If you fancy a bit of shoplifting...

[wafflycat]

Admittedly its 20+ years ago that I last worked in a shop but when I did the uniformed presence wasn't there to catch they were just a visual deterrent.

There were store detectives in plain clothes in most of the bigger shops who were in contact with each other and who did a ring round when known shop lifter or gang arrived in the shopping centre, interestingly gangs would travel buy mini bus all over the country and target different shopping centres I don't know if it still happens but it was quite a problem at the time.

Back in the dim recesses of time when I was a teenager and had a Saturday job at the local supermarket, that's just how the store detectives worked. They were all plain clothes and actively on the lookout for tealeaves as well as being in contact with each other in the various large stores, so there was always a 'heads-up' if the shoplifting gang were about.

 

[fossyant]

Thinking about it, it must have been a long time ago (I feel old) as the Police weren't at all concerned about the force I was using to subdue the lad and he wasn't offered the option of pressing charges against me.

Must have been about a century ago mate - don't worry - well done..... !

 

[Black Sheep]

I used to work in Primark and we had loads of shoplifters. There was one who constantly came in and took whole rails of clothing, and was never caught. Why would you need a whole rail of identical jumpers in lots of different sizes?! If you were doing it for resale surely you'd steal from somewhere where the clothes were worth more than £5 each.

The security guards in Primark (the one I worked in anyway) are shoot, they spent all their time taking the piss out of me for looking like Kelly Osbourne (I don't) and no time investigating the shoplifter that a customer saw once and reported to me.

In fact, another useless security guard story, three security guards gave me a bollocking for pushing my bike through a shopping centre the other day. The shopping centre is a thoroughfare, I checked before I did it for signs on the doors (there was one with a bike with a red circle round it, which I assumed meant no cycling but you can push your bike, as that's what it means according to the Highway Code, and there was another of a skateboard with a red circle around it, which I assumed meant that you can't skate but can carry your skateboard). Apparently my crime necessitated three twatty security guards marching up to me and being rude. They implied that something horrible will befall me next time I do it, so I'm going to take my folder in and see what they make of that.

I used to get told off for riding through coventry city centre all the time, but as I could prove (using the city centre cctv) that I had not ridden past a no cycling sign there was nothing could be done, I was riding slowly, no faster than people walking.

Might be worth finding out from the council / planning office if it is a right of way - if it's a bridalway then you can technically bike or ride a horse through it, if its a foot path then you can walk with a bike.

one of the pedestrian streets in cov doesn't have any no cycling signs, the reason being is it is still technically a road, just with some steps in it.

 

[Arch]

Might be worth finding out from the council / planning office if it is a right of way - if it's a bridalway then you can technically bike or ride a horse through it...

Or a bride, presumably...