Yes, Safeway does have some problems with shoplifting. In Portland, Oregon, for example, a couple was accused early this year of stealing an estimated $5 million of groceries from area Safeway stores over a period of years.
But arresting a pregnant Honolulu woman and her husband this week for forgetting to pay for two sandwiches while shopping with their 3-year old child–total value, $5– was a pretty incredible example of warped corporate and public policies. The incident has been drawing national and international attention to the policies of Safeway and HPD.
First question: How much did it cost the public (read: you and I) to arrest and detain this couple over a $5 dispute? With the expenses of police officers, transportation and processing costs, costs of CPS (brought in to care for the child while her parents were in custody), it has to be in the thousands of dollars. And that’s only if it doesn’t actually go to court, which will drive up those public costs to a whole new level.
So why are we subsidizing Safeway, a $7 billion corporate-owned chain of supermarkets, with our public dollars? They have other private remedies if they really think it makes sense to aggressively pursue this kind of incident. In my view, they shouldn’t be allowed to claim public resources to enforce their policy.
I can say with confidence that if I called the police to report someone for allegedly stealing $5 worth of anything from my house, HPD would not take them into custody, especially if they said it was just a mistake. I’m sure that anyone who has dealt with HPD after a household theft would agree. Guarantee. So the second question–Why is Safeway given special preferential treatment by the police that isn’t extended to the general public?
Then there’s the question of the Safeway checkout process. In the past, you rolled your cart up to the checkout stand and a clerk took it, emptied items out of it, then rang them up or passed them over a scanner. You paid the bill, retrieved your groceries, and went on your way. If you ate a sandwich and left the wrappers in the cart, the clerk would have found them and added them to the sale. No problem.
Then the corporate pencil sharpeners figured out that they could make us do much of the work formerly performed by Safeway’s own employees. They then spent millions of dollars to redesign and replace thousands of check-out stands across the entire chain of stores. The result is the current system where you push your cart into a narrow aisle and empty its contents onto a counter, where a checker then scans the items.
There are obvious problems with this. The design of narrow checkout aisles makes it hard to see what’s in the cart from your position behind it, especially items that slide into the back corners. There have often been occasions where I couldn’t see the last item or two, and they were only discovered with a bit of luck.
And now Safeway has the gall to say that not only are we required to subsidize their labor costs by taking over work previously done by store employees, they are going to hold us criminally liable for making any mistakes in the process. Here again, it seems to me that Safeway is responsible for checking to see whether customers have missed any items while moving them from cart to counter. If the items were hidden, that’s another story. But in this case there doesn’t seem to be any dispute that the sandwich wrappers were in plain view in the cart with no attempt to hide them away or dispose of them before checkout, either of which might have indicated an intent to shoplift.
I’m sure Safeway’s checkers are well trained to make sure the carts are empty before finalizing a sale, but customers have no such training. And, again, the customers view of the cart is severely restricted by those narrow checkout aisles, so things can be missed with even the best of intentions. And that is without the complications and distractions of a pregnant woman with a 3-year old in tow.
The incident is a black eye for Safeway’s corporate image, but it also raises questions about when and to what extent public resources should be subsidizing corporate policies like this one. Using police and courts to resolve this kind of minor dispute, shifting the enforcement costs from Safeway to the public, is just another form of invisible corporate welfare that needs to be reexamined.
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Thanks, Ian, points well made. I will have to rethink my shopping at Safeway!
I don’t want to avoid Safeway. I want to challenge them. And I want to cut them off from the favors that they are getting from HPD and public policy.
Mahalo for an informative article. I too had been wondering about the way HPD gave in to the store manager’s demands. Since when do the police obey a civilian? HPD should have stood firm against an arrest and made the store manager accept the payment offered.
Oh, also meant to add that I shared and ‘liked’ on facebook.
Not only that, but HPD was 3 blocks away and took FOUR HOURS to get there??? Puhleez!! I totally agree also with your comment, “since when do the police obey a civilian?” They had full authority to tell Safeway “no, this is a five dollar issue. Ban them from the store if you want, but we aren’t wasting our time or taxpayer money making such an insignificant arrest and traumatizing these people any further over $5.00.” [slightly edited]
There is a simple and effective tactic to force Safeway to atone for its egregious behavior: don’t shop there. Dealing with HPD’s complicity is harder: write letters to one’s council person I suppose and make the points that you made above regarding the waste of government resources in abetting corporate oppression.
Per the New York Times in 2006, even Wal-Mart only prosecutes adults who take at least $25 worth of goods.
Wal-Mart.
For Safeway, $5 sandwiches was a crime?
From a management point of view, this is a waste of time and effort for Safeway and HPD.
For a human point of view, this makes no sense. What is Safeway’s problem?
look at HRS 803-6
Perhaps Safeway should reimburse the tax payers for the entire cost of the services provided by HPD & CPS in this case. After all, we’ve got laws making careless hikers responsible for the costs of their rescues – why shouldn’t corporations have to pay for the expenses of making a false claim against a customer or others?
Agree. Pressure is the way to deal with Safeway. Their lawyer was really smart telling them to go to the media. Now that Safeway has been made to look totally stupid, heavy handed, and anti-customer, I have no doubt they will reconsider, drop all charges, and slink away hoping the public and the press leave them alone and forget it. They’ll still probably ban the family – I mean they’ll think they have to save face somehow and that will be the only way they have to do it.
I don’t blame Safeway for calling the cops. Why do we give pregnant women preferential treatment? Are they assumed to be helpless and stupid? Supposing she did shoplift something (and, in fact, maybe she did). Should they just let her go? “Oh, the little lady’s preggers. She’s obviously batty! Those hormones — isn’t that adorable!” That’s such an offensive line of thought. We’re going backwards in how women are treated in general — we don’t want equality, we want preferential treatment. Screw that.
However, taking the child away? That’s the worse crime. Absolutely horrifying. Forget about Safeway’s corporate whatevermajever and focus on that.
Just my two cents, as a PMS-ing and therefore hormonally deranged female.
Wow. So …. it’s a bad thing to make a judgement call based on a discussion and observation of the people involved and consideration of the setting? Why even have police system then? We should just arrest anyone if any crime seems like it possibly could have happened.
As such, Nancy, you typed naughty language in your post and I am horribly offended. You meant to do it. Please turn yourself into HPD immediately! 🙂
(I just don’t want to discriminate against someone who is PMS-ing………. ooops, now I need to be arrested for my naughty, offensive language too!)
under this interesting kind of system, all of us could end up in jail over an accident! maybe it’s a good thing everyone in Hawaii lives on an island – we could simply turn this into a Pacific Alcatraz.
🙂
Where did I say it was “a bad thing” to make a judgment call? Saying it’s OK to call the cops isn’t the same as saying it’s not OK to not call the cops. I can’t imagine how anyone would draw such a conclusion, except perhaps by projection.
Further, shoplifting is illegal. Typing “naughty language” on Ian’s blog isn’t. Making such comparisons is idiotic. 🙂 (See, I typed a smiley. That makes it OK to say something rude, right?)
Nancy, the couple had just moved to the area, got on the wrong bus and were lost, the female was pregnant and HUNGRY so the mention of her being pregnant was pertinent to the story. Hopefully you’ve read an update on the story now are have read that they KEPT the sandwich wrappers in order to have them scanned, they just forgot. Have you ever forgotten anything? While I’ve never been pregnant, I AM sympathizing with a couple who have just moved to a strange city, just got lost, have a 2 year old at the store and are just trying to get their grocery shopping done so they can go home. I’m sure it would be frustrating enough for any of us, however for someone who IS pregnant, who HADN’T eaten for seveal hours and, yes, more than likely DID have hormones raging, it must have been even worse. And, really, as for the intentional shoplifting theory….why would they spend $50 on groceries just to shoplift 2 sandwiches? Geez Louise, where has compassion and common sense gone in this country?
After further thought, I now agree. Thanks for not being an ass about it, Sara! Much appreciated.
My thoughts exactly, Sara.
My thoughts too, but you were nicer about it than I was.
Remember the hard time Safeway gave to the Kona coffee farmers who wanted them to adhere to the 10% minimum labeling on the Kona coffee it sold? It took a threat of a national boycott to bring Safeway to its senses.
In this case, the State CPS, HPD and Safeway backed down only after the story hit the six o’clock news on all three tv stations. So any attempt to “educate” Safeway is essetially worthless. An 800 pound gorilla does not respond well to taunts, a crow bar across his brow will do more to enlighten them. A quick and effective message is to see a 10%+ drop in revenue in the next couple of weeks will grab Safeway’s attention more than any attempt to reason with it.
Molehill > Mountain
Before we get all Occupy Safeway, consider that maybe it’s a simple case of the store manager making a poor judgement call.
Unconfirmed rumor is that this wasn’t a one time event for the couple that got arrested. I wonder if anyone knows the true whole story.
Unconfirmed rumor is just that. And, at this point, if that were the FACT I can’t imagine that the media wouldn’t have gotten wind of it by now. I’m sure that, at this point, every detail about this couple’s live has been scrutinized by every reporter in this country and if they were serial shoplifters EVERYONE would know it!
So, I have a very simple question, how did the security guard know the sandwich was not paid for, did he see the wrapper? if so, why did he wait ultil they had exited the register before he said something? Or was this another example of a racist attack on a ‘haole’ couple by a local security guard and a local Safeway manager, promulgated by the “local mentality” so obvious at the police department here in Oahu?
Good point. I’m involved in a very long thread on Safeway’s FB page with over 1,300 something posts. So far not much mention of the race card other than to say if this was a black guy in a hoodie instead of a white couple, we would not be so quick to defend them. But living here and being ‘haole’ my first thought when seeing this first reported on KGMB was that of course this happened! The couple was ‘haole’ and I’m almost 99.9% certain that the store manager and responding officers were…not.
I used to work in a grocery store (not Safeway). It was standard policy for plainclothes security workers to watch someone who has something on them that wasn’t paid for, and wait for them to exit the store doors before attempting to stop them.
I was only a cashier so I don’t know the exact reason for this policy, but it was explained to me informally by coworkers that the thief is always allowed to exit first so that the store can take legal action against them, i.e. call the cops and then permanently ban them from ever shopping at the store again.
If the person is stopped before they’ve walked out the doors, then technically they haven’t shoplifted yet. They can pay for the item and then come back and try again some other time.
I know it sounds improbable that someone who has spent $50 on groceries would attempt to shoplift a $5 sandwich, but based on my own personal experience of having worked in a grocery store, I have to admit that anything’s possible. I’ve seen people pay $100 on stuff and then try to hide a $6 surfing magazine, or a $3 package of saki ika. It makes no sense, but it does happen!
I believe it was wrong for the family to have been put through this experience, and it definitely seems to me that some reassessment of policies and procedures are in high order… but I also think it is wrong to place full blame on the Safeway employees and security workers. They were doing their job as they had been trained; they were following the rules to the letter. Given how bad the economy is and how difficult it is to find a job, I cannot fault them for choosing to follow procedure rather than risk losing their job due to some rule-bending.
As a final note to my own 2 cents on the matter, I was taught to pay for my items before consuming them. If you’re that hungry and feeling ill and need to eat right away, then go buy your food first. Have a receipt on you and you’ll have no trouble! For example, when I walk into a store with my Evian water bottle, I always make sure to approach the customer service counter or a uniformed security guard, to let them know ahead of time that I brought it in with me (I walk to the store so I do not have a vehicle to leave it in). Everyone is talking about the lack of common sense on the part of the store employees, how about common sense on the part of the shoppers?
I wonder what Safeway’s total shoplifting losses amount to? I imagine it’s substantial. Those costs ultimately reflect in our food bill.
So what’s the plan…do a quick tally of the stolen goods and if over $25, call the cops? Under that, say “thanks for stealing at Safeway, have a nice day?”
The zero tolerance policy may be harsh but it is fair and probably a good deterrent. When mistakes happen, then of course the company must make amends.
One has to ask, in the case of the Kona coffee labeling, how often did Safeway over charge for coffee that contained less than 10% Kona coffee? Situations in the past where only one Kona coffee bean was in a package were cited in testimony for the legislation that resulted in the 10% requirement. I remember speaking with an employee of a well know local brand that said that it was lucky that one bean was Kona in a big batch that was roasted and packaged in front of him, back in the 1980s.
So before we start talking of what constitutes theft, who is the biggest wrong doer in this situation? The corporation that “mislabels” a little from the entire nation, or a couple that for got to pay for the something they consumed?
Next time Safeway overcharges me, or ‘forgets’ to apply the sale price to an item, should I call HPD? Because I promise you they will…they do every time.
Safeway could pursue a private option and sue the shoplifter for damages.
But, in that case, the costs would be obvious. Who in their right mind would pay $200 an hour legal bills to pursue a lawsuit over a disputed $5? Certainly Safeway wouldn’t.
But by having the police make an arrest under the same circumstances, Safeway gets away with shifting the entire cost over to the public. We pay, not in our food bills, but directly in taxes. It’s just much less visible so we don’t complain.
I agree with most of the arguments made by your post and the previous comments, that the punishment seems too severe for the crime, but I want to also step on the soapbox so to speak and bring up another pet peeve: wayward shopping carts.
I don’t know if we have a State law or CCH ordinance with regard to the “borrowing” of shopping carts, but they’re a blight on the land; they must be worth over, say $100 each; they must result in either higher prices or insurance claims that may trigger higher prices… and did I mention they are a curse on the aina?
Anyway, why don’t they instead enforce any regulations, if present with regard to removal from the parking lot of shopping carts? and if no regs exist, why not, and why don’t stores actively prevent their loss?
Safeway pays property and other taxes just as anyone else. Should we ask private citizens to forego calling police assistance and ask them to pursue civil suits instead?
It’s as if someone comes in my yard and steals my garden gnome. Not really a big deal and I might just say fuggeddaboutit. But if my yard was frequently visited by folks who took a gnome today and a rake tomorrow and some bird seed the next day, I might decide the best way to handle is to report all thefts to the cops. Firstly, cause that’s their job. Secondly because I pay for this service. Thirdly because it might deter others once word got around.
Anyway,interesting discussion.
But that’s my point.
If I called the police and tried to have them arrest someone who had been a guest in my house but then stole a can of fancy beer when they left, the police would laugh at me. Especially if my guest said they intended to pay me for the beer before leaving. And had paid me for another six pack. HPD would not make an arrest. They rarely make an arrest when a citizen calls about a burglary, even when the alleged burglars are seen (or photographed, as in our case).
Yes, you pay for the service. But the responding officer would rightly explain that they have better things to do.
Safeway, on the other hand, can get HPD to do their bidding even though they have the resources to pursue private action.
In a manini case like this, a merchant would more typically bar the customer from the premises, wouldn’t they?
You’ve been making an excellent case all day, Ian.
Unfortunately, I think you can back it with just about every argument on the planet — but some in this discussion are not going to think twice about abuse of police powers, no matter how strong your reasoning.
For some reason, for some folks, $5 Safeway sandwiches trigger the emotion of abortion.
Meanwhile, for family members of the police (in many cities) there’s little chance of getting arrested for speeding on the freeway, which can kill people. this is well known.
go figure. there’s no point in trying to reason over police power. until someone dies in a car wreck, or a 3-year old is taken from their parents over a sandwich. this whole sandwich episode could become a good movie, based solely on what happened.
pau already.
Hawaii resident returning home from a trip to wherever; going through customs at the airport. Customs Inspector Lind: “Hmmm … how come you never mentioned this?” Returning tourist: “Oh, so sorry officer, I forgot to declare that $50,000 gold watch I bought in Geneva, because I’ve been wearing it for 3 weeks now.” Customs Inspector Lind: “Shoots, no problem. Everybody makes a mistake now and then.”
Taxpayer being audited. Tax Auditor Lind says “Eh brah, get one notice from XYZ bank, they paid you $xx interest on savings account.” Taxpayer: Oh, so sorry Auditor Lind, I forgot to write em down.” Tax auditor Lind: “No worry. We’ll just add it to your gross income and recalculate your tax bill for you. Have a nice day.”
You would equate a $50,000 gold watch with a $2.50 sandwich?
And that’s probably the crux of all this, isn’t it? Let’s all bid on the amount at which a theft moves from a blind-eye-offense to a call-da-cops offense.
lines never should be drawn, especially on money? you would have to throw out just every law we have on prosecuting theft, embezzling, fraud, extortion and racketeering. this makes no sense.
the whole point is you draw the line in the laws, then you adjust it over time as necessary.
if you can’t do that, then why have speeding limits on the streets, or amount of years set for prison terms? we would be passing on important rules because of the challenge of coming up with numbers. that’s not a good approach.
sheesh.
Ken, your analogy breaks down. In the customs scenario, it would be more equivalent, if after a Hawaii resident returning home from a trip abroad, had just filled out all the necessary paperwork and declared a trunk full of Thai scarves, Chinese vases, and Filipino barongs, failed to declare an Indian bracelet that had been packed in their carry-on. I’d be willing to bet that most level-headed customs agents had the intelligence to assess the individual and circumstances and realize this was an honest mistake.
Similar revision for your tax audit scenario.
Maybe not such a good ‘nalogy.
’cause customs is enforced by them Federales – and they don’t need logic: it’s well know the feds will spend millions to save a buck (or is it waste millions instead of losing a few bucks?).
As a some times only shopper at Safeway, I would generally agree they have bad policy and poor, uncaring service, Their Kona coffee caper was well reported and they got caught with their pants down by a visiting Kona farmer in California who blew the whistle on an obvious bait-and-switch ploy.
I hope the consumer suit is followed through.
My own beef stems back a few years ago when a shopping cart I was leaving with from the”old” Hilo store sounded a buzzer type alarm and the wheels locked. I was publicly exposed at the exit as a suspected thief.
Some overweight moron in a white security uniform, who declined to give me his name, came over, demanded my receipt (which I provided) and inspected my small order. He determined it had all been paid for and told me to proceed — all without apology.
I called the store’s assistant manager thereafter, expecting an apology. None was forthcoming, Tough shit was this company’s arrogant attitude.
Since I am retired and live on a fixed income, I was in no financial position to sue as my two brothers, then each licensed attorneys might have done. I regret not being more proactive now
Do I have a grudge? You bettcha!
There is only one police force in Honolulu, and it’s been out of control for a long time. But there are lots of places to buy groceries. Take your business elsewhere.
Wow! This is very interesting because I hadn’t read anything about it in either the on-line or (real) edition of the Star-Advertiser. I do not watch any local television news broadcasts so had you not posted this, I never would have known about it unless it pops up in Civil Beat or Honolulu Weekly sometime next week.
We shop at several different Safeway stores several times a week plus Walmart, Costco, Don Quijote, and Target on a regular basis throughout the month. Over the years, I’ve snacked on stuff in all of these stores, showed the wrappings at the check-out stand & paid
for the items – no problem.
However, in this instance, I have to say that it bothers me for the customers’ failure to pay for the items before leaving the store since they couldn’t have been there for more than 20 minutes. And, yes, it is a major goof-up by Safeway management for failing to accept the payment.
So what happens next? Will the couple now shop at Foodland a block or so away? Head on over to Wal-Mart on Ke`eamoku? Shift their buying to one of the Times Stores on South King Street
Here ya go. In Newport Beach they have a nifty program for shop lifters. ‘Cause it’s an addiction, you know.
“A Newport Beach program takes only people — many of them well-to-do — who steal items they can afford. The aim is to identify root causes of the behavior, such as loneliness, anxiety or frustration.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-shoplifting-20111030,0,3758520.story