From Daily News - November 27, 1995
'Tis the season for shoplifters & pickpockets
By ROCCO PARASCANDOLA
The holiday shoplifting season is in full gear, with the Grinch Who Stole Christmas played by an array characters - from brazen teen gangs to pros who can steal virtually anything.
"Last week, a group of kids carne in. grabbed a whole stack of Ralph Lauren jeans and ran," said an exasperated Maggie Bas, who manages M & M, a Brooklyn clothing store on Kings Highway.
The more professional shoplifters leave a store as if they're out for a stroll in the park.
The National Retail Federation said shoplifters steal $13 billion of goods a year, losses that cost the average consumer $400.
Several major department stores, such as Macy's and Bloomingdale's refused to discuss their security strategies.
But those familiar with the retail industry say these businesses rely on increasingly sophisticated video cameras and employ "special patrolmen," security personnel whose peace-officer status allows them to make arrests.
That allows police to focus on the other holiday nemesis, the pickpocket.
As with shoplifters, pickpockets aren't easily categorized.
"They can look like your grandmother or mother," says Lt. Thomas Synan, head of the Special Frauds Squad.
Particularly troublesome are the professionals, many of whom travel here from other cities and countries to prey on New York tourists, police say.