7 Reasons Most Retailers Don’t Prosecute Shoplifters, and How to Protect Your Store

In NRF’s 2026 theft and violence study, 63% of retailers said they report fewer than half of their store theft incidents to law enforcement. Most shoplifting never gets anywhere near a courtroom.

Retailers are grappling with shoplifting at all levels, from petty theft to large-scale organized crime. Despite significant losses, the consequences for shoplifters often seem minimal, leaving business owners frustrated with the law enforcement process. What can they do to combat this issue effectively?

Many stores have adopted policies that prevent employees from confronting shoplifters directly. This approach shifts the responsibility to the criminal justice system, which, while important, has its limitations. So, why are more businesses not pursuing legal action against shoplifters?

The short answer: a case usually costs more than the merchandise is worth, most thefts fall below felony thresholds, and police and prosecutors have limited capacity to follow through. Below, we’ll break down the seven reasons retailers avoid prosecution, what no-chase policies mean for your store, and why proactive loss prevention is one of the smartest investments you can make.

The Issues with Crime Reporting

Appriss Retail’s 2026 Total Retail Loss Benchmark puts U.S. shrink (losses) at $90 billion for 2025. This figure, however, encompasses more than just shoplifting; it includes employee theft, errors in inventory, and bookkeeping mistakes. Importantly, this amount reflects the retail value of stolen goods, not the actual cost to the business.

Additionally, there’s no reliable national catch rate for shoplifting. The most-quoted figure is self-reported: shoplifters say they’re caught about once in every 48 times they steal, according to statistics compiled by the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention.

Police data only reflects the thefts that get reported, and most never are. When a store doesn’t file a report, that incident never shows up in local crime numbers, so official counts can make shoplifting look smaller than it really is.

Reporting also varies widely. Each state sets its own rules for how theft is classified, and each retailer decides which incidents are worth reporting. Two stores with the same losses can look very different on paper.

Even when a case won’t be charged, a police report still matters. It creates a record that can connect the same offender across multiple incidents and stores.

Shoplifters come from diverse backgrounds, not just juveniles. Still, some store owners avoid pressing charges against minors because of the extra steps involved, like contacting parents or guardians and dealing with the juvenile court process. When those incidents are settled informally instead of reported, they never show up in theft statistics.

The Challenges of Prosecuting Shoplifting Offenses

Retail theft isn’t simply black and white. There’s a lot of grey area, and business owners have a lot to consider when deciding whether to file charges or not.

Retailers often weigh the costs associated with prosecuting shoplifters against the value of the stolen goods. Legal fees, employee time spent in court, and potential negative publicity are factors that may outweigh the value of the stolen merchandise. In NRF’s 2026 study, 60% of retailers said they don’t report thefts that are low-dollar or under the felony threshold.

Building a case takes real time: pulling video, writing incident reports, meeting with police, and sending an associate to court. For a single low-dollar theft, that effort rarely pays off.

Many retailers would rather put that time and budget toward stopping the next theft. That can mean training associates to spot suspicious behavior, adjusting store layouts so high-theft items stay in view, and protecting those items at the display so they can’t be grabbed and carried out in seconds.

Laws and regulations regarding shoplifting prosecutions can vary by jurisdiction. Some jurisdictions have thresholds for the value of stolen goods that determine whether prosecution is feasible. Legal complexities and the burden of proof required in court can also deter retailers from pursuing cases. In the same study, 54% of retailers pointed to a lack of law enforcement response and follow-through.

Even a reported theft can stall. Prosecutors charge only what they can prove beyond a reasonable doubt, and the case depends on the store acting as victim and witness. One Honolulu boutique saw 18 of its theft cases referred to prosecutors. Five were declined for insufficient evidence and the court dismissed three more, Hawaii News Now reported. Every court date can also pull an associate off the sales floor.

A confrontation on the sales floor doesn’t just involve the shoplifter. Other shoppers see it, hear it, and sometimes get caught in the middle. For many retailers, the bigger cost isn’t the stolen item. It’s the customers who leave uncomfortable and don’t come back.

That’s why many stores handle incidents quietly. The same thinking applies to security itself. When getting a product means waiting for someone to track down the right key, the experience suffers in a different way. The goal is to protect merchandise without making honest shoppers feel like suspects.

Confronting shoplifters can pose safety risks to employees and customers. Retailers may prioritize the safety and well-being of their staff and customers over attempting to detain or prosecute shoplifters. NRF found threats or acts of violence during theft rose 17% in 2024.

Associates feel it too. In our look at rising perfume theft, store employees described watching entire sections get emptied while zero-contact policies limited them to observing and reporting, and said it left them feeling unsafe.

For many retailers, prosecution simply isn’t the most practical tool. Issuing a trespass notice, sharing information with nearby stores, or sending a civil recovery demand can be faster and cheaper than going through criminal court.

Civil recovery isn’t the same as restitution. Restitution is ordered through the criminal case, while civil recovery is a demand the retailer makes on its own, and most states have laws that allow it. When those options are on the table, a criminal case can look like more effort for less return.

Sweeping thefts have led to store closures and pushed losses and higher prices onto everyday consumers. They may prefer to handle such incidents quietly to avoid damaging their reputation.

Sweeping thefts have led to store closures and pushed losses and higher prices onto everyday consumers. Customers are starting to notice and are tired of footing the bill for crimes they didn’t commit. With so many factors for businesses to consider, it would be easier to push the hard part onto police departments, but that isn’t so easy.

Why Many Stores Have No-Chase Policies

A no-chase policy tells associates not to pursue, detain or physically stop a suspected shoplifter. Associates observe and report, and loss prevention or police take it from there.

These policies exist for good reasons. In many states, a doctrine called shopkeeper’s privilege lets a merchant briefly detain someone they reasonably suspect of theft, but the stop has to be reasonable in how it’s done and how long it lasts. Getting it wrong can lead to false imprisonment claims, and a chase can injure an associate or a bystander. That’s why so many companies take an official hands-off stance.

The trade-off is that repeat offenders learn which stores won’t step in. NRF’s 2026 study found 50% of retailers saw more repeat offenders last year. A no-chase policy works best when the merchandise itself is protected, so security does its job before the product ever leaves the fixture.

That’s where display security does the work associates can’t. Smart Locks open in seconds with a OneKEY, so customers aren’t left waiting. OnePOD Max displays an alarm if a phone is removed. Time-delay dispensers like the T1000 slow down sweep theft at the peg wall while shoppers still serve themselves.

Telia saw the difference after upgrading its device security. “We haven’t had any thefts of demo devices since the upgrade,” the team reported in their case study.

Does the Punishment Fit the Crime?

Shoplifting laws vary significantly by state, with the punishment often dependent on the value of the stolen goods. While some states classify theft of $1,000 or more as a felony, others set the bar much lower.

Limited police resources and long court processes also contribute to the challenge. Shoplifting may not be prioritized amid more serious crimes, and proving intent to conceal or sell stolen merchandise can be complex and time-consuming. Retailers, lobbyists, and consumers are advocating for tougher penalties, especially in major cities, but changing laws takes time and may not immediately address the issue.

The Case for Proactive Asset Protection

A more effective approach might involve focusing on proactive solutions rather than waiting for issues to escalate. InVue, a leader in retail security solutions, offers products designed to prevent theft and enhance security while creating a pleasant shopping experience. With stolen goods often appearing on online marketplaces, strong security measures are crucial.

Federal law now targets that resale channel. Since June 2023, the INFORM Consumers Act has required online marketplaces to collect and verify identity and bank details from high-volume third-party sellers. That added verification makes it harder for repeat sellers to move stolen goods anonymously. Some may be discouraged, while others will look for different resale channels. Either way, it doesn’t undo a theft that already happened, which is why protection at the display still matters most.

InVue’s products, such as electronic display alarms, LIVE Lock devices, Corner Package Wrap for boxed goods, Zips for electronics, and merchandise display security like Cable Lock and Luxe Lock,, deter theft while allowing for an engaging store layout. Investing in these solutions can be cost-effective over time, reducing theft and minimizing the need for legal battles.

Prevention doesn’t mean you’ll never press charges. For repeat offenders, organized crews and internal theft, prosecution can be the right call, and the case depends on evidence.

Video shows who was in the aisle and what happened. Access data fills in the details footage can’t always capture: which fixture was opened, when, and with whose credentials. With the OneKEY ecosystem, you authorize specific users and get a full audit trail of every access event. For internal theft, which Appriss puts at $26 billion in 2025, that audit trail shows whose key opened a case.

The strongest outcome, though, is a theft that never succeeds. When someone broke into the Ballymount showroom of Mercury Retail Services in Ireland over a weekend, the intruder went straight for the demo phone and laptop table. Every device was secured with InVue. No devices were removed, no stock was lost, and the showroom had no downtime. As Garry Doyle of Mercury Retail Services put it, the intruder “walked away empty-handed.”

No one was there to confront the intruder, and no one needed to be. That’s the point of protecting merchandise at the display: the security works whether an associate is on the floor or not.

Coppel has seen this firsthand. “Analysis of the data collected by the OneKEYs gives us visibility to what is happening in store and what associates are doing. It’s led to improved efficiency, lower theft and increased sales,” said a project manager at Coppel.

Investing in InVue products represents a proactive approach to security that can yield significant savings over time. NRF’s 2026 study found shoplifting incidents fell 12.4% in 2025, but 40% of retailers saw more organized retail crime incidents, which highlights the importance of effective security measures. In May 2026, the House passed the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act 348-60, and the bill is now with the Senate Judiciary Committee..

Tesco’s shrink operations manager compared stores with and without InVue: “In stores with InVue versus stores without InVue we have seen an average shrinkage reduction of 51% in the high-risk areas that we use them.” (case study)

At Best Buy, a senior manager of store design said, “Before installing InVue’s Padlock, we would have to replace 50 padlocks a year due to lost keys or combinations. Since installation, we have not had to replace any and we have experienced no theft from our cages.”

By reducing theft and minimizing the need for legal action, retailers can protect their bottom line and improve profitability by mitigating financial losses from stolen store merchandise.

Proactive Security as a Strategic Solution

The struggle against shoplifting is complex, with numerous factors influencing retailers’ decisions on how to respond. From the significant costs of legal actions to the varied effectiveness of law enforcement, it’s clear that addressing theft requires a multifaceted approach. However, the challenges of prosecuting shoplifters and the inconsistent application of penalties often leave retailers feeling stuck.

As retailers navigate the complexities of shoplifting and its impact, embracing proactive solutions like InVue’s can make a significant difference. These investments help protect assets, support staff, and ensure that customers enjoy a safe and pleasant shopping experience.

Ready to enhance your retail security? Talk to our team about protecting your highest-theft categories without slowing customers down.