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Calls for action to stop widespread thefts at retailers
Theft at retailers locally and around the country has risen rapidly. On the campaign trail, former President Donald Trump has argued the crime has become so extreme it requires a strong measure of enforcement. The former president has said these thieves should be shot as they try to leave a store.
ATLANTA - Thefts at retailers in Atlanta and across the country have become so widespread that a former president is proposing a radical solution.
"If you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store," Donald Trump said in a speech at the California GOP Convention in Anaheim Friday.
Trump said urban leaders are so weak on crime that he would have to send in federal law enforcement, should voters put him back in the White House.
A former Atlanta police officer, Orrick Curry, said theft is becoming an epidemic.
Curry and security executive Chris Rich described two groups known to carry out mass thefts. The first is those that are highly organized.
"If you have up to forty people go into a store, like what we see in California, and come out within eight minutes, that's very well-planned," said Rich.
The second group is impressionable young people who feel encouraged by a flash mob.
"I see everyone else is grabbing stuff. Well, I can get something. And it's possible … possible I won't get caught," Curry added.
Rich said businesses that can invest heavily in private security can lessen the chances of being hit. Criminal are more likely to seek softer targets.