Colorado Springs police spent four days in early August doing something taxpayers generally expect police to do: chasing criminals. According to The Gazette, officers teamed up with several area retailers for a targeted retail-crime operation from Aug. 4 through Aug. 7. The result was six felony charges, 16 citations and reported drug seizures.
Police also reported recovering 29.27 grams of fentanyl powder along with fentanyl pills during the operation. That is an important reminder that retail crime is not always some bloodless accounting problem involving a missing package of steaks and an insurance claim. Sometimes the people allegedly stealing merchandise bring considerably uglier baggage with them.
Good on Colorado Springs police for working with retailers, making cases and putting some numbers on the board. Now comes the question that should make every city official a little uncomfortable: Why is this a “blitz” instead of Tuesday?
The Bullet Point Brief
- Four days produced six felony charges. Whatever else this operation was, it apparently found conduct serious enough to generate felony cases. Retail theft is not automatically harmless mischief just because it happens under fluorescent lights.
- Police issued 16 citations. Consequences. What a concept. Somewhere, a consultant preparing a 74-page presentation on the root causes of shoplifting just felt a disturbance in the Force.
- Officers worked directly with area retailers. Good. The businesses getting hit every day probably have a few useful observations about who is stealing from them and how. Government occasionally discovers that talking to the people dealing with the actual problem works surprisingly well.
- Police reported recovering fentanyl. The department said officers seized fentanyl powder and pills during the operation. That does not mean every shoplifting case is a drug case, but it does make the “it’s just property crime” shrug look especially childish.
- The operation lasted Aug. 4 through Aug. 7. That is enough time to show coordinated enforcement can produce results. It is nowhere near enough information to declare victory over retail crime. A four-day crackdown is an operation. A year of consistent consequences is a policy.
My Bottom Line
Good on Colorado Springs. Seriously. Police worked with retailers, pursued alleged offenders, wrote citations, brought felony charges and reportedly took fentanyl off the street. That is government performing one of its most basic jobs instead of holding a listening session about why citizens are frustrated.
But here is the part I cannot get past: Why isn’t this just the norm?
Stores absorb the theft. Employees get stuck dealing with the danger and disruption. Customers eventually pay for the losses through higher prices, fewer products behind unlocked shelves, reduced hours or stores deciding certain neighborhoods are no longer worth the trouble. Crime sends a bill. It just rarely sends it to the criminal first.
So keep doing it. Not for four days. Not because somebody needs a press release. Make coordination between cops and retailers routine. Make arrests routine when the evidence supports them. Make prosecution and consequences predictable. The goal should not be an occasional retail-crime “blitz” impressive enough to announce. The goal should be creating the boring, permanent expectation that if you steal, you are likely to get caught.
A crackdown is useful.
Consequences as the norm are better.
Source: The Gazette
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