Established in 1902, JCPenney has had over 100 years to refine their loss prevention policies to perfection. So, with that kind of history, what is the JCPenney Shoplifting policy, anyways?
JCPenney knows that the basics are there for a reason – they work. By employing video surveillance, using security tagging, and employing security guards, they have the basics covered. JCPenney keeps shoplifters away by being VERY aggressive about pressing charges if they are caught.
As they say, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, but does this aggressive twist on the ‘basics’ really work? We’ll give you a hint – it does – and if you read on, we’ll tell you why!
JCPenney Shoplifting’s policy – what we know
Like any large corporation, JCPenney needs to balance its loss prevention strategies against cost. When you also consider also that they aren’t anywhere near as popular as they were ‘back in the day’ then you might think that their security must surely be lacking, as well.
The thing it, JCPenney really hasn’t changed things much at all, as the biggest deterrent is how aggressively they’ll go after you if you DO get caught.
Let’s look at what we know about their security framework so that you’ll have some idea of how it works.
Real time and stored surveillance
Surveillance cameras are around the store and despite any rumors you’ve heard, they’re not going to be in the mannequins.
Rather, JCPenney keeps it simple by having a modest number of cameras throughout the store so that areas with expensive items or which look like a place where someone could ‘stash’ an item to retrieve later are definitely being watched.
Surveillance footage will be stored on a local server or a remote one at another location, or most likely at BOTH.
This data is kept for a period of time that corporate policy will dictate, but with JCPenney, it will likely be held for up to a year – they like to prosecute shoplifters when they catch them and if someone is caught, having footage from when they’ve visited the store comes in handy for building a case to send to the police.
During normal operation, these cameras may be monitored by security personnel who will actively look for suspicious behaviors.
This may include noting how many items of clothing are brought into the dressing room, versus how many emerge when you come out, although the dressing room itself will not be monitored due to privacy laws.
Security tagging
Traditionally only used on items of higher value, these days security tags are quite inexpensive and so you can expect most items are going to be tagged at JCPenney.
These tags are typically deactivated and removed at the checkout counter, but if they are not deactivated then an alarm will sound when you pass the security arches in the store.
We have found no evidence that JCPenney uses a software-driven strategy to work with their surveillance cameras to ‘follow’ items around the store or to provide easy inventory monitoring for other applications.
That said, as these tags will still cause an alarm to sound if someone attempts to leave a store with one, they are still pretty effective.
Security guards
JCPenney employs security guards so that there will be one or more by the exit and in some cases, they may be wandering around the store.
If they suspect that you are shoplifting, it is possible that they may simply ask you to leave, although usually, they are going to leave a shoplifter alone or simply watch from nearby until the shoplifter attempts to leave the store.
At this point, you will likely be questioned and the police may be contacted. There are rare exceptions – in some cases, a minor may be asked to simply return the item and then banned from the store, but this is not always the case – JCPenney’s biggest deterrent strategy is not being lax AT ALL when it comes to shoplifters.
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Will JCPenney press charges if someone is caught shoplifting?
This is where the real ‘meat’ of JCPenney’s shoplifting policy comes into play. JC Penny will INDEED press charges in almost every instance where a shoplifter is caught.
Furthermore, they might even have a security officer review past footage if they’ve recognized you from a lot of previous visits.
So instead of one charge, you might be getting multiple charges, but even if you don’t, the charges you will get are substantial.
To give you an idea of how serious they are about it, many lawyers have webpages devoted to defending against JCPenney charges. One lawyer cited some legal information in regards to a JCPenney in Trenton, New Jersey, and charges they tended to press look like this:
- Disorderly person offence – This is the charge for theft of less than $200, and it includes over $1000 in fines and court costs, a possibility of up to 6 months in jail, and community service for 10 days on first offense, 15 on the second… you get the idea!
- Fourth degree – For theft over $200 but less than $500, a Fourth degree offense comes with up to a $10,000 fine, up to 18 months in jail, and the same amount of community service as a Disorderly person offense.
- Third degree – For shoplifting $500 or over (but below $75,000), a Third degree charge has up to a $15,000 fine, up to 5 years in prison, and community service afterward is also an possibility as well.
- Shoplifting turned robbery – If a shoplifter uses force or threatens, then this counts as a ‘second degree’ offense, with up to $150,000 fine and 5-10 years in prison, while if a weapon is pulled out (even a squirtgun that looks real—the guard doesn’t know), then it’s considered a ‘first degree’ offense and this gets you up to a $200,000 fine, 10 -20 years in prison, and maybe even community service when you finally get out of incarceration.
Keep in mind that this is just an example from ONE store – depending on the neighborhood, the charges might even be WORSE.
JCPenney does not mess around when it comes to shoplifters and this, more than anything has given them a reputation as a very bad place for shoplifters and they’ve had this reputation for well over a century.
Shoplifters would do well to leave JCPenney alone… when you look at the examples of charges that they level every day against the people they’ve caught, it’s obviously nowhere NEAR worth the risk.
In closing
In today’s article, we’ve talked about the JCPenney shoplifting policy and while their security is pretty much industry standard, their follow-through is more aggressive than just about any other retail store.
This means that first time offenders might very well be spending a little time in jail for their troubles and by means of surveillance cameras, security tagged items, and actual security guards there is a pretty good chance of getting caught.
After all, it happens enough that many lawyers advertise their expertise in defending JC Penney. If any part of this article should stick out the most, then that would have to be it.
So, if you get caught shoplifting at JCPenney, then we highly recommend that you be polite and on your best behavior, and you probably shouldn’t speak to anyone until you have retained a lawyer.
Many stores will let you off with a ban, but JCPenney is the type that will press charges immediately and likely start reviewing security footage from every time you have visited.
It’s a harsh shoplifting policy, but as we’ve said before, ‘if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it’, and JCPenney is just sticking with what works.
Reference Sources
https://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/1st-offense-shoplifting-at-jcpenney-no-police-invo-1969225.html