The Booster, the Snitch, and the Bogus False Arrest Victim: Retailers and Shoplifters in Interwar America and Britain

This article examines shoplifting from department stores and variety chain in interwar America Britain. Patterns of show strong similarities—with facing a predominantly female, disproportionately affluent, army amateur shoplifters, together with much smaller corps professional thieves. The incidence characteristics are explored, the stores’ legal other strategies to deter shoplifters. also why apparently prosperous women had highest propensity shoplift. Britain United States commonalities terms open display retail formats, methods used typical penalties. However, one critical difference—the higher type store criminal who specialized deliberately getting apprehended order sue for false arrest and, often, imprisonment, slander, range related charges. reflected damages typically awarded by U.S. courts compared their British counterparts, inflated local antagonism corporations, system—at least some cities—whereby corrupt lawyers judges connived acquittals that paved way lawsuits.