Retail staff miss work due to fears about shoplifters

The hidden costs and side-effects of shoplifting on businesses in Mullingar were relayed to local District Judge Seamus Hughes by Mullingar Chamber of Commerce.

Following an invitation from the court to highlight the difficulties businesses operating locally are experiencing, chamber president, Pat Whelan, addressed last Thursday’s court, where a number of people faced prosecution for shoplifting.

A worrying trend which shop owners disclosed in a survey they completed for the chamber was that more and more staff are experiencing difficulties including taunts from known shoplifters.

“It is an unpleasant experience for staff to have to deal with shoplifters and an unpleasant experience for customers to witness,” Mr Whelan told the court, adding that the stress has led to increased absenteeism.

A total of 39 business outlets in Mullingar took part in the survey and 80 per cent of them confirmed they suffered losses to shoplifters within the last year, while all three shopping centres in the town reported they dealt with shoplifters daily.

“The actual cost to businesses in the town is significant,” Mr Whelan told the court. “Small shops spend between €500 and €1,000 on anti-theft security measures, rising to between €2,000 and €5,000 for larger shops.”

Five shops in Mullingar have had to engage full-time security while others have introduced security training for their staff. “This can have an emotional cost as staff are frightened to go into work because they are concerned about what security issue they may face on a given day,” said Mr Whelan.

Apart from providing security personnel and staff training, shop owners have also had to introduce CCTV, observation mirrors, tag machines, security bells and panic buttons.

Having to be constantly vigilant in the fight against shoplifting has other effects on business, Mr Whelan reported. Staff are taken away from the traditional role of providing customer service and meeting customers’ needs and this affects the shopping experience, he said.

“There are professional shoplifters out there who steal to order and they will target high end products,” Mr Whelan continued.

Mr Whelan said Mullingar Chamber of Commerce was well aware of the good work done by gardaí and the judiciary but had concerns about the revolving door system in the prison service. “There seems to be a concentration on the needs of the perpetrator and not the business owner,” he said, adding that any person with three convictions or more should be branded a habitual offender.

Mr Whelan said that the chamber had looked at specific issues, stating that any person who teaches a child to steal should be severely dealt with while thieves who use their vehicles to commit crime should face driving bans. He also courted the notion of opening up local jails and said that in the case of Mullingar, Columb Barracks would present an ideal location.

Concluding Mr Whelan reiterated his praise for gardaí for the constant support they offer to the business community.

Earlier, Judge Hughes said that in the current economic climate, shops and businesses are at a critical stage in terms of survival. While prison sentences are a last deterrent, they are a penalty which is designed to ensure offenders realise there is no future in shoplifting.

“Any prison sentence which is imposed carries an automatic 25 per cent remission while there is also the question of temporary release,” Judge Hughes continued, adding that this has been introduced because there are not enough prison spaces.

“It is a gross interference with the sentencing policy. While I fully respect the work of the gardaí in relation to this type of crime, in effect there is no deterrent to shoplifting. It is a scourge of our society that in this day and age we are still having to deal with shoplifters,” he concluded.