i live in Virginia, and actual gangs of thieves ride up and down 95 to rob ( shoplift) stores. Nothing happens- our local PD put out photos of the thieves, but the stores will do nothing to stop them. No private security when it is easily affordable to them.
They have even been so bold to mace the employees on the way out with the goods. Ridiculous- and i tend not to shop in those places because what’s to stop the group from robbing the customers, too? We all have handbags/wallets. Only a matter of time.
Man, Virginia has changed since I went to high school in Fairfax County a long time ago. The only shoplifting I knew about back then was usually kids and it wasn’t rampant. I worked part time in a department store in my college days and when the loss prevention people caught a shoplifter, it was a pretty big deal.
I remember once, a mom apparently found an unopened mascara and lipstick on her teenage daughter and dragged the daughter back to the store, making her return the items and apologize to the manager. You could see that the daughter was mortified and probably never did it again.
But life was more civilized back then. I don’t think gang-shoplifting was even going on in DC back then. Other thuggery was, if I don’t think they were doing that yet.