Learning to stop a thief
Store employees train to nab shoplifters
By Lynne Bomberger
Staff Reporter
While shoppers get ready for
the holiday season, Lincoln mer
chants are preparing for the rush by
learning how to prevent shoplift
ing.
Shoplifting takes place
throughout the year. But from
November until the holidays the
crime is on the increase, said Lt.
Erv Portis of the Lincoln Police
Department
Shoplifting presentations,
sponsored by the Crime Preven
tion Unit of the Lincoln Police
Department, are also on the rise as
the holiday season approaches,
Portis said.
The presentations teach em
ployees how to detect a possible
shoplifter, shoplifting laws, the
laws’ limitations and appropriate
action when shoplifting occurs,
Portis said. The presentations take
about an hour and are requested by
the stores.
To detect a possible shoplifter,
Portis said store owners and em
ployees can:
• check if an individual’s dress
is appropriate for the season.
• watch the length of lime spent
in the store.
• look for large bags that may
have been carried in.
• see if the person spends more
___
time watching the employees than
looking at merchandise.
Laws governing shoplifting say
that before a person can be stopped
for shoplifting the “individual
must carry the item out the door
with obvious intent of not paying
for it,” Portis said.
Cathe McBride, marketing di
rector for the Atrium, said that
because of education, she has no
ticed no increase in shoplifting the
last eight years.
“There is so much training in
looking out for shoplifting,” she
said.
Once the suspect has left the
store, an employee may stop the
individual, ask him or her to return
to the store and call the police,
Portis said. Employees are- not to
get into physical confrontations
when asking suspects to return to
the store, he said.
The workshops, which have
been going on for about 10 years,
have helped slow down crime
through awareness, Portis said.
“We have found that the shop
lifting problem has curtailed,” he
said.
Although the presentations
have built awareness in employ
ers, the number of shopliftings in
Lincoln have remained static for
the last two years, Portis said.
“Every segment of the commu
nity' is involved in shoplifting,
Portis said. Age, sex and race don’t
matter, he said.
“Some do it habitually, and
some do it for the first time,” he
said.
Large retail stores seem to have
a bigger shoplifting problem, Por
tis said, primarily because they can
afford better security, which leads
to more shoplifters being caught.
The most common type of
shoplifting is a Class II misde
meanor. This includes items that
cost up to $100. A Class II misde
meanor is punishable by a maxi
mum of six months imprisonment
or $1,000 fine.
A Class I misdemeanor in
volves merchandise costing from
$100 to $300 and is punished by
one year’s imprisonment or a
$1,000 fine.
Shoplifted items that cost $300
to $1,000 are a Class IV felony.
The sentence for a Class IV felony
is a maximum of five years’ im
prisonment or a $10,000 fine.
If the stolen item costs more
than $1,000, the felony class and
punishment change.
An individual’s previous con
victions also determine the class
and charge, Portis said. After the
first conviction the charges arc
more serious.
“So lfyou’rccaughtoncc,don’t
do it again,” he said.
former DN photo chief dies
From Staff Reports
A University of Nebraska-Lin
coln alumnus and former Daily
Nebraskan photography chief died
Wednesday night in San Francisco.
Mark D. Billingsley, a freelance
photographer in San Francisco, was
injured in a fall Nov. 3 while working
for Colossal Studios.
Billingsley had been in a coma
after the accident until his death.
Billingsley graduated from UNL
m l‘)81 with a degree in journalism.
While in school, he worked as a
photographer and photography chief
at the Daily Nebraskan and did
freelance work for The Associated
Press.
From 1981 to 1983, Billingsley
worked as a photographer for the
HastingsTribunc. In 1983, he left the
Hastings Tribune to work as a
freelance photographer in San Fran
cisco.
Billingsley’s parents live in Lar
amie, Wyo. His brother, Bret, lives in
St. Paul, Minn.
Exterminators fight multiplying roaches'
By Pattie (Jreene
Staff Reporter
The roach problem in the Harper
Schramm-Smith residence halls’ food
service is not over yet, the University
of Ncbraska-Lincoln’s housing direc
tor said.
Housing director Doug Zatechka
said roaches produce a new genera
tion every 30 days.
“Environmental rules say we can
not use a spray harsh enough to k 111 the
eggs in a food environment,” Zat
echka said, “so we spray every time
we think there will be a new genera
tion."
r"
Exterminators will continue to
spra> all year, Zaicclika said. They are
spraying more frequently, once every
!w'O w'ecks, he said.
Students have not been asked to
clean up after themselves because
students feel it’s “our job to clean up
in the cafeteria,” he said.
--
Indoor practice held to be dedicated .
From Statf Reports will begin at 1:15 p.ir.. and will
-;-;---;- include speeches by Gov. KayOrr,
indoor practice field on the lino univcrstty ollicialsand University
versity of Nebraska-Lincoln cant- of Nebraska Foundation officials,
pus will be at 12:30 p.m. Saturday The NU Board of Regents will
before the Ncbraska-Oklahoma vote Friday to name the center
football game. Cook Pavilion and the George B.
A formal dedication ceremony Cook Field.
\l yu, at the
y V llmversitv Bookstore.
V
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