Featured
sa国际传媒官网网页入口 police report 2% drop in shoplifting offenses from year ago
Published
Modified
Shoplifting has dropped in the city for the first time in 鈥渁t least three years,鈥� sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Mayor Tim Keller said during a news conference inside Cottonwood Mall on Tuesday.
sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Police Department spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said the number of reported shoplifting offenses decreased from 6,326 this time in 2023 to 6,205 as of Tuesday.
Gallegos noted the data was raw numbers and didn鈥檛 reflect all shoplifting reports, which continue to be added.
In an attempt to further combat shoplifting, Police Chief Harold Medina said during the news conference that APD will have plain-clothes officers and undercover detectives at the malls beginning Black Friday and through the holiday season.
Keller said the city still has a 鈥渓ong ways to go鈥� in tackling crime in general but attributed the decrease in shoplifting to business owners installing cameras and putting up fencing alongside the effectiveness of a new law targeting repeat shoplifters.
Rep. Marian Matthews, D-sa国际传媒官网网页入口, said she co-sponsored a bill during the 2023 Legislature that gives prosecutors the ability to aggregate the retail market value of multiple shoplifting cases and charge a suspect with a more serious, second-degree felony if the total value of merchandise is more than $20,000.
鈥淭he key word used was 鈥榓ggregate,鈥欌�� Matthews said. 鈥淲e basically said if you shoplift over a period of time, we鈥檙e going to add up all the times you had shoplifted whether or not it was in the same store, as long as it was within a certain time period.鈥�
Since the law went into effect in July 2023, there have been 61 felony arrests related to shoplifting, Medina said. Many of those charged under the statute have been struggling with substance abuse and stealing to feed their habit, he acknowledged.
The faster that they can get help, the faster that the property crime rates could go down, Medina said.
Shara Brown, who went to Cottonwood Mall while visiting family Tuesday, told the Journal she no longer lives in the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 area, in part because of the high property crime.
Coworkers told stories of 鈥減eople walking into retail places and literally grabbing a handful of stuff and walking out with security watching them and that just gives an overwhelming sense that even the security can鈥檛 handle things,鈥� Brown said.
鈥淐riminals are more likely to do things if they don鈥檛 feel there鈥檚 a risk,鈥� she said. 鈥淩ight now, there鈥檚 a feeling that it鈥檚 not taken seriously. It鈥檚 a 鈥榲ictimless crime.鈥� It adds to a feeling of lawlessness.鈥�
