Thanks for the link to the response from the former Pastor, current College Director of Community Outreach:
...I am saddened that those with differing agendas have taken a selective portion of a larger conversation out of context in an effort to discredit my views. My comments around “big box” retailers were in no way an endorsement of shoplifting or other criminal behavior, but part of a point about how the distribution of police resources to areas with high numbers of misdemeanor crimes can bring low income or people of color into frequent contact with law enforcement....
Of course he is endorsing criminal behavior if he is taking the position that criminal behavior should be condoned. As a former Pastor, why would he even suggest such a thing? Chastisement and corrections serve a purpose.
Why would THAT be, Mr. Mitchell?
Somebody needs to tell the administrator of the famous quote attributed to Willie Sutton the famed bank robber, in answer to the question, "Why do you rob banks?"
He said, "Because that's where the money is."
The police respond to shoplifters at the big box stores because that's where the criminals are.