What Happens If You Steal From Dollar General

Dollar General stores make things that may not be affordable in many other stores affordable in their store. They have household cleaning supplies and clothing, handyman tools, and groceries. During our country’s current times, inflation has been making its way into stores across our nation.

With inflation comes people desperate to provide, which can lead to store theft. I am sure, like myself, you have seen someone being restrained due to stealing in their local supermarket. Whether their act was out of desperation to provide for their family, bad habits, or simply the thrill is an upsetting sight.

Some might assume that stealing from Dollar General is ”easier” than others because of their low prices. This got me thinking, what happens when someone steals from the Dollar General store? Let’s dive in and find out.

If you steal from a Dollar General store, you may get into legal trouble. This includes being detained as well as other applicable laws for your state.

Just because Dollar General is a less expensive store to do your shopping in doesn’t mean they lack resources to catch crimes that may occur in their chains. Low-budget ticket items do not mean they do not have ample security measures to ensure they will catch shoplifters before they can leave the store.

What security measures does Dollar General have to prevent theft or other crimes? There are a lot of variables to each independent store and the state in which the store resides. Let’s find out a little more about their theft prevention and policies.

Does Dollar General have security cameras?

Dollar General has a very accurate security camera system. They are so well known for having such an efficient security camera system that they even have specific employees that the company hires to sit and watch the cameras to quickly report illegal activities such as shoplifting to the store employees and local authorities.

They have cameras that accurately depict even the dimmest of corners in the store. However, they do not generally have security camera systems outside of their stores. In my opinion, this would be a great preventative for the company when a shoplifter successfully gets away, so they can identify the vehicle’s license plates and other obvious features so the shoplifter can be successfully tracked down to prevent the crime from happening again.

Does Dollar General have security guards?

Depending on the location, Dollar General may hire security guards to help protect its stores from crimes. These people are not armed as they are not allowed to per company guidelines (the same goes for the employees).

But, they will contact authorities in appropriate situations or de-escalate and escort upset customers to leave their premises. Just because you may not see a security guard at the Dollar General store does not mean they are not there to help protect you. 

If you are caught stealing at Dollar General do they always call law enforcement?

Of course, each shoplifter’s experience is different, but it seems company policy to call Law Enforcement officers so they can press charges against the person who committed theft. If the police are not called for the crime, the store’s security and employees will likely arrange with the shoplifter that they will nono longer be allowed in their store.

When you have been caught stealing from the Dollar General store and charges have been pressed, it seems most stores will ban you from shopping at their store in the future. 

What other security measures does Dollar General have?

Most employees are equipped with panic buttons at each checkout stand. This helps protect the employee so they can quickly call law enforcement without making a very obvious phone call.

Employees of Dollar General have direct access to communicate with the offsite employees that watch the security footage so they can quickly access each situation. This communication ensures they can catch the shoplifters and communicate with them through a loudspeaker to potentially defuse each situation. Of course, working alongside each store’s security officers is also a huge resource.

Will Dollar General employees chase a shoplifter?

Per Dollar General’s company policy, employees and security guards are prohibited from touching any shoplifting offender. This follow’s suit with physically chasing any shoplifter as well. Employees are not allowed to chase any offenders out the door.

They will leave the escapee in the hands of the law to catch them once they leave the store’s premises. These policies ensure that employees remain safe during illegal situations to prevent injury or other harmful things that can occur in these high-stress situations.

How does shoplifting affect Dollar General?

Shoplifting at Dollar General is, unfortunately, an all too common occurrence. This has led them to have a very accurate shoplifting policy in place. Because of the common theft, people, unfortunately, get away with stealing, which affects the company’s profits.

They do their best to protect merchandise and profits by investing in security employees and systems, but this takes away from their annual profits and also saves them from losing more. 

It is important to remember that Dollar General supplies consumers with a great resource for affordable merchandise at their store. When a company such as Dollar General has more affordable items, this does not mean they will be more relaxed on their shoplifting policies.

It is important to share and teach the ones we care about that shoplifting is never the answer to obtaining things you may need or simply want. Learning about Dollar General’s store policy is a friendly reminder that just because something is “cheaper” or more affordable doesn’t make it okay to steal, no matter the situation.

To keep these companies afloat for our affordable needs, we must abide by the law so we can continue to have these resources for our families.