Psst: Wanna Buy Some Mouldy Cheese?

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

Watch for Updates Twice a Week

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
26,223
30,179
Carmel Valley, CA
The odd thing to me is the woman who got hurt trying to stop a thief was able to get compensation from the store! Now if one of the employees told her to "Stop that thief!" I could understand.
 

BingBong

Lifer
Apr 26, 2024
1,304
5,645
London UK
The site of this great cheese heist I have just learned was the origin of the famous Monty Python 'cheese shop' sketch :oops:

"One of the first customers was Monty Python's John Cleese. The new owners were still learning how to make cheese, and "had only managed yoghurt that day, so it all rather descended into a Monty Python sketch"".

Small world eh?

Jay.
Cleese should go back in, "got any Cheddar?"...
 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,676
8,242
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
Purposely not trying to deter or apprehend. The "shrinkage" is a cost of doing business, apparently, and it's more trouble and costly to deter than not.
Sadly this is a sign of the times.

Shopkeepers now have to watch as folk brazenly fill their pockets with merchandise and can do nothing to stop them.

They call the police and all they get is a crime log number and that's the end of the matter.

I could not be a shopkeeper & do nothing. I have a particular hatred of thieves.

Jay.
 
The odd thing to me is the woman who got hurt trying to stop a thief was able to get compensation from the store! Now if one of the employees told her to "Stop that thief!" I could understand.
Any injury occurred at work... unless the company tells you to (NOT) detain or confront. So, companies are forced to have a do not detain or confront policy.
Now, you can actually be fired for confronting a shoplifter. Unless you are a part of the Loss Prevention staff.
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: FLDRD and jpmcwjr

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
26,223
30,179
Carmel Valley, CA
Any injury occurred at work... unless the company tells you to (NOT) detain or confront. So, companies are forced to have a do not detain or confront policy.
Now, you can actually be fired for confronting a shoplifter. Unless you are a part of the Loss Prevention staff.
I interpreted "a lady" as a customer. Workers would be simply, "women". Regardless, I understand why there was money paid out.
 
Shopkeepers now have to watch as folk brazenly fill their pockets with merchandise and can do nothing to stop them.
If you own the store, you most certainly may stop them. However, you'll need to have a plan. Just punching someone, might lead to charges of assault, but whether it is ok, depends on whether whatever is being stolen is worth it. I might punch someone if we are talking jewelry or expensive electronics. Maybe not for a candy bar.
Definitely drawing a weapon on an unarmed shoplifter is not going to get you what you want.

As far as the larger stores, I've seen what my wife's Loss Prevention staff is trained to do. They usually meet them in the parking lot, quick pic of their tag, and the police meets them at their house when they arrive. Video footage, LP pics of the car, and their eyewitness accounts put them in jail.
 
But it won't work when a gang of thugs in an urban setting bull rush a store and flee on foot with pocketable items worth $$.
Not every system works for every situation. Personally, I would not want to be the only employee in a convenience store after dark. And, I bet they aren't paid enough to risk their life. If the owner of the store felt that enough was enough, they'd just close the doors. Stolen or missing items from inventory are always bad for business, and there is no compensations for such. If a store continues to make a profit with their $3 cokes and $4 candy bars, even with losses, the store won't change any policies.
 

jaingorenard

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 11, 2022
735
3,345
Norwich, UK
If you own the store, you most certainly may stop them. However, you'll need to have a plan. Just punching someone, might lead to charges of assault, but whether it is ok, depends on whether whatever is being stolen is worth it. I might punch someone if we are talking jewelry or expensive electronics. Maybe not for a candy bar.
Definitely drawing a weapon on an unarmed shoplifter is not going to get you what you want.

As far as the larger stores, I've seen what my wife's Loss Prevention staff is trained to do. They usually meet them in the parking lot, quick pic of their tag, and the police meets them at their house when they arrive. Video footage, LP pics of the car, and their eyewitness accounts put them in jail.
That does sound like a reasonable system. Unfortunately prosecutions for shoplifting in the UK are extraordinarily low, even if CCTV footage or photos are available (I think it's about 14%). I also remember reading somewhere that most shopworkers won't even bother reporting it anymore in some parts of the UK, as it's happening many multiple times a day. The same is true of burglaries - I can't remember if it was last year or the year before, but in about half of all police districts no burglaries were solved.

But our solution to having so few prosecutions, even with CCTV? Introduce even more invasive surveillance, including facial recognition software that 'blacklists' innocent people from a whole range of shops because they look similar to a shoplifter.
 

HeavyLeadBelly

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 9, 2023
940
10,224
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
In a long list of the most stolen items, I would have guessed that cheese was near the bottom, maybe just above dog turds and pipe tobacco. Apparently, I’m wrong!

Careful with those comments mister, you do realize we Wisconsinites frequent these forums and take our love of cheese very seriously.

On that note I wouldn’t be surprised if it were Wisconsin sending out another cheese raiding party that pillaged this block of deliciousness though I wouldn’t know anything about that (look away from the cheese crumbles in my beard)…
 
Last edited by a moderator:

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
26,223
30,179
Carmel Valley, CA
That got me looking at prices for wheels of cheese, courtesy J. Bezos. Seems you can get a quantity of cheddar from around $.50/oz. to many dollars an ounce.