MNPD using precision policing to stop organized retail crime in West Precinct
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – West Nashville is home to some of the biggest malls in Music City. If you couple that with some of the city’s busiest thoroughfares, you find a prime area for retail theft.
“West Precinct is one the larger geographical precincts as far as total land. We have about 108 square miles. We have a lot of shopping retail areas within the West Precinct and we have some major thoroughfares that go through there,” said Cmdr. Lee Kendall who oversees the Metro Nashville Police Department’s (MNPD) West Precinct.
The Nashville West Shopping Center includes 86 acres and countless stores, and for those looking to shoplift, they could easily consider it full of opportunities.
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“There is more opportunity and the criminal element or organized crime, that’s exactly what they look for, is an opportunity. They look for the thoroughfares that they can use as escape routes, and they really just kind of look for soft targets,” Kendall explained.
With big box stores on every corner of the shopping center, police have tracked down the big-ticket items.
“We’re seeing a lot of repeat offenders that are targeting stores, mostly looking for clothing in some of the boxed stores, but I would say primarily clothing items,” Kendall said.
What happens next in this type of crime and where do these clothes go?
“In organized retail crime, we are seeing a lot of the items being placed on Facebook Marketplace to sell them that way, or they can go to a location where they know that they have buyers that will buy at a cheaper amount,” explained Kendall.
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These thieves are using ways to market the stolen items online and target specific brands and designs to appeal to people on social media. It results in some innocent social media shoppers being left to unknowingly buy stolen goods.
“We’ve had incidents where the suspects that committed the crime, when they fled they tried to run over loss prevention personnel or even police officers that were on the scene that they were going to apprehend, so they are very reckless in their behavior and they are a danger to the community,” Kendall said.
The National Retail Federation revealed 88% of retailers report shoplifters are more aggressive and violent compared to one year ago, and some are now using other methods to distract and get away.
“Mainly what we see in our big box stores is we will see three to five come in together; they’re working together; they may have children, and they use those children even as a decoy or a distraction, and then they will commit the crimes. They think they have gotten away with it, but they are being filmed the entire time; lost prevention knows them and the list is repeat offenders,” Kendall explained.
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Now, the MNPD’s worry goes beyond just retail crime.
Kendall explained shoplifting can act as a “gateway to other crimes.”
“We found shoplifters that were in a stolen car and they committed a vehicle crime, a felony, in order just to commit that shoplifting crime, which can be a felony if it’s over a certain amount,” he said.
The MNPD has been using technology and precision policing to get to know the suspects and the area. They feel confident these thieves will get caught.
“It’s really a very strong team effort and focus right now, very precision, and they are not going to get by with it,” Kendall said.
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