Awareness
AWARENESS: Reposting from James Gieschen "WEEKLY PSA: It's time again. Not going to stop posting for assistance and for public awareness. Please comment or message if you have any information on these individuals. Typically a couple individuals are identified pretty much each time we post, but for many we could still use both identification and contact information. First, let me address a few questions and comments initially to clarify. WHY SO MANY? We have some of the best loss prevention measures and tech, so we are able to identify (and resolve) almost every incident. In fact, we experience much less theft and other incidents than many of our neighbors. Unfortunately, the sad reality is that the vast majority of business owners that we speak to simply have lost the will to report, since the process can be long, prosecution is almost non-existent, and there are no consequences. We have provided proof of this many times (see our other posts). WHY SO MANY WOMEN? The reason most of the pictures are of women is because our shop has a focus on up-and-coming fashion designers of women's clothing and accessories. WHY NOT LOCK EVERYTHING UP? We try not to sacrifice our visitors' experience for the sake of relatively few bad actors, so we do not lock up all of our merchandise behind glass, we do not have bag lockers, we still take cash, and we do not have a visible bouncer at the front of our store. WHY NOT MORE LOSS PREVENTION? One reason we are able to identify more theft and other crime that most retailers is that we actually do have sensors and many other security and tracking systems (both manual and tech-assisted) in place. We also report and post a lot more publicly, for identification and public awareness. WOW! SO MUCH THEFT! Most importantly, this is not just about shoplifting. Theft, harassment, assault, vandalism, burglary, auto theft, domestic violence, arson--even shootings... Crime in general is out of control in our community, and it's going to keep getting worse until cases are prosecuted and criminals are held more accountable. Doesn't necessarily need to be harder sentencing, but it does need to be more meaningful. For first or second Theft 4 offense, for example, defendant is given choice of either (A) 15 days in jail + $500 fine, or (B) 150 hours of community service + 50 hours of community service. Not "time served" and fines waived. That's a slap in the face of the victims, the community, and even the offender. Don't take my word for it. Ask anyone in law enforcement. THANK YOU: Thank you, as always, to the SSH community, and to our vigilant security team for helping address these challenges. WHY WE POST: We believe the most loving thing we can do for our neighbor, including the individuals involved in these incidents, is to look out for each other, to intervene, and to not look the other way. These posts help other businesses and the community know what's happening, and also give our individual neighbors a chance to apologize and make amends. We also believe that the community suffers when justice fails. Again, while these posts may seem extensive, they reflect only a fraction of the shoplifting, harassment, and other unwelcome behaviors many businesses face. Many cases remain stuck in the court system, with literally over 95% of those we submit seeing little to no prosecution. These posts aim to assist law enforcement and raise community awareness, as many of these individuals continue their behaviors daily, despite citations and no-trespass notices. CONSTRUCTIVE COMMENTS: The people in the photos are real people, so please keep the comments constructive, not destructive. We all do stuff that we regret and are ashamed of. If we can't admit that, then we're lying to ourselves. It's loving to intervene. It's hypocritical to bully. RESOLUTION: Those featured are encouraged to contact us to resolve the matter. Apologies and amends can lead to their photo being removed. Refusal to engage will result in the image remaining for public awareness. SOLUTIONS, NOT EXCUSES: It's time for us to start acting. One shining example of real solutions is Habilitat of Kaneohe. Their stats speak for themselves: - 63% success rate (non-recidivism) after completing the full program measured 5 years out! (National average for other rehab programs is often less than 30% measured 6-12 months out.) - 3-4 years average commitment — much longer and stricter than typical 30–90 day programs. - 1,000 meals prepared daily for residents and other community programs throughout the islands. - Zero taxpayer funding — they are 100% privately funded through donations, landscaping services, catering services, and vocational training programs. - $12–18 million taxpayer savings annually estimated — because residents are not incarcerated or using public welfare systems during or after the program. - searchssh.com - reportssh.com - sshintel.com #hawaii #stolenstuffhawaii #publicawareness #crime #community