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As one source explains, "The dollar amount of what is being stolen must be over a certain range, or it's not worth it. For our store, that amount was $20, and if was under that amount, it wasn't worth the store's time for us to get involved. If someone is stealing $10 worth of stuff, and it takes two hours for cops to show up ... why would we bother? Now, if you do it every day, then we'll keep track, document it, and eventually arrest you, but for the most part, if it's under $20, we just try to scare you. Our best tactic is to send in the people in uniforms and hope they frighten you away from further crime."

Wild Bill's Nostalgia

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Posting the right signage helps, too.

Otherwise, well, they have to get creative. "There was a guy who'd come in and get a half-pound of potato salad at the deli. And every time, as he was shopping, he'd eat the salad and dump the container. So just $2.50 a time; wasn't worth the cost. I figured, so what. The guy spends a couple hundred a week in groceries. Let him have his potato salad. But my co-worker was like, 'We gotta do something!' So we hovered and followed him, he tossed the container on an empty shelf on the aisle, and the guy I was working with grabbed it. The shoplifter got in line to pay, unloaded his groceries, and my partner stepped up behind him and put the container on the belt. The customer didn't notice until the cashier rung it up and asked 'D'ya want me to just toss this?' The look on his face was incredible."