California sheriff rips into Target over 'unbelievable' restrictions against policing retail theft

A sheriff in California is so fed up with restrictions on law enforcement trying to cut down retail theft that he called out Target on social media.

Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper expressed his frustration Thursday after meeting with the company's regional head of security.

"Recently, we tried to help Target. Our Property Crimes detectives and sergeant were contacted numerous times by Target to help them with shoplifters, mostly who were known transients. We coordinated with them and set up an operation with detectives and our North POP team," wrote Cooper.

He went on to say that Target would not let them contact suspects inside the store or handcuff any suspect inside the store. Cooper said if police arrested anyone, Target told them to process them outside and behind the store.

"We were told they didn't want to create a scene inside the store and have people film it and put it on social media. They didn't want negative press. Unbelievable," he added.

He gave an example of a retail theft that police watched at Target.

"Our deputies watched a lady on camera bring in her own shopping bags, go down the body wash isle, and grab a bunch of Native body washes," Cooper wrote. "Then she went to customer service and return them! Target chose to do nothing and simply let it happen. Yet somehow, locking up deodorant and raising prices on everyday items we need to survive is their best answer."

He also criticized Walgreen's and the California Retail Association in a second social media post, and the latter responded to his accusations.

"I've known the sheriff for years, he knows how to find me. I'm not getting into public policy discussions via Twitter, he should get on the phone to move the agenda forward," said CRA president and CEO Rachel Michelin in a statement to KXTV-TV. "We helped secure almost $300 million in state funding to fight retail theft, millions for Sacramento we negotiated. He wasn't in the room, I was."

Retail theft has been an increasing problem across the country, and some stores have responded by locking up more and more items behind plexiglass. Retail stores are also reporting large losses that are hitting their bottom line and leading to lower stock prices.

"We don’t tell big retail how to do their jobs, they shouldn’t tell us how to do ours," concluded Cooper.

Here's more about the sheriff calling out Target:

California sheriff calls out Target for limits on shoplifting enforcement

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