Target has a fearsome reputation on the internet regarding how far it goes to stop shoplifting. As is commonly told, it is supposed to track repeat small time shoplifters until they have one last theft that puts them over $1000 (or whatever the magic felony amount is) and only then does Target drop the net and get the shoplifter convicted on a felony for the total amount that has been stolen over weeks or months as one charge.

As the story is told, it smells strange to me and creates many, many followup questions in my mind. I think those questions would be answered by reading through a court case. As famous as Target is, I feel like more dedicated online crime news followers would know of the case and how it played out. Can anyone point me at it?

Edit: The tale told here.

63 points

I’m not sure but this is why I stop at $999 at each Target and find a new target.

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41 points

Thanks, Satan’s Maggoty Cumfart, I know I can always count on you.

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28 points

What the fuck did you just call me?

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59 points

Reliable, I think.

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3 points

Gamer

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2 points

First thousand’s free. Yep, genius policy. (Which is why I doubt they do this).

I have heard this same story except with employers tracking employees who steal money. That one makes a lot more sense to me because they know the identity of the person involved.

Someone gonna tell me that the second I walk into Target their system is like “here comes Mr. Scara Bic, currently at $570.” ??

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49 points
*

So, you’re asking if there is a shoplifter whose small-dollar.spree was stopped by target, who was then arrested by the police, who then refused an initial plea offer from the DA, who was then charged by a grand jury, refused a pre-trial plea offer, went to trial, refused the pre-verdict plea offer, and was then found guilty?

Well, what about someone who hit 60k over 120 visits?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/05/07/target-self-checkout-thief-aziza-graves-convicted/73599144007/

(edit: shortened url.)

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23 points

Yes, finally. This is exactly the kind of case I’m looking for. Now I can dig into the details of the court documents.

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9 points

But whyyy

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32 points

It interests me.

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9 points

We’re the Internet people. Hehe

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-5 points

Jeez. In that case it wasn’t someone poor just trying to get by, she was running a business. She sold the merchandise.

Does anyone else feel like 3 years is way too lenient? That kind of greedy shit should send the person away for like a decade.

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26 points
*

Lol, America has more legal slaves than it did before the civil war and has higher incarceration rate than anywhere and you want to lock someone up for a decade for non-violent property crime where the only victim is a multibillion dollar corporation that she stole less than 100k from.

https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/parent/target Here’s records of target having stolen 185 million dollars mostly from the American public, how long do you think anyone was in prison for that? Do you think any penalty there even meaningfully affected any executive or major shareholders life?

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-8 points

OK see maybe you need to go to school and learn how law works. You can’t have punishments vary based on the merit of the victim.

Here it’s Target, a rich company, somewhere else it’s a private citizen being stolen from, or a small family business, or a charity. The punishment as a deterrent needs to be based on the act alone, and not your personal lack of sympathy for the victim.

Sorry but the real world doesn’t treat law the way you seem to think.

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27 points

Target has their own crime lab. No joke.

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-25 points

Thanks, but not relevant to my question.

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25 points

It is relevant to your question, even if it’s not an answer.

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4 points

Yea it contributes to widen the conversation so, yeah not a direct answer, but it has value in this kind of forum. I’m cool with it.

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14 points

I think those would be multiple misdemeanors not one felony.

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10 points

That is just one of the things that seems very off to me about the claim.

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9 points

It depends on the state, but they often can be combined to add up to a felony.

https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladviceofftopic/comments/1dclnzd/if_target_can_compound_shoplifting_events_until/

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7 points

Jaywalk enough times and they’ll get you for murder

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3 points

If it’s consecutive incidents of the same transgression it think it’s seen as a spree, like one crime carried out in pieces. It makes sense from a legal reasoning point of view.

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I got all of you thieves. I think I might look shady or at least like someone that is going to steal. It’s prolly cause of my demeanor, behaviors, attire, and tattoos. I also act pretty weird when I’m by myself, so that’s when it usually happens. On a few occasions when I felt like I was being followed, I have tested it by going in directions that another shopper likely wouldn’t go in. Yep, I get followed. They send a stock person to the aisle to move shit around. Like the Publix macaroni really needed to be neatly replaced. Sometimes they make it evident that they are watching me at the self checkout scanner like a warning. They stand at the end. Why are they getting paid to stand there just as I showed up? Hmm. Now that I think about it, I have a good idea for a YT channel. I’d wear a discrete body camera every time I go shopping alone and post myself getting following or warned.

If you see me in the store, I got their attention, so you can go at all the good stuff. If there is a Target security person in here, from what I’ve heard people confess to me, the ones that are stealing are the ones you would least profile: middle-class light-skin women that appear aloof. They’re only running half the shit thru the self checkout scanner. If you catch them, “Oops! I must have not been paying attention. Silly me.” I’m not stealing shit. I know I have eyes on me everywhere I go.

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2 points

Not for nuthin’ but I’d subscribe to that channel!

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Right‽ I think it’s a great idea. I am going to look into it. I need to figure out what kind of camera I can use, but also need to consider the ethics with it. I don’t think people would appreciate me posting them on the internet without their consent, especially if it is with negative connotation. The public can go on a manhunt and hurt people’s lives when they may have just been having a bad day, following orders, or their behaviors were misinterpreted. If anything, I’d likely blur out their faces to protect their identity.

Thanks for the encouragement 🙂

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1 point

Most editing software can blur faces. Problem solved.

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