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The theft — a cassette tape
worth less than $10.

When a journal

a

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Caught — you never know
when you're being watched.

ist goes bad...

Too late — you're in the
system now.

Terrace Review — Wednesday, January 23, i991 B 13

Terrace Review freelance reporter and columnist Stephanie
Wiebe, with the participation of local RCMP and Northern Drugs,

recently decided to go through the process of being nabbed and
booked as a shoplifter. This rather unflattering photograph was
part of it, and the rest, she found, wasn’t much fun either.

The situation often begins with a plainclothes store
detective. These detectives look like any other shopper,
until the moment of arrest. When the shoplifter walks out
through the door, the detective’s voice comes from behind,
"Excuse me, you’ve neglected to pay for an item from this
store — you are under arrest."

by Stephanie Wiebe

Joe Sullivan, owner of Lockport
Security in Terrace, says that
shoplifting is a “daily occurence."
He should know. It’s his business
to train and employ security guards
and plainclothes detectives for
local stores, malls and mills.
Sullivan stresses that the store
detectives are professionals, trained
locally by “the best in the
industry". The individual who
trains these detectives was
nominated for 1989’s "Rookie of
the Year" in store detective work.

"It’s a specialized industry," says
Sullivan. "It takes a professional to
fit in [with regular shoppers) and
not be noticed.”

!

Lockport Security's detectives
are rotated among stores, but
familiarity among local shoplifters
is not a problem, according to

Sullivan. "When you put a store
detective into a store, and the word
gets out that they have coverage in
that store, the mere presence is a
deterrent."

Sullivan says that shoplifting is
an ongoing problem for retail
establishments at any time of year.
Ashoplifter can be of any age, sex
or social class, and often a
detective will watch shoppers for
hours before his diligence pays off.
Sometimes, the detective will get
"a hunch" about a particular
shopper. "You just get a feeling.”

Sullivan’s company also offers
seminars about shoplifting to stores
and their employees, but maintains
that a store detective is 4

worthwhile investment for a retail
business. "When a store detective
is in a store, it’s an extra set of
eyes watching the merchandise."
That extra set of eyes often

Although Stephanie got her fingerprint sheet as a souvenier
. when she finished the research for the story, a real shoplifter’s
prints would form part of a criminal record file.

produces an arrest. After the
detective detains the shoplifter,
recovers the stolen merchandise,
and the proper forms are filled out,
the RCMP are called in. The
shoplifter is identified, informed of
charges and his/her legal rights,
and escorted out of the store and
into the waiting RCMP vehicle for
the short trip to the back security
entrance of the detachment
building. Inside, the shoplifter is
taken to a small closet of a room,
and left alone with a telephone and
a list of lawyers’ and Legal Aid
phone numbers. The door is locked
from outside.

Across the hall, fingerprints and
"mug shots” are an anti-climax. At
the Terrace detachment guard Jim
Ippel performs these procedures in
a casual experienced manner. The
photography is quick — the
shoplifter sits on a stool and
Ippel’s camera clicks. At a nearby
counter, he instructs the shoplifter
to have relaxed fingers, allowing
Ippel to control the pressure and
movement across the inked
cardboard and fingerprint paper.
"IE you pull back, we'll just do it
over again. I’ve got all day.” After
washing hands, signing a few
forms (including a “Promise To
Appear" form with a court date),
the shoplifter is then released.
From this point, the shoplifter’s
fate is in the hands of Crown
Counsel. Penalties range from
probationary periods with
community service, to possible
fines —- but it gets worse for
repeat offenders. It is possible to
"serve time" for shoplifting.
Shoplifting is a crime, whether the

_-yalue of stolen goods is worth five

cents or one thousand dollars.
Regardless of the sentence, the
convicted shoplifter now has 4
permanent criminal record. Most
job applications ask if the applicant
has ever been arrested. Any
position which reqires bonding or
special licencing will probably be
nearly impossible to attain. A
person with a criminal record can
be denied admission to colleges,
professional schools and foreign
countries.

Ts it worth it?

Local reporter turns
to life of crime
"You are under arrest for
shoplifting." The pharmacist led
me to the back room of the store,
where I was asked to produce the

stolen goods. Soon after, Terrace

RCMP Constable Jane Amirew
walked in and requested my
identification. Then she recited the
charges — Theft Under $1,000,
Section 334 (b) of the Criminal
Code, and Posession of Stolen
Property, Section 354 of the
Criminal Code — and my legal
rights. "You have the right to
retain and instruct counsel without
delay. You are not obliged to say
anything. Anything you do say
may be used as evidence. Do you
understand these rights?” This is
when the adrenalin began to flow.

Please note: I’m innocent — I
know, all criminals say that, but I
really am. With a joumalistic
interest, I volunteered to go
through the procedure commonly
experienced by shoplifters in
Terrace. The arrest was ..
interesting.

Walking out of a store with an
RCMP escort was a_ sitange
experience. It felt as though
everyone in the world was
watching.

As we drove to the RCMP
station, 1 concentrated on
imagining that this circumstance
was genuine. I noticed that my
hand shook slightly as the
adrenalin came back. Driving into
the back security entrance garage
produced a dramatic effect. The
garage door closed behind us, and
the vehicle was parked. Constable
Andrew got out of the car, and
walked into the building, I was left
sitting in the back seat, with no
inside door handles, no window
cranks, no access to anywhere but
the back seat area. Through the cat
window and open doorway, 1
watched Constable Andrew walk
down a hall and "check in” at a
window. For a moment, I tasted
the scary feeling of not being in
control of any part of the situation.

Realising that this feeling would be

more intense in a legitimate arrest,
it was comforting to remember that

this was not real.

Constable Andrew finally came
back and led me down that hall to
the phone room, a small closet
with a painted-brick institutional-
basement decor. There was a chair,
a small counter, the telephone and
a marked-up list of lawyers. The
door was locked, and I was
grateful not to be the
claustrophobic type. I waited. And
waited.

Eventually, the door opened and
I was led across the hall into a
brightly lit office with a laboratory.
atmosphere, for fingerprinting and
"mug shots". Here, my name,
address, birthdate and basic
information was recorded. Guard
Jim Ippe! indicated that I be seated
on a stool, and he swung a
numbered bar across my chest.
"Look up right about here," he
said, and almost immediately the
camera clicked. "Please step over
to the counter."

After informing me that my

fingers should be relaxed, Ippel

methodically pressed and roiled
each one against an inked card and
onto a paper form. He was careful
to get clear, wide prints, and
gently pushed up my long sleeves
before inking my hands for a palm
print. He then offered a lotion-soap
and warm water wash.

Constable Andrew appeared with
papers to sign, and I was released
with the send-off of "We don’t
want to see you here again.” They
won't.

Being arrested for shoplifting is
a lousy way to spend a morning.
Throughout my “detention”,
allowing the pretense to become
real was difficult because it was
too frightening, so I wavered
between the slight adrenalin rush
and detached interest. The initial
arrest was unnerving, the legal
processing was boring, and I didn’t
even have to deal with court dates,
sentences or living with a criminal
record. I don’t have to face anyone
who questions my honesty. Real
shoplifters do.

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