A French supermarket causes a stir in its fight against shoplifting by unpacking photos of the ‘thieves of the month’ at the entrance of the store. The practice is illegal, but that doesn’t stop the operators.
“We have to defend ourselves with the means at our disposal”, one of the managers of an Intermarché in Verdun-sur-Garonne, near Toulouse, explains to the newspaper ‘La Depeche’. The proprietors were able to take pictures of various thieves via the surveillance cameras. Screenshots of it were posted on a sign at the store entrance for all customers to see.
Some customers understand the promotion, others are somewhat surprised and some are downright shocked. “What about the presumption of innocence?” someone asks. The owners know that what they are doing is illegal. “But we are confronted with mafia gangs that come to loot our store,” says manager Denis Savariaux.
According to the man, his shop is being terrorized by a Georgian group of thieves who, led by a leader and equipped with headphones to coordinate the theft, steal alcohol or razors worth between 1,000 and 2,000 euros per visit. “When the police come in, they know perfectly how to play the game so that it is not followed up. By putting up their photos, they want to show that we know them, in the hope that they will stay away.”
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