Posted on 04/07/2025 8:42:07 AM PDT by V_TWIN
A Florida middle school principal said he “did something dumb” after he was arrested at Walmart for trying a shoplifting tactic he claims his friends told him would work.
Bok Academy North Principal Gregory Lewis was at a Winter Haven Walmart in Polk County on Saturday afternoon when an asset protection officer observed him “skip scanning” at the self-checkout, WFLA reported.
The middle school principal, who admitted to the crime, told a Winter Haven police officer during his arrest that his friends had told him about the shoplifting tactic and that he wanted to try it out for himself.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Not that this would be me, but I will never and refuse to use self-checkout. Anyone working in the store could accuse me of stealing.
Confirming the worst stereotypes about black people, that they are compulsive thieves.
I doubt if he’s ‘embarrassed’.
He’s only upset, because he obviously “Didn’t steal right”.
Guess he’s not willing to wait for Reparations.
I don’t hate school
It’s just the Principal 😜
of the Thing
Walmart has pretty advanced theft detection technology. Though it may not be fully deployed at every store.
Among other things, they use AI/machine vision to monitor what you put in your cart which gets compared with the goods you checkout. Also, they try to detect other suspicious shopping behavior using AI supported machine vision. Store detectives can be alerted to pay attention to suspicious shoppers.
😃😄😂
The National Retail Federation pegs average retail shrinkage at about 1.6% of sales annually, which hit $125 billion in 2023 across the U.S. Self-checkout theft, including skip scanning, is a chunk of that. A 2021 study from the University of Leicester audited a million self-checkout transactions and found nearly $850,000 in unscanned goods out of $21 million in sales—about 4% lost to "external shrinkage." That’s five times higher than theft rates at cashier checkouts, suggesting skip scanning isn’t just a blip. Another report from Capital One Shopping says 15% of self-checkout users admit to stealing, with 44% of those planning to do it again, and theft jumps up to 65% higher at self-checkout compared to traditional lanes.So theft at self-checkout is FIVE TIMES higher than theft at cashier checkouts.
* Dollar General yanked self-checkout from most of its 12,000+ stores in 2024 after a major implementation citing theft as a big driver.
* Five Below’s pulling it from high-risk spots
* Target’s limiting it, too.
Some stores are keeping it where traffic’s high and theft’s low, or upgrading with AI and cameras to catch skippers. It’s not a total rollback yet.
Customers aren’t loving the glitchy machines either. That is me -- I cannot go through self-checkout without something going wrong. The other day, the machine failed to ring up a special price on bottled drinks. I complained, invoked the Safeway price guarantee, and got a $5 voucher.
I can really see why they made this guy principal.
~~~~
His friends must be on the school board. How quickly he points fingers at his friends. Is he trying to get a sentence reduction?
Thread winners.
If we didnt have stereotypes we wouldnt be able to pre judge others as well.
THIS IS THE QUALITY OF PERSONS WHO ARE TEACHING YOUR KIDS.
MORE GRATEFUL EACH & EVERY DAY FOR THE ONE ROOM SCHOOL GRADE SCHOOL EDUCATION I HAD.
8 grades 14 kids 1 teacher 2 outhouses 1 Merry Go Round
THE TITLE OF “BAD DECISION” BELONGS TO THE SCHOOL BOARD/HIRING PROCESS
I love self checkout.
I am very careful about how I bag my purchases, as I live out in country, and I don’t want frozen food melting even a little.
Also, the way I pack depends on where I’m going to put it once inside the house.
Finally, my purchases are really my own business, and I don’t need any cashier giving me side eye over my buying habits.
He was just getting over on Whitey. That’s acceptable if you’re black.
Yes, it was them, Boo Boo.
You usually get a receipt, how can you be accused, if you have proof?
Could you imagine some kid telling him: “This is a cheating method I heard about from my friends to get a passing grade. Everyone’s doing it, so I figured I’d try, too. What’s the big deal, man?”
“Just trying it out”, eh? An intellectual exercise? 🙄
Reminds me of Pete Townshend’s “investigation” of child porn...
Another name for Stereotypes would be Situational Awareness.
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