Mississippi Criminal Law BlogShoplifting remains one of the most frequent crimes committed by adults and juveniles in our country, according to the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention. In fact, approximately 1 in 11 Americans shoplift, and those individuals report that on average, they are caught only once for every 49 times they steal. Shoplifting is most commonly associated with younger teens who are perhaps in their rebellious years, but it can continue into adulthood. For example, many adult shoplifters report that their habit of shoplifting began when they were children, as it can be chronic and addictive.
Additionally, there were more than 548,000 shoplifting cases in 2021, a noticeable decrease from the 835,000 shoplifting cases in 2020, according to the FBI crime data report. Importantly, these are only representative of individuals who are caught shoplifting, and then subsequently turned in – meaning the numbers could potentially be much higher.
How Does Mississippi Define Shoplifting?