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PUBLIC SAFETY
CBS ATLANTA
Lenox Square mall
in Buckhead is
one of the largest
shopping centers
in the Southeast.
Shoplifting at the mall
was lower in 2012
compared with 2011.
als on his shift, which starts in the after
noon and stretches late into the night.
The people he arrests are mostly juveniles.
“They’re just coming in, taking
MARTA, and then they don’t have a
ride back,” Smith said. “Parents usually
don’t know why their kids are even in
Buckhead.”
Smith said he’s often tasked with tak
ing juvenile offenders home after they’ve
been arrested. The rides in his squad car
can be quiet, aside from the constant
crackling of radio chatter.
“I myself try not to preach too
much,” Smith said. “I try to let them
know that it’s not accepted and they
need to get off this certain area that
they’re in, but I’m not the kind of per
son that likes to keep beating some
body down and telling them how
they’re the worst person and they need
to change everything that they’ve ever
done because of this. I just let them
know it’s a bad decision and they need
to not do it again.”
These offenders seldom do commit
the same crime twice, or at least they
don’t do it at Lenox, Smith said. He said
juveniles convicted of shoplifting re
ceive a criminal trespass warning, ban
ishing them from the mall for two to
three years.
So who are these kids?
Smith said their grades are usually
below average and they don’t participate
in after-school activities. Their relation
ships with their fathers are often strained
or nonexistent, he said.
“I talk to them about it,” Smith said.
“They seem to be lost, most of the time.”
The kids’ motives aren’t complicated,
he said.
“There’s not really a set mold for
shoplifters,” Smith said. “I feel like the
shoplifter will just take something be
cause they think they can get away with
it at the time. I’ve had somebody have a
pocketful of $500 in bills and they took
$200 worth of stuff.”
Smith said while True Religion jeans
are popular on the five-finger discount
list, there are the weirder heists, like the
kid who stole a $2,000 espresso ma
chine.
Hobbs said food, electronics, cos
metics and batteries are targets. Smart
phones and other gadgets like iPads are
also favorites, Hobbs said.
Often the shoplifters work in teams,
using a distraction method. One will
chat up a sales associate while the oth
er nabs merchandise or the employee’s
phone.
“People are pretty careless with their
cellphones,” Hobbs said. “They’ll leave
them on the register.”
Sometimes the thieves walk into open
break rooms and steal wallets and purs
es. It’s always about opportunity and op
portunities abound at Lenox.
Smith said he often feels he’s fighting
a losing battle as he drives his car in cir
cles round and round the mall looking
for trouble.
He can’t tell if he’s made any real dif
ference. Smith said there have been few
er calls recently compared with the fero
cious shoplifting in the weeks leading up
to Christmas.
“There’s definitely been less lately
than I’ve had to deal with in the past,”
Smith said.
But is it a long-term trend?
“You’ll get your answer pretty quickly
come summertime when the kids aren’t
in school,” Smith said.
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