They are not shoplifters, they are raiders. Kill them for the predators they are and their raiding will stop.
“Shoplifters are running so wild in the Big Apple that pints of high-end ice cream now have special locked lids to thwart cold-hearted crooks.
The Fairway supermarket on the Upper West Side is guarding $6 cartons of Häagen-Dazs with bolted plastic tops — which can only be removed with a device at the register — as other shops padlocked freezers of the treats.”
Exactly! Warn a thief once and make it clear if they are caught doing it again a load of buckshot will be liberally applied to the bridge of their nose. Word will get around. Theft will slowly taper off at first until thieves realize that this is for real. Then it will come to an abrupt stop.
Except for a few diehards who will tempt fate.