It's more than just shoplifting.
It's organized retail theft, which
got me curious after watching
these videos posted online.
They show people ripping off stores.
Like this target in North Portland.
Y'all stealing. I mean,
it looks like you're stealing a
lot of stuff with no real fear of
getting caught. In many ways, it kind
of reflects some of the broader issues
we're dealing with in our city.
Like crime, accountability and drugs.
What's the problem?
This is the kind of community
I don't want to live in, man.
People take it out of the store
because I just watched them
take eight of those sweaters off
the rack and walk straight up.
Tell me about this video.
I'm fascinated by it.
I just see stuff getting
loaded into a shopping cart.
Sean is the guy who shot
the video last September.
He didn't want me to show his face.
People go about their day oblivious to
these kinds of activities are going on.
Unfortunately,
it's becoming more and more common.
He worked in loss prevention for years,
for Fred Meyer, for Safeway,
for Home Depot, but got out because
it was just too frustrating.
Yeah, during that time,
I've just seen things get more and more
challenging and more and more difficult.
Most retailers,
they don't allow their workers
to physically stop shoplifters.
It's too risky.
People get hurt.
Instead, they just take the loss. And the
bad guys have figured that out.
Last year in Portland,
there were more than 3000 cases
of shoplifting reported to police.
But that's likely a gross undercount.
A recent survey found in
most shoplifting cases,
Portland retailers,
they don't even bother
filing police reports citing
a lack of police response,
lack of prosecution, the incidents
are just low level or company policy.
I would say it's at a crisis level
right now in Oregon. How so?
Just the amount of groups that we see
coming into stores on a daily basis,
we see some of the same
individuals that are hitting.
Possible retailers every single,
every single day.
Jeremy Girard is with the
Oregon Retail Crime Association
of Oregon. Who's getting hit?
Every retailer, big and small.
Big and small, yes,
he says. Some stores, again,
these are individual stores,
are losing as much as one to
$5 million a year to theft.
And what kind of stuff is being stolen?
You know, anything that has a resale
value is typically being targeted.
Some of the items that we see that
are stolen most often are fragrances,
high end purses, Levi's, Nike.
So to protect themselves, stores are.
Walking down items like detergent.
Leaving shelves empty and hiring
armed security as a deterrent.
But even that isn't enough.
There's a stream of stolen merchandise
just walking out the door.
In the time we've been driving around
this huge parking lot, what's the
likelihood that someone
has committed a theft?
I'd say it's pretty likely.
I've I've almost surprised we haven't
seen someone running out of doors.
We drove by a few of these businesses.
It's that common. It's that common.
Yes, these stores are being hit on
a daily basis. On a daily basis,
yes, more than once.
More than once. This
surge in retail theft not only
puts workers and shoppers at risk,
but also drives up prices.
And the crime?
It bleeds into surrounding neighborhoods.
They'll they'll just walk from
the Nike store, come down here,
oftentimes with armful
of clothes and sneakers.
Paul Greenage is a pastor at new song
Community Church in Northeast Portland.
It sits just a block away from
the Nike Community Store,
which has become a target for thieves.
They come running through
the church parking lot
with stolen merchandise
all the time.
What's your reaction when you
see those videos? Holy cow.
Did they really do that?
I I'm a little.
It's like because it's so blatant.
Yes, exactly.
I was going to use the
word brazen. It just, it's like, really?
The pastor believes this crime,
retail theft. It tears at
the fabric of our community.
It seems like this cuts
deeper than just shoplift.
Well, I think it speaks to the
the general idea that when the
law is in place to help people do
the right thing and when the law
is broken and it's not enforced,
I think that's our problem.
And so the people that are breaking
the law have been given a free pass.
The solution? Retailers say
they need more help from police.
Basically, more officers and prosecutors
have got to go after shoplifters.
Plus, there need to be tougher laws.
And they make another important point here.
We're not talking about people
stealing food to survive.
This is organized retail crime.
It involves people stealing
merchandise to be resold.
Over the years,
police have busted some major
crime rings that moved from
store to store or city to city.
Which does raise an interesting question.
Where's all the stolen merchandise going?
I mean,
just sitting outside the Nike store,
we've seen
all kinds of people walk right by security,
then run off with armfuls of clothing
right off the rack and shoe boxes,
as many as they can hold.
And as coordinated right.
There's cars oftentimes sitting,
waiting for them as a getaway.
You guys game right now?
Can I just ask you what do you do
with all the stolen merchandise?
I'm a reporter. I'm with.
I'm with channel 8.
Can you tell me, do you sell it to someone?
What can we do as a
community to help stop this?
Do you sell it to someone?
Well, that didn't get us very far.
Store security did confirm all that stuff.
It was stolen. Police.
They offer a better explanation.
Basically, someone steals merchandise.
They're called a booster.
They sell a stolen goods
to a middleman or fence,
often in exchange for
drugs or maybe drug money.
It's not uncommon for drug addicts to
steal just enough to get by for the day.
The stolen goods are then listed and
sold at a deep discount on platforms
like OfferUp, Craigslist or eBay.
Sometimes they're even sold at
second hand stores or flea markets.
And a lot of this happens right on the open.
I mean, we've been watching
people haul all kinds of stolen
stuff out of these stores.
At Mall 205 at Home Depot.
One guy had a backpack full of stuff,
walks right past security to cash registers.
Nobody stops him.
Others are running off with detergent
through the parking lot, stolen shoes.
One guy in particular,
we watched him coming out of target
with this huge box and appliance.
He goes over to some other vehicle
and they talked for a while,
so we decided to follow him.
Well, next thing you know they're walking
down the street with the appliance.
They end up at some different store at
another retailer where they unload it.
And it's this cycle that has neighbors,
retailers and police all really frustrated.
Retail theft is happening at the
scale we haven't seen before.
Leading some stores to close and
others to reduce their hours.
It's also helping to fuel drug
addiction and contributing to
this theme that in many cases,
there just aren't consequences for criminals.