Wagga retailers are winning the battle against shoplifters by publicly shaming light-fingered customers.
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A 23-second closed circuit video appearing to show a young girl stuff a long-sleeved shirt into her handbag at Mark Anthony’s Menswear on Monday was viewed more than 21,000 times in 24 hours on Facebook.
Store owner Mark MacKenzie has posted footage or still images of alleged shoplifters on social media a dozen times in the past two years and claims to have yielded a positive identification every time.
Mr Mackenzie said parents of perpetrators have been compelled to return items their children stole, while others have been charged by police.
“Theft is a big problem for us, we find a fair few empty clothes hangers around the store or we find security tags that have been ripped from the garment,” Mr Mackenzie said.
“Most of the time we find the security tags they have threads attached, so obviously the clothing has been damaged.”
The retailer said the decision to publish the footage was motivated by deterrence as much as bringing shoplifters to justice.
Asked whether he had concerns about breaching shoppers’ privacy, he claimed “if you're not doing anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry about”.
Turvey Tops Foodworks posts an average of three pictures of alleged thieves on its front window each week, which duty manager Tyler Richardson said was effectively dissuading would-be thieves.
“We get a fair few names from shoppers who recognise people in the photos, which we pass on to police,” Mr Richardson said.
“People generally steal low budget items like chocolate bars, which they can justify to themselves more easily.
“We have been posting the pictures for two years and in that time shoplifting has come down considerably.”
Unsuccessful Wagga council candidate Tina Gavel is rallying businesses to create a database of repeat offenders, to reduce the burden of dealing with theft.
“When a new shop opens, they have no forewarning of repeat offenders,” Ms Gavel said.
“A database with descriptions of shoplifters and itemised accounts of what’s being stolen would help shopkeepers on the look-out.”