Police said they recently met with some 40 retail industry representatives to work on ways to prevent theft. This came after the force recorded around 37,000 cases of theft between January and May this year, which represented a three percent increase from the same period last year. Among them, there were 3,678 cases of shoplifting, a 12 percent year-on-year increase. Authorities arrested 1,750 people in total, of which around 150 of them were caught on suspicion of making repeated attempts at shoplifting. One of the arrestees was suspected to have shoplifted five times during the period. The most common age group to commit shoplifting were those between 41 and 50 years of age, followed by those aged between 51 and 60 years. Police said there was no distinction between gender. Mong Kok, Tsuen Wan and Tseung Kwan O were the areas that recorded the largest numbers of shoplifting cases. Common shoplifted items included pharmaceutical products, shampoo and razors. Wine and chocolate were the main targets from November to January each year, while fruit and ice cream were most popular during summer. The largest case involved two bottles of wine priced at around HK$130,000. The force said there was no fixed price range of stolen products, as shoplifters mainly act out of a sudden urge. “They commit shoplifting due to losing their spouse, their loved ones, their job, or mobility or health, these trigger their depression or negative feelings and negative mood, [and] they need to find a way to cope with that,” police clinical psychologist Michael Fung said. He added that shoplifters experience a thrill or excitement after stealing products from the shop, but feel a sense of guilt and distress after some time, therefore encouraging them to repeat their actions. New shoplifting methods involve taking advantage of self-service kiosks, such as not scanning all ready-to-purchase items or cancelling certain items after scanning. The police have offered security suggestions for the retailing sector, such as allocating more staff to assist customers, arranging for security guards in plain-clothes to patrol shop floors, and upgrading surveillance cameras. Police noted that shoplifters look the same as ordinary customers, but there are a few ways to identify potential thieves. “For example, [shoplifters] wear extraordinarily big clothing during very hot seasons, as it is easy for them to put stolen property into their clothes and just walk out, or bringing extraordinarily big bags that are empty at first...these might be hints they want to do something, ” chief inspector Kelly Choi, who works on crime prevention, said.
