DC residents are unhappy about the new grocery store anti-theft measures, calling them dystopian

Major Washington, D.C., grocers are targeting rampant shoplifting with measures some shoppers find disconcerting.

Customers at Giant Food, Harris Teeter, and Safeway have noticed new measures implemented by grocers to crack down on retail theft.

At Giant, shoppers must comply with a ban on large bags enacted last Thursday at select Washington stores. The company noted in a statement that anything larger than 14-by-14-by-6 inches is not welcome.

Harris Teeter started checking customers’ receipts last month, adding in a statement that it will also prohibit suitcases, oversized backpacks, and roller bags to “maintain a safe shopping experience and continue providing the best service and goods at competitive prices to our customers.”

Safeway has followed suit. In February, the grocer implemented electronic gates that prevent customers from leaving without a receipt.

The enhanced security at grocery stores hits unnervingly close to home for many residents, who regret that shoplifting has reached the point where grocery stores feel forced to implement harsh measures.

Washington police do not track retail theft as a specific category, making it difficult to find concrete data on shoplifting. However, the department includes retail theft as part of its broader theft category, reporting that thefts in the district increased by 23% in 2023. This number excludes thefts of or from vehicles.

At the end of February, a Columbia Heights CVS was forced to close after shoplifters rendered the store virtually empty. Many city residents blamed a lack of consequences for shoplifting for creating the problem.

Some reports indicate systematic failure to prosecute crime, alleging that the United States Attorney’s Office for Washington D.C. failed to prosecute the majority of shoplifters at the 14th St CVS. The USAO had only a 24% prosecution rate in February.

In March, the D.C. City Council rolled out key criminal justice reforms designed to scale back the historic crime, including giving prosecutors more authority to target criminals for theft.

Brooke Pinto, a Ward 2 Democrat who spearheaded the Secure DC bill, noted that the legislation came in response to citizens who “have been clamoring for change and clamoring for a safer city.”

In 2023, she called the District’s crime “a crisis of violence,” adding, “We must address the gaps in our legal system in order to prevent the proliferation of violence in our communities.”

The bill pushes back on relaxed crime measures spearheaded by Capitol Hill’s Ward 6 Councilman Charles Allen. From 2017 through 2022, Allen served as chairman of the committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, where he played an instrumental role in implementing the criminal justice reforms that those fighting for a recall say led to D.C.’s crime wave. During his tenure, he successfully helped lead the $15 million police budget cut in 2020, while authoring a 2023 rewrite of D.C.’s criminal code, which would have eliminated most mandatory minimum sentences and lowered penalties for most other offenses, including carjacking.

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In addition, Allen authored and passed the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2020, which reduced the statutory maximum sentences for many violent crimes and the Second Look Act to promote sentence reduction mandates for violent offenders under the age of 25.

Allen is currently facing a recall vote from residents in his district who are angry with the crime wave they say his policies created.