With shoplifting rates on the rise, Philadelphia area police are cracking down on shoplifting

PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania (WPVI) – Police in Montgomery County say they are cracking down on shoplifting as the number of thefts increases across the region.

“We’ve seen organized crime gangs spanning the entire East Coast,” said Detective Sergeant Chris Schwartz of the Plymouth Township Police Department.

“We see offenders from all over New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland running up and down the East Coast and for some reason coming to Plymouth and trying to commit their crimes here,” he added.

The Metroplex Shopping Center Target had enough of the increasing thefts and called the police for a two-day operation at the end of May.

In the course of these investigations, the police say they have arrested eleven people.

However, shoplifting has increased throughout the Philadelphia region. Some blame self-checkout lanes, others blame greed.

According to Lower Merion police, a group of juvenile suspects stole $63,000 worth of designer handbags from Saks Fifth Avenue in Bala Cynwyd over the weekend.

Philadelphia police investigators are working to catch additional members of a shoplifting ring that targeted at least 20 luxury stores in Ardmore, King of Prussia and Center City.

According to sources in Upper Merion, the Dior store in the King of Prussia Mall was hit by organized shoplifters on Thursday.

The thieves escaped by spraying an anti-theft employee with a fire extinguisher.

Most buyers are constantly looking around.

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“Now you also take care of your own personal belongings because if someone with bad intentions is here, you also worry about your children,” said Osmond Aydemir of Lafayette Hill.

The recent arrests in Plymouth Township are a reminder that it is not just security forces that are on guard.

“We can work as a cohesive unit and therefore try to thwart and prevent some of these thefts,” says Det. Sgt. Schwartz.

Police departments across the five boroughs are working together to establish connections between various grab-and-go thefts and build a case against organized shoplifters.