PRINCETON: Area escapes US shoplifting uptick

By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
   A national spike in thefts, shoplifting, and other crimes that law enforcement officials have linked to economic turmoil has not emerged in the Princeton area, where police generally see flat or declining thefts and local merchants remain vigilant about protecting their wares.
   Local statistics, which contradict the findings of a recent national survey in which 44 percent of police departments linked increases in thefts to the economy, show that Montgomery Township, Plainsboro Township, Princeton Borough, and Princeton Township all saw the thefts decrease in number from 2007 to 2008.
   Only West Windsor reported an increase in thefts from 2007 to 2008, from 436 in 2007 to 457 in 2008. Police associated the increase with that municipality’s concentration of retail shopping along the Route 1 corridor and the Princeton Junction train station. Thefts, which include cases of shoplifting, occur regularly at both locations, as demonstrated by police reports detailing everything from shoplifting to the theft of GPS units and iPods from parked vehicles.
   Police in West Windsor, however, say such occurrences are an unfortunate, but fairly normal set of circumstances for the township.
   West Windsor Police Chief Joseph Pica said the relatively flat number of thefts from 2007 to 2008 demonstrate that there has not been any sort of dramatic shift in thefts over the last year or more, as the township continues to see many cases of shoplifting along Route 1.
   ”To be honest with you, we usually do shoplifting as a routine business over here,” said Chief Pica.
   He noted that the Nassau Park shopping center and other shopping destinations traditionally see a spike in thefts during the holiday months, but “no, I have not seen a dramatic increase in the shoplifting.”
   Princeton Borough, where police received between 250 and 350 reported thefts in recent years, also has many retail locations.
   Lt. David Dudeck reported thefts reported specifically as shoplifting fell from 37 reports in 2007 to only 16 in 2008, and that the borough wasn’t experiencing an unusual increase in thefts.
   Additionally, he said, Princeton Borough police managed to make arrests in all 16 cases in 2008.
   Princeton Borough merchants polled informally about what they had seen in their shops also had nothing unusual to report, except that sales were down.
   Paige Peterson of Rouge, a women’s boutique on Witherspoon Street, said she hadn’t seen anything unusual, although she remains vigilant about potential shoplifters regardless of the economy’s state.
   ”I am always concerned about (shoplifting),” Ms. Peterson said.
   Gayle DeAndrea, whose Ma Cherie boutique has been open on Nassau Street for a little more than three months, also exhibited a merchant’s natural awareness of shoplifting. She said local police had told her that there was a lot of shoplifting going on, and that she kept valuable items either in the back of the store or locked up.
   Ms. DeAndrea said she doesn’t have much of a problem with shoplifting at her other store in Pennington, where she leaves goods out on the sidewalk in good weather.
   ”In Pennington we don’t have any problem with that,” said Ms. DeAndrea, while noting that sometimes shoplifting is going to happen regardless of what a merchant does to prevent the crime.
   Princeton Township, which Chief Mark Emann said has less commercial activity than Princeton Borough, does not see as many thefts and even fewer shoplifting reports than some neighboring towns.
   ”The township has less in the way of a large department-store type of atmosphere,” Chief Emann said.
   Detective Sgt. Ernest Silagyi said the township’s lack of a dedicated retail district meant the local police did receive as many theft or shoplifting reports as some of the surrounding towns, like West Windsor.
   He said the township had 90 reported thefts in 2007 and 79 in total in 2008.
   Montgomery Township, which has some shopping destinations along Route 206 but remains mainly residential and rural, police said they only had two theft reports that they categorized as shoplifting in 2008, compared with three in 2007.
   Lt. James Curry said the level of thefts in 2008 — 144 — is in line with what the police have usually seen, such as 142 reports in 2007 and 170 in 2006.
   In Plainsboro Township, which does not have the same density of shopping destinations along its section of the Route 1 corridor, police also reported a drop in thefts from 2007 to 2008, from 164 to 144, according to Chief Richard Furda.
   ”We don’t get many shoplifting arrests,” said Chief Furda. “It’s my sense that the Northeast in general seems to be more insulated (from the trend).”