the problem stems from the quantity rather than the quality of the crime. The thing is that, though a single petty theft or shoplifting incident may not lead to any kind of serious problem in society as a whole, the number of such incidents tends to be very high in a lot of today’s societies. Take the US for example – a well-known statistic confirmed by many independent researchers is that 1 in every 11 Americans has committed the crime of shoplifting at least once in their lives. The situation with other forms of petty theft, such as pickpocketing, purse-snatching, and theft from vehicles is not much different in America and many other countries.
Overall, the effects that both types of crime have on society are dire, but there are some specifics depending on whether we are looking at other types of petty theft or specifically about shoplifting.
Usually, when talking about pickpocketing, theft from vehicles, or another type of petty theft, where the victim is an individual, the consequences for that victim can actually be very serious. For instance, if a person gets $400 stolen from them, the crime will probably be defined as petty theft, yet, for the victim, this sum can be a considerable amount. The sum could be that person’s groceries until their next paycheck, and now they may have to deprive themselves of essential items needed for their most basic needs. And, again, since acts of petty theft are very common and are often targeted at people who are already economically disadvantaged, it becomes easy to see why this type of crime is actually a considerable problem.
As for shoplifting, one may be excused to think that, since the victim in this case is the owner of a big company, a single item of stolen merchandise won’t hurt them as much. However, going back to the quantity versus quality argument, the problem with shoplifting is that so many people do it, and they do it all the time. So, yes, a single item doesn’t mean much, but on a larger scale, the average yearly losses per individual retailer could be in the tenths or even in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Tackling the problem
Fighting this problem is difficult partially because it’s poorly understood by both regular people and the owners of retail businesses. It is, therefore, recommended to do your best to gain a better insight into the causes of shoplifting and petty theft and then use that knowledge to help tackle the problem in an informed way.
A good place to start is reviewing current theft statistics and the statistics over the years as well as looking into the studies made on the psychology of petty thieves and shoplifters. Such information can be acquired in a structured and easy-to-understand way if you sign up for a specialized class that focuses on the topic. For instance, specialized shoplifting classes can be a great learning tool for anyone wanting to help mitigate this particular problem, but you can also, of course, do your own research.
The misunderstood nature of petty theft and shoplifting
When talking about acts of stealing, in general, it’s natural to assume that the reason behind people committing such acts is either a dire need for resources or plain greed. After all, what other possible reason could there be for a person to break the law by taking something that doesn’t belong to them? It’s logical to assume that the person either needs the object and doesn’t have the resources to obtain it legally or that they don’t really need it, but still want to claim ownership of it out of greediness.
Indeed, in many cases, both petty theft and shoplifting are committed for one of those two reasons. However, there’s also a third reason that’s often misunderstood or outright ignored and that is mental disorders such as compulsive shoplifting and kleptomania. Accounting for such possible reasons for petty theft and shoplifting is necessary if one wishes to make a difference and help come closer to solving the problem, which brings us back to the importance of seeking information and approaching such issues armed with knowledge rather than prejudice. If you are busting for petty theft in Grand Rapids, Michigan, please call Shawn asap at 616-438-6719. Shawn will get you the help you need and get you the best results possible.