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You can't privatise the Police. Well not directly. You can make the situation so bad shops and even private residence have to pay for their own security. And apparently you and your friends can even make money from that just by underfunding the police. Its a win win.
In the good old days I worked for a big supermarket in a number of London stores. The shoplifters knew which stores they could or couldn't go for based on how much of a kicking they got when they 'resisted'. These days I'm pretty sure the staff are told not to get involved, knives are far more common and is some steak or booze worth dying for?
I’ll take some jumbo Irish oats and a couple of boxes of crunchy nut cornflakes please
But why don’t you have a guess at answering the question anyway – what is the black market going rate for a couple of steaks do you think? It’s not going to be free is it? There will be cheaper options, even if they are equally dodgy. So you black market steak buyer is not buying those instead of a food bank & there will be options between the two.
Ever met any smackheads? They’re the ones actually doing the robbing. If they’ve got a pair of steaks and you offer ‘em a couple of quid they’d take it because that’s a couple of quid closer to their next wrap
#middleclasstrackworld
well, you'd be wrong. Cheese surprisingly popular too!I doubt steaks represent even the tiniest fraction of the food shoplifted from supermarkets.
Ever met any smackheads?
My cousin, don't meet him too often mind, what with him being a smack head.
I think you're doing down smackheadanomics a bit there though. I reckon they've got a better grasp of worth than that.
I'd challenge your assumption it's all smackheads though. Some yes obviously, but not all.
The bulk of shoplifting is not people stealing to feed themselves. They steal thi gs they can sell. I believe the most stolen items are cosmetics, alcohol, razors, clothing, electronics. Food is well down the list. I wish I was just dealing with people stealing to feed themselves but I am not, I am dealing with addicts , kids and career shoplifters mainly.
I think you’re doing down smackheadanomics a bit there though. I reckon they’ve got a better grasp of worth than that
You’ve clearly never met any smackheads then, as there’s generally not much economic theory involved with total desperation
We used to do all our Xmas shopping without leaving the pub. You grow up in inner city Liverpool, that's just how the world is.
Thirty years ago I started in retail. The only shop on the rank that had no shoplifting problems was the offie - because you went in, there were floor-to-ceiling kevlar screens, and you got erved through a hatch. So it's always been a thing, just seems to be getting more and more brazen.
I'm quite sure it's far more about drug habits than the cost of living. We lost the war on drugs as soon as we started; might as well legalise everything as it's available everywhere and at least the supplies would be clean and cheap.
When I moved to Sneinton in Nottingham in 2005 I walked into town past a pub that had a massive printed sheet of paper that said
NO SHOPLIFTERS
I never drank there
Is that a confession?
You’ve clearly never met any smackheads then
I refer your honour to my previous post.
You’ve said you’re related to a smackhead that you never see. I’m related to a telecoms sales director who I never see. I have little interest in his life either
I nipped to b&q Trafford park pre Xmas middle of a Saturday in daylight and as I parked up noticed a small car right outside the entrance left engine running and empty, I thought that's odd, 5 seconds later 2 men came out with a cooker threw it in the boot and sped off, it was a built in combo oven/grill so could have been used to cook Chateaubriand bought from local smackheads?
Top tip:
Always go for bags of Muesli or oats, as you can stuff them inside a hoodie easily. Those family sized boxes of Shreddies are a pain to conceal.
Thirty years ago I started in retail. The only shop on the rank that had no shoplifting problems was the offie – because you went in, there were floor-to-ceiling kevlar screens, and you got served through a hatch. So it’s always been a thing, just seems to be getting more and more brazen.
I remember walking into a corner shop/off licence in Wigan, everything neatly laid out on shelves on three walls, behind floor to ceiling perspex/glass with a little serving hatch. That was over 30 years ago.
How long before we have to tap our cards before entering a shop - like pay at the pump petrol stations? And amount would be ring-fenced depending on the value of the goods in the shop and released when you buy something or leave.
How long before we have to tap our cards before entering a shop – like pay at the pump petrol stations? And amount would be ring-fenced depending on the value of the goods in the shop and released when you buy something or leave.
Amazon physical (self service?) shops already do this iirc.
Target in the US has removed or allocated self service tills to it's subscriber customers only in some of its shops.
It's endemic round here and I suspect pretty much everywhere.
There is a *tiny* little coop in a village near here called Borstal (yes, it gave it's name to the institutions donkeys years ago) that's down right terrifying even as a mere customer. Luckily I dont need to go in there these days but an ex of mine worked there back in the late 90's and I was terrified for her. I dread to think of what it must be like now. Even back then a young girl was threatened with an axe one night.
The coop near where I live now is still targeted regularly though.
I often sit on a grass bank opposite it during the Summer just to watch the world go by when I'm going stir crazy indoors. Regularly see either a single guy or a whole group raid the place and leg it spilling stolen produce from their overflowing baskets as they leg it. I feel sorry for the only guy that works there as when it kicks off the other workers and customers look to him to do something and he understandably is a bit reluctant!
I know by reputation a few of the guys that target the place regularly to fund habits and I wouldn't put my life on the line for a bloody steak or a salmon.
When I worked in big Charlie Browns Autocentre back in the day we would actually give chase as there were about 20 blokes there, half of them pretty big car fitter types.
I remember a frw benny hill chases around the car park, across a busy road junction and into a big car park behind! 😁 By that time most thieves had run out of puff (rubbish cardio, most of them😁)and I was heavily into my first MTB phase at the time and skinny as a ferret.
I ran down one guy and he promptly pulled a screwdriver on me. I didn't have a bloody clue what to do as I can't fight my way out of a paper bag! Luckily an ex mate of mine worked there and he saved me from the infamy of doing a reverse Benny Hill as I was chased back to the shop. 😁 He's an ex mate as he could be an utter shit sometimes but I'll never say he wasnt a damned good mate on a few occasions too.
It's a terrible time to work in retail now, my heart goes out to those that work in the small shops in particular.
legs it in to the shop and starts filling a bag up with steaks and meat,
A braising thief by the sounds of it.
It's a mystery to me why we don't subsidise fruit and veg.
Who’s buying charity shop clothes at enough margin to make it worthwhile?
err…they’re not buying them, they’re stealing them. Margin is great no matter what price the clothes are sold on for. I don’t think shoplifters are concerned with EBITDA and trading margins.
I saw it happen in our local M and S about 6 months ago.... absolutely bizarre, three youngsish people, two lads and a girl, they seemed to be acting a bit strangely (wee practically walked in at the same time) anyway, as soon as the meat aisle we free they just stuffed as much as they could into some bags and casually sauntered off!
One of our friends works in the store and apparently it happens about 4 times per week and is often even more brazen than what I witnessed. It doesn't really offer a particularly positive endorsement of our society.
Sainsbury local the worker confronted this guy who’d been shop lifting. They squared up to each other and met heads (like footballers do). The shoplifter took his head back and went to head butt this worker but withdrew at the last micro second. This worker did not even blink and just shouted “get out now.” Nails.
I spoke to the worker afterwards and he was South African. He said “I’ve experienced much worse than that.” He carried on serving other customers. Class.
There will be cheaper options, even if they are equally dodgy. So your black market steak buyer is not buying those instead of a food bank & there will be options between the two.
Maybe you're not a Tory voter but this is Tory ideology in a nutshell, the myth that it's all about good and bad life choices when the reality is that it's all about luck.
And who doesn't like something nice for dinner from time to time?
Have you seen 'I, Daniel Blake'? Well worth a watch if you haven't.
This must have been ’98 so it’s far from new in my experience and far from new overall.
In the late 90s in Nunsthorpe I remember waiting in a house for a delivery and there were open wardrobe displays of items for sale
My own aunt claims she shoplifted her way through nurse training in London in the 70s... A teenager that only dined on M&S food must have seemed rather posh then I guess.
But why don’t you have a guess at answering the question anyway – what is the black market going rate for a couple of steaks do you think?
Come on @binners , answer the question you dodged twice! You're sneering at #middleclasstrackworld for being oblivious but when it comes to sharing your own insight...
Does anyone really think the dash and grab hooded thugs are buying steak for their saturday night weekly treat? Those struggling to feed themselves are the ones being thwarted by security tags on cheese, the shop raids are bordering on organised crime.
And then you've got the desperate people looking for their next fix. I saw a scuffle the other day in Brighton, they chased off a female shoplifter and after picking up all the cans rolling around in the street the staff were discussing why she had just gone for a 12 pack of coca cola. Probably as it was the nearest thing she could grab when spotted (apparently she'd been in several times that morning already)
I think the endgame is to make all shopping online and remove traditional shops all together. We won't leave the house for much in 10-15yrs from now.
Come on @binners , answer the question you dodged twice! You’re sneering at #middleclasstrackworld for being oblivious but when it comes to sharing your own insight…
Dodging questions?
The price for 2 steaks being sold by a shoplifter in a flat-roofed pub is the same as the price for anything being sold by a shoplifter in a flat-roofed pub
The price is whatever they can get. There isn’t a price list. It’s been nicked and I would imagine that they’re not carrying a fridge with them so they need to shift it fast. So if Tommo sat at the bar says ‘I’ll give you 2 quid for them’ then what’s what they’re getting for them, maybe 2.50 with a bit of haggling
We all know, somewhat depressingly, that when we’ve had a bike nicked that’s probably a couple of grand worth, that it’ll probably have been punted on to someone in the pub for 50 quid, tops. That’s how this works. It’s just what pays for the next fix the quickest and it’s a desperate game
Sadly it's a common occurrence here in NZ
people load up their trolleys and walk out, staff are advised not to challenge incase things get violent
In fact a month or so ago in Sydney Australia a member of the public and a security guard were stabbed by the thief when she was challenged
Reading that through about the potential punishment makes me wonder what it would be in the UK these days
(slapped wrist and be on your way??)
Just listening to Radio 4 now, as being frightfully middle class that’s what I do in the morning over a decaf Americano.
They were talking about Birmingham and the effect that the 300 million in cuts over the next two years is going to have. The council have pulled all funding to charities. They were interviewing someone who runs a food bank and they asked her what difference it would make to them
Her answer was that the difference is whether some people will now be able to eat or not.
What effect do you think that’s going to have on the shoplifting rates in the local supermarkets?
Now apply that across the country
I think the endgame is to make all shopping online and remove traditional shops all together. We won’t leave the house for much in 10-15yrs from now.
People have been saying this for over 10 years.
Does anyone really think the dash and grab hooded thugs are buying steak for their saturday night weekly treat?
If you're referring to my comment above you've taken it out of context. I was responding to convert querying why there was a market for stolen meat.
But May told delegates: “This kind of scaremongering does nobody any good. It doesn't serve you, it doesn't serve the officers you represent and it doesn't service the public."
Was in B&M a couple of weeks back and situation as described here - chap casually loading his large rucksack with washing detergent/gel. He walks straight out, through 3 staff members standing at the tills who, whilst knowing what was going on, couldn't do anything about it.
Chatting to the lady at the till, it was suggested they have no CCTV or security as the company won't pay for them. A business decision to take the shoplifting hit in preference to the cost of (probably ineffective) security measures?
If it's this easy and Police aren't interested then it's no surprise they'll be many taking advantage. As with everything else, the costs will just fall to the consumer.
Even if you trebbled the number of police they still couldnt be everywhere. For an addict, getting arrested and eventually imprisoned isnt a huge deterrent (roof over your head etc) anyway. Shoplifting to make a couple of quid towards your next fix is a crime of misery. Buying obviously stolen goods to save a couple of quid off your shoppping bill is an act of misery. So long as that misery is there, the crime will be too.
We had one visit us a year after she nicked from us. Amazingly I recognised her so asked her to leave.
We found a load of stuff in a corner waiting to go into her bag.
I saw her go off to the chemists so I followed her in. Very loudly I told all the customers and staff that she was a shoplifter and to keep an eye on her.
I did that in every shop in the village that she went in. Not seen her since.
How long before we have to tap our cards before entering a shop – like pay at the pump petrol stations?
that or having your face scanned
in a bloke rocks up on his bike, legs it in to the shop and starts filling a bag up with steaks and meat
should have nicked his bike whilst he was in there..
No, just loosen the qr.
Who buys stolen steak?
Plenty folk who could otherwise afford it I'd guess. Not everyone has a decent moral compass and if they can "get one over on the ripoff supermarkets" then they absolutely will. Same folk that drive into the middle of nowhere in their Range Rovers and dump their shit rather than visit a tip or pay for a skip.
Then there are the folk that either used to be able to afford it or never could and are just angry and bitter with the world and don't care any more.
Plenty of folk are out there that will have a "bargain" as long as they don't need to get their own hands dirty.
Binners is right. Except about the decaff. Filthy beggar...
You’ve clearly never met any smackheads then, as there’s generally not much economic theory involved with total desperation
My Mrs worked with smackheads every day for nearly 17 years. She told me the more chaotic female ones would do blowjobs for a tenner, so I doubt they'll be asking much for a couple of steaks. 🙄
You try being morally outraged in Salford 6.
Flemish Weaver?