Every store needs to deal with shoplifting. It is one of the more common crimes. Businesses have a variety of ways to tackle shoplifting.
In the past, it wasn’t uncommon for them to post pictures of thieves in their stores. But, is this something they still do? Do stores post pictures of shoplifters?
Yes, stores do post pictures, and photos of shoplifters, although it is much rarer nowadays. Many of the larger stores will have facial recognition technology, while the smaller stores may be worried about defamation.
Let’s explain in a bit more depth because there is a lot to unpack here.
Do Stores Post Pictures of Shoplifters?
Stores do post pictures of shoplifters, but it is something that you are much more likely to find in smaller stores than in larger ones.
A lot of smaller stores may have pictures posted of shoplifters, most of the time out of sight of their customers. This way, they can recognize if a shoplifter enters their store. They can either throw them out of the store or, in some cases, call the police.
Larger stores used to do this. However, many larger stores are now equipped with extensive CCTV systems. Many of these systems have been kitted out with face recognition software.
This means the stores don’t need to memorize who the shoplifters are, their system will be doing all the hard work for them. There is absolutely no need for them to post the photos.
There is no limit to how long these photos can be kept, although most stores will probably destroy them after a few years.
So, yes. Stores do post photos of shoplifters, but it is unlikely to happen. They have the option to do so. In most cases, if they do post a photo of a shoplifter, then it means that the person is probably a serial shoplifter.
We have heard of very few cases where a picture will be posted of a first-time shoplifter unless that shoplifter ended up pulling a serious haul from a store.
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Do Shoplifting Photos Get Shared Between Stores?
This is something that can happen, but we would imagine that it is going to be very rare.
There is a good chance that larger stores may share their shoplifting information with one another. We are talking stores that come under the same brand name here i.e. a Walmart store would share with other Walmart stores, but they wouldn’t share with a Target.
Again, it is highly unlikely that the loss prevention teams will be sharing photos, but data for their security systems that allow the facial recognition to work.
Smaller stores probably wouldn’t be sharing photos between them. You may find it happens on the odd occasion, particularly if two stores have pretty close links, but it does seem to be incredibly rare.
In both cases, you are much more likely to see the photos shared with the police. While it is unlikely that the police will go out there and track a shoplifter down, mostly because it is pretty low on their priorities, they may use the photos to build a case in the future should they ever come into contact with that shoplifter (or, if they have already done so).
Can Shoplifting Photos Be Shared on Social Media?
Yes, most shoplifting photos nowadays tend to be shared on social media.
This isn’t so much as a method to say “hey, this person is a shoplifter”. Instead, it is a way to help people to identify who a particular person is in a photo.
So, it would be tremendously odd (and perhaps wrong), for a store to post an identified person on their social media.
It wouldn’t really make much sense, as they aren’t using it for their own purposes. But, if they had a picture and wanted to know who was in it, then that would make sense.
Most of the shoplifting photos that you will see on social media will probably come from the smaller stores that are hoping that the pictures have a chance of going viral.
This way, they can deal with their shoplifting problem. We don’t think we have ever seen a case where one of the larger stores goes down this route. It just seems to create a whole lot of issues.
Is Posting a Picture of a Shoplifter Classed as Defamation?
Posting a picture of a shoplifter can be classed as defamation, however, it depends on the context in that the photo is being posted, who can see the photo, and what is being said about the photo.
While the US has free speech laws, you can still be sued for defamation. This means that you make a statement that could harm the reputation of a person. We won’t go into the legal technicalities here.
It is a bit more in-depth than that but, mostly, it is about making statements that may hurt a person’s standing in society, with no evidence to back up those statements.
So, if a store posted a picture of a person’s mugshot and said “This is a shoplifter’ without reasonable evidence to back up the case that the person is a shoplifter i.e. videos, photos of them actually shoplifting, etc. then it is likely to be a case of defamation.
If a store posted that same picture and said “we want to talk to this person, do you know them?”, then this isn’t defamation, because no statement is being made about that person. Nothing that would come under defamation laws.
You may also need to factor in who can see those photos. For example, an image that is posted in a security room is probably going to have less of an impact on a person’s reputation than one that is posted on social media for the whole world to see.
Obviously, this is something that any store would need to consult with a lawyer about. There are ways to get around posting pictures without them being seen as an act of defamation. Of course, because the risk is always there, it tends to be advised not to explicitly state somebody is a shoplifter.
This is part of the reason why so many stores have started to ditch the idea of sharing photos. If they get it wrong, then they could have to make a substantial payout to the person that they accused.
Do Stores Track Down Identified Shoplifters?
We have talked about how these stores can post pictures of shoplifters in their stores, but what will they do with them? Do stores track down identified shoplifters?
For smaller stores, probably not. They may hand the photos over to the police, but that is about as far as it will go.
They may also keep an eye out for people entering their stores. However, they aren’t going to be tracking down the shoplifters.
For larger stores, there may be more of an effort to track down shoplifters, particularly the more prolific ones. It is almost impossible to get away with shoplifting in the larger stores. If you aren’t caught the first time, you will be caught later on.
While these stores won’t be physically tracking down the more prolific shoplifters themselves, you may find that they lean on the police a little bit harder. This means that it is going to be much, much more likely that a shoplifter is going to be brought to justice.
Remember, there are some items that can be tracked automatically anyway. For example, it is impossible to steal most electrical equipment, and some stores may even put tracking chips on some of the more expensive items that they have in their stores.
Basically, a shoplifter is pretty much always going to get caught. Even if a photo is not shared for the world to see, there are a ton of processes in place that mean that, sooner or later, the criminal is going to be brought to justice.
Conclusion
While they are not doing it as frequently as in the past, stores do post pictures of shoplifters. You are likely to find them on social media, often because identification is needed.
Most of the larger stores are not relying on these images to identify shoplifters, though. While they would have had pictures posted in the past, most of their shoplifter identification is now done automatically through facial recognition technology built into their CCTV systems.
There is no need for those photos now.