Shoplifters: A New Felony?

How many times have you witnessed another shopper plucking items off a store shelf and place into a purse or bag, then leave the store without paying for the items?  Maybe you have been guilty of even accidentally walking out the store with something you stuck in your pocket because you needed your hands to carry a larger item to the sales counter, meaning to take the item out of your pocket and pay for it - but forgot.

As the economy continues to wreak havoc on everyone's financial well-being, some people - and even organized groups - are waging a huge shoplifting binge at the expense of other shoppers and businesses to make a financial killing to fatten their own wallets.  Some of the more advanced organizations have grown rapidly by hiring people with previous criminal records to steal items off shelves, which in turn, sell the items to the brokers.  Many of the operations are very sophisticated, netting millions of dollars over a period of time to the ring.

As law enforcement agencies continue to close in on numerous undercover investigations across the country, the issue prompts the public to wonder if the courts should perhaps consider making such crimer operations a felony, rather than a misdemeanor.  One might think stealing a cheap $2 item off a shelf will not hurt the business, but as countless numbers of shoplifters pull the same trick, the value of losses add up fast and costly.  Perhaps we need to start charging big-time shoplifters with a felony in order to curb the interest.  The only problem is where do we draw the line on the value of stolen items before it is classified a felony?  Would it deter small-change shoplifters of escalating their interest into a full-fledge shoplifting ring?

It is time to pull all the stops out to decrease shoplifting in America by proposing tougher sentences on all shoplifters, and imposing felony charges on anyone who has a previous record of shoplifting.  Time to take back our law-abiding social norms and reduce the number of "illegal shoppers" so we can keep a tighter rein on rising consumer costs.  Because, that's the way it is.