Bait Packages left in Mall Food Court

[Fancy]

Different sections may not be understaffed. Trying something a little different to see what kind of results they might get will dictate whether it's feasible in future. A busy season like Christmas was the time.

[my5cents]

Different sections may not be understaffed. Trying something a little different to see what kind of results they might get will dictate whether it's feasible in future. A busy season like Christmas was the time.

I would think they should start with complaints of articles stolen after been left in the food court. My guess there weren't too many.

Do you really think that if you left a bag of groceries on a bus stop bench and returned an hour later and it was gone that the police should conduct a project watching for people finding groceries and taking them ? Really ?

I would have thought, doing a set up on packages left on door steps by couriers would be of much more concern. At lease it shows a guilty act of going on to someone property and taking something addressed to someone.

"Theft by finding" is just about, if not "the", most minor criminal offense in the books.

[Fancy]

I would have thought, doing a set up on packages left on door steps by couriers would be of much more concern.

That is a concern and in some places police are using bait parcels.

[Urban Cowboy]

Different sections may not be understaffed. Trying something a little different to see what kind of results they might get will dictate whether it's feasible in future. A busy season like Christmas was the time.

I would think they should start with complaints of articles stolen after been left in the food court. My guess there weren't too many.

Do you really think that if you left a bag of groceries on a bus stop bench and returned an hour later and it was gone that the police should conduct a project watching for people finding groceries and taking them ? Really ?

I would have thought, doing a set up on packages left on door steps by couriers would be of much more concern. At lease it shows a guilty act of going on to someone property and taking something addressed to someone.

"Theft by finding" is just about, if not "the", most minor criminal offense in the books.

In this example dangerously close to entrapment I'd even say.

I mean where does one draw the line?

I found a $20 bill in a parking lot once in the middle of nowhere with not a soul around, so what would the self righteous ones do? Turn it in to whom exactly, and if done so, what do you figure the chances are that it would ever find its rightful owner again? How many people record the serial number of their cash bills? I mean how else could anyone determine the owner or make a legit claim?

When I see someone drop money, you can rest assured I notify them, and have done so on many an occasion. Similarly I advise cashiers/clerks when they give me too much change, but there are limits to the whole do good thinking.

[Fancy]

I wouldn't say it was close to entrapment - there is no coercion. Finding electronics etc. in a shopping bag is not comparable to finding a 20 in a parking lot.

[OKkayak]

I wouldn't say it was close to entrapment - there is no coercion. Finding electronics etc. in a shopping bag is not comparable to finding a 20 in a parking lot.

Baiting a bag of goodies to see what someone will do is a pretty good definition of entrapment:

In criminal law, entrapment is a practice whereby a law enforcement agent induces a person to commit a criminal offense that the person would have otherwise been unlikely or unwilling to commit

Its one thing to scope out stores and try to catch someone willingly shoplifting, but this doesn't even come close to being justified.

[Fancy]

I think the police have a good grasp of what "entrapment" is. No one was influencing or persuading anyone to commit an illegal act.

[Omnitheo]

Would bait cars be considered “entrapment”? Nobody is coercing people to try and steal a car.

If the police hear about numerous items going missing from the mall, what is wrong with them using bait packages to try to identify if there are specific individuals repeatedly stealing items?

ITT. Unqualified people up in arms over the way that other people do their jobs

[OKkayak]

ITT. Unqualified people up in arms over the way that other people do their jobs

Nobody is "up in arms" about anything. People are expressing their opinions on a topic. Kinda the whole concept of discussion forums.

[dirtybiker]

ITT. Unqualified people up in arms over the way that other people do their jobs

Not sure what ITT is ?
But, can I use this same line towards my chosen Career and Profession ?

[Omnitheo]

ITT: In This Thread

I’d say when people post things like “don’t they have better things to do?” Or bringing up their taxes, then it sure sounds like they’re up in arms.

How dare someone in a profession I have nothing to do with do things in a different way I wouldn’t consider doing myself, rather than doing something else I think they should do but that I don’t really have a clue about!

[dirtybiker]

Got it, Thanks..

Ah, can I apply it to my chosen career and profession ?

[twobits]

What is very interesting is that the OP link to the Castanet news article somehow does not bring up the article anymore. Who squashed that and why?

[Fancy]

Link still works.

"Bait packages" placed in Surrey malls over the Christmas shopping period lured Grinches and Good Samaritans.

Surrey RCMP's Property Crime Target Team placed shopping bags containing name brand electronics and jewelry boxes in food courts and seating areas. Plainclothes officers conducted surveillance to see if any thieves would take advantage of the situation.

During the five-day project, three male suspects ranging in age from 32 to 35 were arrested for theft of a bait package. All the subjects had criminal records and have been released to appear in court at later dates.

But, investigators were pleasantly surprised by seven Good Samaritans who saw the unattended packages and turned them in to customer service or security, or simply watched over them in hopes of the owner returning.

“This is the first time our Property Crime Team has done a bait package project in Surrey,” says Staff Sgt. Mike Hall. “Only having three subjects steal the package compared to the seven individuals who did the right thing was quite refreshing, especially around the holiday season.

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#245552

Keep in mind this project wasn't occurring five days in a row.

[twobits]

Ok, ya, it works again for me too.
Still does not mitigate this five day multiple 100k/yr officers for what is best classified as a social experiment that caught 3 known petty crime felons in 5 days. Whoohoo!!
No wonder Surrey wants a Police Force they have some input, direction, and expenditure control over.
The new Mayor of Surrey is going to ask how much this social experiment cost to apprehend......essentially 3 shoplifters......how these arrests made the community feel safer in general, and how they reduced the raging drug war shootings in every friggen Surrrey residential area on a daily basis???
Seriously? A five day Shopping Mall sting to catch three shoplifters is good value while driving on any Surrey street might mean catching a stray bullet?