Some Leeway for the Small Shoplifter (Wal-Mart won't prosecute $25 or less [View All]

[kskiska]

Wal-Mart refuses to carry smutty magazines. It will not sell compact discs with obscene lyrics. And when it catches customers shoplifting — even a pair of socks or a pack of cigarettes — it prosecutes them.

But now, in a rare display of limited permissiveness, Wal-Mart is letting thieves off the hook — at least in cases involving $25 or less.

According to internal documents, the company, the nation’s largest retailer and leading destination for shoplifting, will no longer prosecute first-time thieves unless they are between 18 and 65 and steal merchandise worth at least $25, putting the chain in line with the policies of many other retailers.

Under the new policy, a shoplifter caught trying to swipe, say, a DVD of the movie “Basic Instinct 2” ($16.87) would receive a warning, but one caught walking out of the store with “E.R. — The Complete Fifth Season” ($32.87) would face arrest.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/13/business/13walmart.html?ei=5094&en=6a5fe7409934d1c9&hp=&ex=1152849600&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1152765735-rDD1fQ6kCOor2FftwbxDHw