WPD Targets Shoplifting with Holiday Blitz

During the holiday shopping season the Woonsocket Police has partnered with area merchants to provide a safe shopping experience in our city. As part of the operation Woonsocket Police worked closely with Loss Prevention Specialist on specified dates to enforce shoplifting laws, identify organized retail crime, identify fencing operations, and deter retail crime.

As part of the initiative detectives from the Woonsocket Police Department and other police detectives throughout Rhode Island held a breakfast meeting at Cercle Laurier Club in Woonsocket. The agenda of the meeting, hosted by the Rhode Island Detectives Association (RIDA), is to foster relationships with our police partners and share information. Also at the meeting, Gary Weisbecker Organized Retail Crime Supervisor with Walgreens Pharmacy provided free training for the attendees. The topic of the training was to crime trends and patterns in the retail industry.

The operation, Holiday Blitz, coordinated enforcement efforts with loss prevention specialist and Woonsocket Police Detectives. The loss prevention specialist patrolled the stores and the detectives monitored the parking lots. If an arrest was made detectives would interview the suspect immediately. As a result of the partnership there was a decrease in shoplifting compared to the same time last year. Most importantly the initiative fostered a continuing partnership with the Woonsocket Police Department and retail merchants.

The operation was lead by Det. Sgt Phil Kamer of the Woonsocket Police Department and Stefanie Mangiante, Organized Retail Investigator, of CVS Caremark. The participating retail stores include , , , , ,, and Ocean State Job Lot. The Woonsocket Police Department would also like to thank the Cercle Laurier Club for providing their function hall and the breakfast.