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Shoplifting (also known as boosting and five-finger discount) is a popular term used for theft of goods from a retail establishment. Shoplifting is typically undertaken by amateurs, and involves concealing an item and leaving the store without paying for it. Other forms of shoplifting include swapping price labels of different items, and eating a store's food without paying for it. Commonly shoplifted items are those with a high value in proportion to their size, such as razor blades and cigarettes. Retailers have reported that 0.6% of their inventory is lost to shoplifting. The term shoplifting and shoplifter has not been defined in Law. The word shrinkage is not a synonym for shoplifting, as it includes merchandise loss by means other than shoplifting. ==Overview== Shoplifting is the act of knowingly obtaining goods from an establishment in which they are displayed for sale, without paying for them. Usually shoplifting involves concealing items on the person or an accomplice, and leaving the store without paying. However, shoplifting can also include price switching (swapping the price labels of different goods), refund fraud, "wardrobing" (returning clothes after they have been worn) and "grazing" (eating or sampling a store's goods while in the store). Retailers report that shoplifting has a significant effect on their bottom line, stating that about 0.6% of all inventory disappears to shoplifters. Most shoplifters are amateurs. In several countries, criminal flash mobs of primarily of teenagers and young adults, enter stores with the intention of stealing merchandise by distracting staff. However, there are people and groups who make their living from shoplifting, who tend to be more skilled. Generally, criminal theft involves taking possession of property illegally. In self-service shops, customers are allowed by the property owner to take physical possession of the property by holding or moving it. This leaves areas of ambiguity that could criminalize some people for simple mistakes, such as accidental hiding of a small item or forgetting to pay. For this reason penalties for shoplifting are often lower than those for general theft. Few jurisdictions have specific shoplifting legislation with which to differentiate it from other forms of theft, so reduced penalties are usually at a judge's discretion. Most retailers are aware of the seriousness of making a false arrest, and will only attempt to apprehend a person if their guilt is undoubted. Depending on local laws, arrests made by anyone other than law enforcement officers may also be illegal. The first documented shoplifting started to take place in 16th-century London. By the early 19th century, shoplifting was believed to be primarily a female activity. In the 1960s, shoplifting began to be redefined again, this time as a political act. Researchers divide shoplifters into two categories: "boosters," professionals who resell what they steal, and "snitches," amateurs who steal for their personal use. Shoplifting is considered a form of theft and is subject to prosecution. In the United Kingdom, theft is defined as "A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it; and “thief” and “steal” shall be construed accordingly." It is one of the most common crimes. Shoplifting peaks between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., and is lowest from 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. In the United States, shoplifting increases during the Christmas season, and arrest rates increase during spring break. Rutgers University criminologist Ronald V. Clarke says shoplifters steal "hot products" that are "CRAVED," an acronym he created that stands for "concealable, removable, available, valuable, enjoyable and disposable." The most commonly shoplifted item used to be cigarettes, until stores started keeping them behind the cash register. Commonly shoplifted items are usually small and easy to hide, such as groceries, especially steak and instant coffee, razor blades and cartridges, small technology items such as MP3 players, smartphones, USB flash drives, earphones, CDs and DVDs, cosmetics, jewelry, multivitamins, pregnancy tests, electric toothbrushes and clothing.〔 In the United States, frequently shoplifted books include ones by authors Charles Bukowski, Jim Thompson, Philip K. Dick, Martin Amis, Paul Auster, Georges Bataille, William S. Burroughs, Hunter S. Thompson, Italo Calvino, Don DeLillo, Raymond Chandler, Michel Foucault, Dashiell Hammett, Jack Kerouac and other Beat generation writers, Jeanette Winterson, Chuck Palahniuk, Haruki Murakami, Jeffrey Eugenides, and Mark Z. Danielewski.〔Rosenbaum, Ron, ("Shoplift Lit: You Are What You Steal" ), column, ''The New York Observer'', September 26, 1999, retrieved December 20, 2009〕〔("Book Stealing" ), segment transcript, ''On the Media'', December 23, 2005, retrieved December 20, 2009〕〔Brown, Mick, ("Jeffrey Eugenides: Enduring love" ), ''The Telegraph'', January 5, 2008, retrieved December 20, 2009〕〔Rabb, Margo, ("Steal These Books" ), essay, ''The New York Times Book Review'', December 20, 2009, retrieved same day〕〔Constant, Paul, ("Flying Off the Shelves: The Pleasures and Perils of Chasing Book Thieves" ), ''The Stranger'', February 26, 2008, retrieved December 20, 2009〕 ''(See Book store shoplifting.)'' Economists say shoplifting is common because it is a relatively unskilled crime with low entry barriers that can be fitted into a normal lifestyle. People of every nation, race, ethnicity, gender and social class shoplift. Originally, analysis of data about apprehended shoplifters and interviews with store detectives suggested that females were almost twice as likely as males to shoplift. However, since 1980 data suggest that males are equally or more likely to shoplift than females. The average shoplifter first did it at the age of ten: shoplifting tends to peak in adolescence then steadily declines thereafter. People of all races shoplift equally, and poor people shoplift only slightly more than rich people. Men tend to shoplift using knapsacks, and women using strollers. When caught, a shoplifter has on average $200 worth of unpaid-for merchandise. Shoplifting may be prevented and detected. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) monitoring is an important anti-shoplifting technology. Electronic article surveillance (EAS) is another method of inventory protection. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is an anti-employee-theft and anti-shoplifting technology used in retailers such as Walmart, which already heavily use RFID technology for inventory purposes. Loss prevention personnel can consist of both uniformed officers and plain-clothed store detectives. Large department stores will use both and smaller stores will use one or the other dependant on their shrink strategy. Store detectives will patrol the store acting as if they are real shoppers. The presence of uniformed officers acts as a deterrent to shoplifting activity and they are mostly used by high-end retail establishments. Shoppers in some stores are asked when leaving the premises to have their purchases checked against the receipt. Some expensive merchandise will be in a locked case requiring an employee to get items at a customer's request. The customer is either required to purchase the merchandise immediately or it is left at the checkout area for the customer to purchase when finishing shopping. Many stores also lock CDs, DVDs, and video games in locking cases, which can only be opened by the checkout operator once the item has gone through the checkout. Some stores will use dummy cases, also known as "dead boxes", where the box or case on the shelf is entirely empty and the customer will not be given the item they have paid for until the transaction has been completed, usually by other store staff. Security guards are generally given the following criteria that must be met before apprehending a shoplifting suspect: *You must see the shoplifter approach the merchandise *You must see the shoplifter select the merchandise *You must see the shoplifter conceal, convert or carry away the merchandise *You must maintain continuous observation of the shoplifter *You must observe the shoplifter fail to pay for the merchandise *You must apprehend the shoplifter outside the store 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「shoplifting」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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