Port St. Lucie - Wednesday July 3, 2024: The Port St. Lucie Police Department (PSLPD) has announced plans to work with three local Walmart Supercenters to help deter retail thefts which have increased in recent years.
The PSLPD Crime Analysis Unit discovered during a 12-month trend comparison from June 2022 to May 2023 and from June 2023 to May 2024, there was an overall combined 534% increase (yes, 534%) in retail thefts at the three Walmart Supercenters.
These three retail stores are located at:
- US 1
- SW Gatlin Blvd.
- NW St. Lucie West Blvd.
Officers will be collaborating with the three local Walmart Supercenters with the goal of reducing the overall number of retail thefts.
PSLPD will employ a 'Stratified Policing' policy. With the help of Walmart, this multi-tiered crime-prevention policy includes “hardening the target,” and increasing foot patrols in and around the Supercenters during an officer's uncommitted time, when analysis shows most retail thefts occur. In addition there will be relentless follow-up by our officers when retail thefts do occur.
Most of the retail thefts, 58% of them, were “skip scan” thefts where suspects would intentionally skip scanning some items at the self-checkout kiosks, while scanning others. Although the arrest retail theft clearance rate over the most recent three-month period from March 2024 to May 2024 was 87%, the Port St. Lucie Police Department is committed to reducing the number of retail thefts that occur even further.
The results will be presented to Command Staff during the monthly STARCOM meeting.