Consider Boycotting Self-Checkouts: Darien Alderman

DARIEN, IL – A Darien alderman suggested Monday that residents should consider boycotting self-checkout lanes at stores.

At a City Council meeting, Alderman Eric Gustafson referred to lawyers' advice for shoppers to avoid self-checkouts.

"You've got people who are not intentionally under-scanning, but who are accidentally under-scanning that are being arrested," the alderman said. "If you go on the internet, there are lawyers who tell you not to use those machines because you are opening yourself up to being falsely accused."

Gustafson also said retail theft cases consume too much of the local police department's time. Most of such cases are at Walmart, where shoppers are accused of under-scanning items in self-checkout lanes.

Gustafson noted officers in parts of Atlanta no longer respond to shoplifting calls. According to media reports, this happens in high-crime areas, where officers are already busy.

In response to Gustafson's comments, Police Chief Greg Thomas said the police department cannot refuse to handle a call such as retail theft. And he said a shoplifting case takes no more than an hour for an officer to handle.

Thomas said he looked at the department's figures and noted a significant increase in retail theft cases at Walmart.

Gustafson said he didn't like officers being tied up on shoplifting calls.

"If all of a sudden I have a critical event at my home, I don't want to call up and (they say) four of the officers are tied up at different retailers handling a retail theft for $30," the alderman said.

But the chief said such a scenario does not happen in town.

"If there is an emergency that goes out, we respond to that emergency call, and we'll drop all the other work," Thomas said.

Gustafson also said a town in another state charges retailers $250 for every shoplifting call over 10 in a month. He recommended such a move in Darien.

But Thomas said the cost of the fee would ultimately be passed on to customers.

Alderman Tom Chlystek said he would rather it be passed on to other customers than all the city's taxpayers.

In December 2021, Patch reported that Darien officers had responded to the store 309 times since the beginning of that year. That was for all calls, including retail theft.

That worked out to 1.8 percent of the department's 16,962 total calls for service. In other words, one of every 50 calls on average is for Walmart.

Darien's Walmart is across the street from the village of Downers Grove.