Shop Thieves' Perceptions of Retail Security

Shop theft is both an expensive and prevalent crime. Despite the introduction of security measures into retailing and refinement of the technology, the war against shop thieves does not yet appear to have been won. Many of these “situational measures” work on the assumption that offenders perceive such technology to increase their risk of apprehension and will therefore act as a deterrent. This article examines offenders' perceptions of retail security measures. Evidence is presented from interviews with 38 shop thieves and this data is supplemented by a review of research on shop theft. The research concludes that a better understanding of how offenders perceive security, is crucial to the development of effective crime reducing strategies.