by Abigail Ramirez
Daily Lobo
Most people are paying for holiday gifts with hard-earned money, but others pursue a different avenue for the season of giving: the five-finger discount.
Trish Hoffman, spokeswoman for the Albuquerque Police Department, said shoplifting rises dramatically between Nov. 25 and Jan. 1.
APD has received 67 shoplifting calls since Thanksgiving.
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During the 2005 holiday season, APD received 360 shoplifting calls.
"Within November to January, 360 calls in just two months - that's really, really high," Hoffman said.
She said the holiday season increase is partly due to people who want to give gifts but don't have the money.
New Mexico Statue 30-16-20 states shoplifting occurs when an individual takes an item past the point of exiting the business and intentionally does not pay for that item. It can also be intentionally depriving a merchant of all or some of the value of an item by manipulating a displayed price or putting an item in a package other than the original.
Hoffman said shoplifters have many techniques, including putting clothes on underneath their clothing and concealing items in a purse or bag.
Shoplifters sometimes use their children in the crime, hiding layers of unpaid-for clothing under their children's clothes and putting items in diaper bags and strollers, she said.
Amber Hellman, associate manager of Buffalo Exchange, said the store's employees are trained to look for shoplifters.
"We have a lot of communication that goes on, like if somebody is noticing something kind of sheisty - like somebody has shifty eyes and stuff - we all will talk about it and proactively go and talk to that person," she said.
Hellman said employees politely talk to people who look like they might steal something. Would-be shoplifters usually won't talk to the employee, and they leave the store without taking anything, she said.
Paul Hartsfield, owner of the used CD and DVD store Natural Sound, said there are no discs in the cases at his store to prevent shoplifting.
Sometimes, people try to steal the cases anyway, he said.
"Some of the empty boxes have even turned up in other stores with people trying to sell them without a CD," he said.
There is no pattern of violators, because they are males and females of all ages,
Hoffman said.
Hellman said she can't tell shoplifters apart from regular customers.
"You would never know some of the time, until you're like, 'Wow, I just saw that person stick something in their purse,'" she said. "I can't believe it some of the time."
Hoffman said that shoplifting is a premeditated crime, and the punishment depends on the price of the stolen items. Shoplifters can be arrested, sent to jail, fined and charged with a misdemeanor or felony, she said.
Hartsfield said shoplifting hurts businesses and their
customers.
"Shoplifting obviously, for any business, affects them in two ways," he said. "One is you just lose the money, and people steal the stuff. The second is that if they steal it, you might not have it in stock when somebody else comes in to buy it."
The punishment for shoplifting is based on the value of the merchandise that was stolen:
$250 or fewer is a petty misdemeanor
More than $250 but less than $500 is a misdemeanor
More than $500 but less than $2,500 is a fourth degree felony
More than $2,500 but less than $20,000 is a third degree felony
More than $20,000 is a second degree felony
Source: New Mexico Statute
30-16-20
