Shoplifting is Rife In Karangahape Rd.

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 795, 16 October 1929, Page 11

Shoplifting is Rife In Karangahape Rd.

BIG ANNUAL LOSSES BUSINESS MAN’S PROPOSAL Shoplifting is rife in Karangahape Road—more so than in any other Auckland business area. j Hundreds of pounds are lost an- j nuaiiy, mainly through the operations of thieves who steal from stands and displays in shop doorways. rr'HK present system under which goods are received by pawnbrokers and second-hand dealers is j too lax, such concerns frequently being the unwitting purchasers of stolen articles. These statements were made today by a prominent Karangahape Road business man, in discussing the shoplifting evil with a Sun man. “Recently the position has been becoming increasingly serious,” he said. “The police do all they can to help, and are. very willing, but it is exceedingly difficult to check the operations of people who steal from shop doorways on busy afternoons and evenings. “I have discussed the problem with my shop manager, and he tells me it would actually pay us to employ a man at £3 a week to stand each day and watch the door of the shop. That means we are losing £l5O a year from one shop. “The total losses in Karangahape Road must be enormous. WATCHER EMPLOYED “On Friday evenings we employ a man, and since he has been on duty we have succeeded iu capturing a number of thieves, but such a system, as it were, of personal protection is exceedingly costly and should not be necessary.” He stressed the fact that in Karangahape Road it was necessary for shopkeepers to display goods outside their shop windows and in the doorways. “Competition compels it,” he said. “Shoppers like to examine the goods without going into the shops. They, like to handle them. Then, if they wish to buy, they bring the goods in with them. “To my mind the trouble is that it is apparently so easy for shoplifters to dispose of their loot at secondhand dealers and pawnbrokers. On more than one occasion I have recognised goods stolen from me in the windows of pawnbrokers’ establishments. “These goods are new, and surely no honest man will sell brand new boots and clothing for a fraction of their price. I have been told by dealers that men, when they are drunk, will sell new clothing for whatever they can get, but dealers should not buy from men who are drunk.” REGULAR THIEVES He told of one occasion when he learned that a notorious shoplifter, whose specialty was boot stealing, had been released from gaol. Proceeding to the premises qf a friend who owned a boot store, the business man issued the warning:—“So-and-so is ‘out,’ so one of us will lose something before long.” While the two were speaking a woman rushed into the shop and said that a man outside had stolen a pair of boots. They ran out in time to catch him. “You see, we get to know them. So it goes on all the year round,” said the business man. On. another occasion, two men had taken from the front of another boot store a pole over which were slung many pairs of boots. One evening a man had been caught leaving a drapery store with a bundle of new shirts under his overcoat. When stopped he was walking swiftly toward the nearest pawnbroker. “It is difficult for the dealers to make proper Inquiries,” The Sun’s informant admitted. “These people give a fictitious name and address, and that is the last that is heard of them. I think that legislation should be framed by which dealers would be prevented from buying new goods from strangers without a police permit. I am satisfied that if the chief avenue of disposal were closed to shoplifters there would be less of that sort of law-breaking.”