Police hold meeting with Columbia retailers to combat shoplifting surge
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Columbia Police Department on Friday held a meeting at City Hall with businesses who are experiencing a high volume of shoplifting to discuss ways to reduce the number of incidents, and handle them more efficiently.
According to city spokeswoman Sydney Olsen, CPD invited businesses facing the highest volume of shoplifting incidents to discuss possible solutions for streamlining the reporting process, including the availability of online reporting.
Columbia Mall General Manager Rusty Strodtman was one of the people who participated in the meeting. In an email to ABC 17 News, Strodtman said that 88 retail businesses are reporting shoplifting in Columbia. Strodtman told ABC 17 News that police say not all shoplifting incidents are reported to them.
Data from the Missouri State Highway Patrol shows that Columbia police have already reported 426 shoplifting incidents in 2024. This year is expected to be the third consecutive year that CPD has reported a rise in shoplifting incidents. In 2021, MSHP Data showed CPD reported 378 shoplifting incidents. That number increased to 410 in 2022, and then 427 in 2023.
CPD also reported in a Benchmark Cities survey that it only had a 23.93% clearance rate for shoplifting crimes in 2023, which was the lowest of the 22 cities listed in the report.
The Jefferson City Police Department also reported more shoplifting incidents so far this year at 108 (Jan-Oct) which is up from the 89 reported incidents reported during the same period last year. Overall in 2023, there were 110 shoplifting reports in Jefferson City, MSHP data shows.
Menards locations in Columbia and Jefferson City fell victim to a multi-state theft ring last April after a Washington state man stole $3,384 worth of circuit breakers from 19 different stores in the Midwest.
CPD is hoping to set up quarterly retailer meetings to share information amongst some of the largest retailers in the city. Stodtman says the goal is to focus on organized retail crime and getting those individuals arrested before worrying about “the random teenager who is stealing for the rush of it.”
According to Strodtman, CPD is hoping to roll out a new reporting tool on Dec. 1.
