Lornel Baker was shocked to find several items locked up during a recent shopping trip to a Target store.
Even lower priced items were confined behind locked windows July 11, Baker told KOB 4.
“I understand big ticket items like electronics and stuff like that but the other stuff, I was thrown off because I’ve never seen that before," Baker said.
Target Corporation is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The chain store decided to lock up several products to curb shoplifting, according to KOB 4.
“Security can’t really stop anybody, so I guess- I’m guessing it’s the corporation or whatever doing their part to try and lessen that," Baker said.
Shoppers at other stores expressed similar sentiments.
“When you live this close to what’s become an unmanageable homeless problem that’s spilling over from Central which is just right down the street, into our neighborhoods and into our parks, you know Walmart has to respond like the rest of us," said Saul Ramos, a Walmart shopper. “It’s an inconvenience for me in the store, but I leave the store, and it’s a bigger inconvenience for me outside the store."
Many local stores have everything from razors to deodorant secured behind thick see-through glass. Some shoppers see it as an inconvenience, and some understand that businesses must do all they can to prevent shoplifting.
Retail crime has been on the radar of the Albuquerque Police Department and the attorney general’s office for months, KOB 4 reported. The Organized Retail Crime Initiative, which began in 2021, has resulted in about 50 arrests over the past year.