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Recession Feeds Bull Market For Shoplifting

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By VALERIE KALFRIN

vkalfrin@tampatrib.com

Published: December 27, 2008

TAMPA - As the holiday shopping season winds down, local and federal statistics show that reported incidents of shoplifting have increased this year.

Tampa police statistics show 1,485 shoplifting incidents from January to November, a 6 percent increase compared with the 1,395 in the first 11 months of 2007.

In December 2007, there were 163 cases of shoplifting reported in Tampa, bringing that year's total to 1,558, police statistics show. That was a 9 percent increase over the 1,433 cases reported citywide in 2006.
FBI statistics show a 12 percent increase in U.S. shoplifting incidents reported from 2006 to 2007, the most recent year available. There were 978,978 incidents reported in 2007, up from 872,635 in 2006.

The highest number of shoplifting incidents in recent years in Tampa and across the country occurred in 2003, statistics show. There were 1,858 reported in the city and 1,013,265 total in the United States, statistics show.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association this month said that an increase in shoplifting, fraud and organized retail theft can be attributed to the poor economy. The association surveyed 52 major retailers across the country about activity since September, spokeswoman Liz Jennings said. Among those surveyed, 84 percent noted an increase in shoplifting, 76 percent noted an increase in financial fraud and 80 percent experienced an increase in "organized retail crime."

The association did not quantify the size of the increase or state whether there were more incidents, more arrests or both.

Retailers, in general, expect more shoplifting and fraud during the holidays, Jennings said. "There's obviously a lot more foot traffic in the stores."

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800.

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