Albertsons does not have an official shoplifting policy that is available to the public. The company has not made it clear whether they have an internal policy for a standardized approach to shoplifting.
Reports from the public indicate that Albertsons respond to shoplifters in a number of different ways, and there is little predictability between them.
Without an official policy, you might be confused as to what happens to shoplifters when they are intercepted by Albertsons’ loss prevention teams.
In the rest of the article, we are going to learn about the legal situation and the most common outcomes.
Do Albertsons Have an Official Shoplifting Policy?
Albertsons do not have an official policy on shoplifting published anywhere within their list of policies.
CCTV recording for the purpose of detecting and preventing theft is mentioned within their privacy policy, however, so it is clear that the grocery chain is cognizant of shoplifting on a corporate and policymaking level.
Albertsons have not addressed why they do not have a formal shoplifting policy that is available to the public or whether they even have one that is for internal use only.
One possibility is that it allows them to deal with individual incidents of shoplifting in a manner that is most appropriate by looking at them on a case-by-case basis.
Another possibility for why Albertsons does not have a formal shoplifting policy could be because they operate in many states and would find it unhelpful to standardize a policy of this nature across so many different criminal justice systems and laws.
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How Do Albertsons Deal With Shoplifters?
Albertsons do not have a formal shoplifting policy published, so it is not surprising that people have reported countless different ways in which the store has dealt with them or others when they have caught them shoplifting.
Let’s look at some of the most common reactions in increasing degrees of severity.
The Lucky Escape
Some shoplifters simply do not get approached. It may be because they did not get detected, but many believe that Albertsons and other stores may choose not to intervene in certain situations.
The most common reason for this is that there is no member of the loss protection team available for a physical confrontation at the location and time.
Because shoplifters do not hang around for long and they are rarely identified from the moment they enter the store, the time window to confront them is notoriously narrow.
This is even more relevant when by the time the store’s security team confirms that a person is shoplifting, the shoplifter has already left.
An Albertsons employee confronting a shoplifter on public or third party property is not out of the question, but it is treated differently by the law compared to when the confrontation happens on Albertsons’ private property, so this is a factor in the decision.
The Simple Warning
Although it is rare, Albertsons may simply inform a shoplifter that they are aware of what the person is doing or has done.
If the loss prevention team believe that they will struggle to make any meaningful gains from further action or possibly have to deal with adverse effects and they are able to regain the merchandise with a simple verbal exchange, they may choose this course of action.
The Store Ban
Usually, when Albertsons confront a shoplifter but take no further legal action, they will also ban them from the store. This is significantly more common than a simple warning.
Banning a shoplifter from the store also gives them a new way to take legal action down the line. If the same person returns, whether it is to shoplift or not, they will be trespassing, and Albertsons can approach the matter from that legal perspective rather than trying to go the shoplifting route through the criminal justice system.
The Mutually Agreed Fine
A number of people have said that when they have been caught shoplifting by Albertsons, they have been given an agreement to sign.
This agreement states that the shoplifter is liable for any losses that their shoplifting has led to, typically including the sum of the values of the stolen items but sometimes with punitive damages on top.
Although this agreement is not fine in the legal sense, by signing the document, the shoplifter is admitting guilt, which makes it easier for Albertsons to seek criminal charges against them should they then refuse to pay.
For this reason, the mutually agreed fine can be seen as a compromise between the shoplifter, who gets to avoid a criminal record, and Albertsons, who receive restitution.
The Police Call
Albertsons may call the police to attend when they detect a shoplifter. Whether this is done depends on many factors, including whether the local police or sheriff’s department has the capacity to send a unit to these kinds of calls on short notice.
It is a common misconception that a prosecution can only take place if a law enforcement officer attends directly after the shoplifter is intercepted and arrested them.
In reality, this step is not necessary, and Albertsons can still press for criminal prosecution even if the shoplifter is not arrested or spoken to by police when they are caught.
The Criminal Prosecution
If Albertsons have enough evidence against a shoplifter, they can present this to the police to build a case for prosecution.
Because law enforcement officers do not have to confront a suspect at the time of the offense, even if the shoplifter has left the store without any intervention by Albertsons staff or police, this does not mean that nothing will happen or that the shoplifter was undetected.
What Does the Law Say About Shoplifting at Albertsons?
Albertsons have stores across 15 American states, each with their own laws on shoplifting. Because about one third of the grocery chain’s stores are in California, we will look at that state’s laws on shoplifting to determine the most likely response from the criminal justice system to people who shoplift at Albertsons.
California Penal Code 459.5
Shoplifting in California is currently covered by Penal Code section 459.5, which defines it as stealing up to $950 from a commercial establishment while it is open.
This crime is a misdemeanor and is punishable with up to 6 months in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, restitution, or probation in cases where there is no jailtime.
This section of the California Penal Code was added following Proposition 47 passing in 2014. Before this date, shoplifting was often charged under burglary statutes, which made it a felony and carried a prison term.
Are Albertsons Involved With Laws on Shoplifting?
Although Albertsons are a private company, they have tried to get the laws on shoplifting changed to favor retailers more.
In California, Albertsons is one of the store chains that have provided support and funding for movements to increase the harshness of shoplifting laws.
For example, in the lead up to the Proposition 20 referendum in California, Albertsons was one of the two largest financial contributors, alongside Kroger, to the campaign for that proposition.
Proposition 20 listed a number of changes that would have made the state’s criminal justice system tougher on crime.
One of these was to make stealing items from retail stores to the cumulative value of between $250 and $950 a felony again. Reclassifying this range of shoplifting as a felony would allow courts to send shoplifters to state prison for a year or more.
Albertsons believed this change would have a deterrent effect on prospective shoplifters, making them less likely to steal from the grocery chain because they would have a much higher chance of spending longer in prison.
Supporters of Proposition 20 viewed this as a reversal of the past decade’s policies of getting softer on crime, which many believe have led to the large increase in shoplifting in the state.
Proposition 20 was defeated on November 3, 2020, with 61.72% of voters voting against it. Nonetheless, Albertsons were a large part of the campaign, and it is unlikely to be the last time they will be involved in the democratic process.
Conclusion
Albertsons do not have a formal shoplifting policy available to the public, but as we have learned in this article, not only will they take action against shoplifters regardless, but they are also very heavily involved in policymaking and the democratic process through their funding and support for movements that aim to increase the harshness of laws aimed at shoplifters.
References
https://www.albertsonscompanies.com/policies-and-disclosures/default.aspx