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CA Sheriff blasts major big box retailer for handcuffing deputies on shoplifting busts

November 13, 2023 | | Print Article

A California sheriff became a social media star after he lowered the boom on a major national retailer that reached out for help with shoplifters and then restricted how deputies could do their jobs.

Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper expressed his frustration with Target in a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, in which he slammed the big box chain over handcuffing his deputies out of fear of being called mean things by leftists.

In his post, Sheriff Cooper explained how regional security management instructed his team how to conduct any arrests because of the chance that the company could be subjected to negative attention from a viral video and that the store chose to allow a shoplifter to steal and scam the store.

“I can’t make this stuff up. Recently, we tried to help Target. Our Property Crimes detectives and sergeant were contacted numerous times by Target to help them with shoplifters, mostly who were known transients. We coordinated with them and set up an operation with detectives and our North POP team,” he wrote.

“At the briefing, we were told by their head of regional security that we could not contact suspects inside the store; we could not handcuff suspects in the store; and if we arrested someone, they wanted us to procees them outside… behind the store… in the rain,” Cooper continued. “We were told they didn’t want to create a scene inside the store and have people film it and put it on social media. They didn’t want negative press. Unbelievable.”

“Our deputies watched a lady on camera bring in her own shopping bags, go down the body wash isle, and grab a bunch of Native body washes. Then she went to customer service and return them! Target chose to do nothing and simply let it happen. Yet somehow, locking up deodorant and raising prices on everyday items we need to survive is their best answer,” the sheriff recalled.

“We don’t tell big retail how to do their jobs, they shouldn’t tell us how to do ours,” he concluded.

(Video: YouTube/Fox 40 News)

Sheriff Cooper’s post drew a massive response from X users, none of it positive for the Minneapolis-based retail giant.

Sheriff Cooper also blasted another national chain, Walgreens which doesn’t seem to be overly concerned with stopping rampant shoplifting either.

“Yesterday, as a team of about a dozen deputies began setting up the operation, Walgreen’s corporate office refused to cooperate with our deputies making it impossible for us to carry out our operation at this Walgreen’s store,” he wrote. “This was yet another example of big retailers reminding us that they DON’T CARE about retail theft or the consumer.”

In September, the company announced that it was closing nine of its stores in several cities, citing rising crime, retail theft, and concern for the safety of Target team members and shoppers.

Chris Donaldson
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