By William Hinkle
BEACON HILL -- As Rebecca Penner was closing Crush Boutique on Charles Street one Saturday evening last month, a chatty woman who exhibited strange behavior entered the boutique. Although Penner had her suspicions about the woman, she stayed in the front of the store to finish shutting down for the night. Suddenly, Penner heard a loud bang from the corner and the customer immediately stood up and walked away with her large Victoria's Secret tote bag.
Pursuing the woman, Penner glimpsed a navy sweatshirt in the bag. When Penner asked to look inside the bag, the woman refused. Penner threatened to call the police, so the woman reluctantly returned the sweatshirt.
After the customer had left, Penner, who is in the store everyday and has a good grasp of inventory, noticed three other items were missing; the woman had snuck out with clothes under her puffy, down coat. Later that week, shoplifters robbed Crush twice more.
"It's disconcerting because you think of Beacon Hill as a pretty safe area," Penner said. "We are hands-on with our customers, so it should be hard for them to get away with shoplifting."
Since Feb. 29, there have been eight reported incidents of shoplifting on Beacon Hill, the majority of which have been on one end of Charles Street. In one weekend, Red Wagon/Pixie Stix lost more than $3,300.
"As you can imagine, these small shops cannot stay in business long with those kinds of losses," said Donna Petro, president of the Beacon Hill Business Association. "Even worse, they often have just one or two young ladies working in the store, and they are concerned for their safety."
Last week, members of the association met with District A-1 Police Captain Bernard O'Rourke to discuss the rash of shoplifting and how the business community can combat the crime.
The association's initial reaction was to request additional police presence, Petro said. Despite the problems in the neighborhood, however, O'Rourke said police could not divert officers from Downtown Crossing and other areas in the district, where crime is higher and sometimes violent.
"So we turned our attention to how we can protect ourselves better," Petro said. "Captain O'Rourke rearranged his schedule and spent the whole hour with us at our meeting last week, answering our questions and providing valuable information on what we can do to help ourselves."
First, O'Rourke recommended that stores install visible surveillance cameras, saying shoplifters are less likely to steal if they know they are being watched. He also said engaging customers in conversation makes them aware of the merchant's presence and hesitant to shoplift.
How stores decorate their windows and the area surrounding their front door can deter shoplifters as well, O'Rourke said. Signs or items in the windows can obstruct the line of sight into and out of the store. Knowing people can see into the store can discourage shoplifters.
Raising community awareness through programs such as CitizenObservor and Crime Watch also helps prevent shoplifting. CitizenObservor is an online mailing list that emails subscribers each time an incident is reported. For Crime Watch, the business association sends an email to all businesses when a known or suspected shoplifter has been seen in the area. It only operates during the week, so the association is constructing a phone tree for the weekends.
Finally, O'Rourke and Petro stressed the importance of filing a report with police whenever an incident occurs. It helps police attain as much information as possible and compile accurate statistics that proivde them with the tools they need to help.
Petro said the businesses that came to the meeting felt good about what they learned. One merchant even told her they felt empowered.
"We've instituted some new tactics of our own," Penner said. "We are constantly circulating our store now, keeping an eye on our customers. We have to find a balance between not overwhelming them though, and protecting our store."