Evening star., 1944-12-10

Housewives, Government clerks,
mattresses and society girls are rep
resented among the los persons
charged with shoplifting since
special Christmas shopping police
store detail went to work Novem-
Der 27, it was learned yesterday.
Most of those arrested are women.
Police say arrests sre now averag-
ing Is a day. Efks
The motives of the shopIfters are
as varied as their types and in re-
cent years only a small percentage
Of those arrested are described by
police as professional shoplifters,
even though some of them were re-
peaters and others had built long
records.
To the Metropolitan Police De-
partment a professional shoplifter
Is one who intends to resell the
stolen merchandise.
Another theory which Capt.
Rhoda Milliken, head of the Wom-
ems Bureau, is anxious to explode
is that because a person is well able
to pay for goods and steals to avoid
payment she is suffering from clep-
tomania.
Capt. Milliken says she can prove
from psychiatric records that there
have been only two proven klepto-
maniacs In the past 26 years among
the many arrested for stealing goods
from the counters of local mer-
chants.
As head of the Womens Bureau
she hears all the alibis before the
women charged with larceny from
stores are cleared through her di-
vision.
Got Tired Of Waiting.
"I got tired of waiting for a clerk
and couldn't wait any longer" one
woman told her last week when ar
rested with stockings, shirts and a
chic hat taken from a large down.
town department store.
Another woman told her it looked
SO easy she Just wanted to try it.
Still another woman said friend
told her how easy it was to pilfer,
from the stores and the thought
challenged her until she tried and
failed.
The best alibi Capt. Milliken said,
was that offered by matronly
housewife who was leaving the floor
of department store with her arms
literally filled with goods bearing the
stores labels. She said she had
purchased the merchandise the day
before and was returning it for ex-
change. She failed to produce a
sales ticket, Capt. Milliken said.
The department stores have en-
gagged three times the number of
private store detectives this year as
were used during previous Christ
mas seasons. The police department
has assigned A detectives and four
policewomen, dozen more than
last year.
In spite of these extra officers,
store officials, and the police agree
the volume of thefts is greatly. in
creased over last year.
Money Lack No Reason.
1lSIQoSll6 Vic CccCS VA RCl SOIlso
who have the means to buy anything
they might need, Inspector Robert
j. Barrett, chief of detectives, told
of one woman, a member of a good
family, who was caught stealing in
expensive handkerchiefs and other
things of no great value.
She was wearing fur coat worth
81, 900 and had $3.50 In cash in her
purse, he said. She could give no
explanation and the police had no
knowledge of any previous offense.
During the holiday shopping sea-
son last year 178 persons were ar
rested for shoplifting and all were
convicted. The police are under in
struction to arrest only when they
have observed the theft or know the
person possesses stolen merchan-
disc.
The special detail is headed by
Detective 1t. Aubrey M. Tolson. AS
special assistant ne has Detective
Sergt. Richard j. Cox, known in the
department as an authority on pick
pockets, who are almost all in the
professional class. and therefore
generally known from appearances
in police showups.
All members of the new squad