The Bloomington Police Chief says retail theft charges are up across the city. He’s attributing it to a new policy implemented last year that would hold more thieves accountable. 

With over 500 stores and 54,000 people a day bustling at Mall of America, Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges says there’s a lot of opportunity for people to want to come and steal.

Hodges says repeat offenders and organized retail theft are part of the problem. Last year, 5 INVESTIGATES revealed one man alone was suspected of stealing tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise from Target and Best Buy locations across the metro. 

But thanks to a new policy implemented last year, Hodges says shoplifting crime prosecutions have gone up.

“We were not going to respond to any retailer that called us for a theft that was not willing to prosecute the person who had taken the item,” Hodges explained.

He says he made the policy change because he didn’t want his officers getting hurt or hurting someone for something that’s a “civil issue.” 

In Bloomington, reports of shoplifting increased by more than 500 in 2023 compared to the year before. There were 1,453 property shoplifting reports in 2022 compared to 1,962 in 2023.

Hodges notes that not everyone is reporting theft. 

“Some of these retailers just don’t have the resources to, you know, have loss prevention officers to go out and catch these people stealing,” he said. 

He also mentions that retailers are apprehensive, wanting to avoid what happened to George Floyd. 

Despite the spike in reports of shoplifting in Bloomington, recent data from the Council on Criminal Justice says retail theft has decreased significantly in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Hodges questions that report.

“Minneapolis being understaffed as a police department, if retailers are calling for theft, they’re probably not going out,” Hodges said.

There is an on-site Bloomington police station at Mall of America, along with security, K-9 units and a curfew for minors.