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Show ? t rv- - Lii T m n i A 1 1 1.1 km M iLii.,i ii Photo illustration by Jay Joersz Gotcha! Base Exchange detectives are constantly on the lookout for people sticking small items into a purse, pocket or other easy V hiding place. It takes a All of the BX employees also receive training on what to do if they spot someone shoplifting. "We teach them how to prevent a shoplifting incident from happening," Heaps said. Heaps and her detectives also roam throughout the store, looking in particular in the store's darkest nooks and crannies. V '. : ' ; to catch a by SSgt. Barbara Fisher - Hilltop Times staff ' Susan Heaps finds herself thinking like a thief especially during the summer months and around Christmas. The reason, she says, is simple it takes a thief to catch a thief. Heaps, the Hill AFB Exchange detective supervisor, says this is especially true during the summer months when school's out and in the frantic shopping days before Christmas when the exchange is packed with shoppers. Even Mother's Day in May seems to bring out shoppers looking to get a gift for nothing. Since the beginning of the year Heaps and her detectives have stopped 28 potential shoplifters as they passed out the main entrance of "the store carrying merchandise they of these haven't paid for. Twenty-tw- o individuals were juveniles under 18 years old. The majority of the items taken were relatively ranging from baseball cards and magazines to compact discs, but some have tried to take merchandise worth hundreds of low-price- d, dollars. "Most of the incidents involved items under $10," Heaps said. "It doesn't take many under $10 to add e you to up they can death." The profile of a shoplifter isn't an easy one to come up with either. "A shoplifter isn't any certain age," Heaps said. "They come in all sizes, from grandmothers to sons." The youngest one Heaps herself stopped was 7. In her 3 12 years as a store detective here and overseas, she's stopped officers and enlisted nickle-and-dim- thief 66 A shoplifter isn't any certain age. They come in all sizes, from grand- mothers to sons. 99 Susan Heaps Hill AFB Exchange detective supervisor members and spouses of both. Income is usually not a factor in the crime, Heaps said. "I stopped one person who was caught with a $30 cosmetic and she had $150 in her wallet," she said. "Another individual was carrying 300 British pounds and $300 cash when we stopped her. She could have easily paid for the items she was stealing. "Just because they're stealing doesn't necessarily mean they don't have money." Since a shoplifter doesn't look like a shoplifter, Heaps has learned to watch for other signs. One of the biggest tools she has at her disposal is a surveillance system capable of following a person throughout the store. The system can zoom in so store detectives can see what an individual is carrying, no matter how small. Heaps said the system will get even better soon when they receive a $20,000 upgrade. "A shoplifter wants privacy," Heaps said. Heaps and her detectives never detain a shoplifter in the store. The person must pass what Heaps calls "the point of no return," where the gates come down over the front of the store, before they act. "Once they've gone past this gate, they have left our facility," she said. "Then it's shoplifting. We've given them every opportunity to pay for the item." Heaps and her people don't arrest anyone they only detain the person and call the security police. The security police then advises the individual of his or her rights, question witnesses, seize the evidence and write up the investigation report. If caught shoplifting at the BX, the and the person can face nonjudicial punishment in through Article 15 or more serious judicial punishment through If the person is a juvenile, the security police refer the matter to the Davis County .juvenile authorities. In some cases, the youth can be tried before the juvenile court judge in Farmington. A civilian, (family members, retired military members or reservists not on duty) who shoplifts from the exchange is charged with theft of government property and runs the risk of trial before a U.S. magistrate or a U.S. District Court judge in Salt Lake City. If the item taken is under $100 in value, the crime is considered a Class A Misdemeanor for which the maximum punishment is one year in jail and $100,000 fine. If the stolen items are valued at more than $100, the individual faces more serious felony court-martia- l. charges. "They're exposing themselves to prosecution if they shoplift any amount," said Nick Angelides, the special assistant to the U.S. Attorney in Salt Lake City. Angelides, who works at the base leindividual, depending on age, can face several punishments. All shoplifters gal office, prosecutes the cases for the have their BX shopping privileges au- government. "A federal conviction stays with you tomatically revoked for one year. If active duty, the crime falls under forever," he said. the Uniform Code of Military Justice int Some faClote? nmiHiii g |