Imagine hearing this announcement while doing your shopping: “Attention Walmart shoppers. Please take advantage of a free car wash in our lot for the next two hours.” Courtesy of a Michigan judge, you might be able to. No “perp walk” for these offenders—just a Walmart Wash.
Shoplifting conviction could put you on Walmart Wash crew
Walmart “loss prevention” specialists in Grand Blanc, Michigan, may have less to do if Judge Jeffrey Clothier’s unique sentences have an effect. The judge is sentencing people who shoplift at the store, not to don an orange jumpsuit, but to grab a bucket and a sponge.
According to a news story from The Associated Press, the judge says this: “I don’t think everybody that steals is a bad person. Sometimes people are just down on their luck…. But there’s going to be consequences when you break the law.” The judge was recently elected to sit on the bench of the Genesee County District Court.
The so-called Walmart wash penalties for misdemeanor shoplifting are great in the eyes of the big store chain. Judge Clothier checked his plan out with local managers. The store will provide water and cleaning supplies. Chamois cloths will be handed to 75 to 100 shoplifters during the weekends in March and April.
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Great idea !!
You bet it is!
I would not trust a shoplifter being forced to wash my vehicle. They are going to be in a bad mood to begin with and may take it out on your car or truck.
Would Walmart be responsible for any damage?
I think a better punishment would be to pick up the trash in the parking lot for 30 days with a vest saying they were caught shoplifting. May deter future shoplifters.
Or pick up dog poop left in campgrounds by irresponsible dog owners.
Not just campgrounds; city parks and city sidewalks are full of dog poop left by irresponsible dog walkers.
I think you and GrumpyVet are on to something great! 😄
My very first thought, they won’t care how it looks, if it’s clean, if it’s rinsed, anything except for the fact that they’re being forced to do something they don’t want and getting wet doing it.
And there’s plenty trash at any Walmart.
Yeah! I wouldn’t want a thief to wash my car! 😳
Or clean toilets in National Parks …
Thank you, Russ and Tina, for the news of this innovative form of punishment. Perhaps word of how this works, at least in terms of how well the vehicles are washed, will be available after a few weekends of washes have passed. Have a great day and safe travels!
How about pickup trash on roadways.
I was thinking the same thing! 😄
The thousands of TikTok videos showing people “flexing” with their “haul” to “boost” their lifestyle tells me they see theft as an entitlement not an embarrassment.
Maybe conscript the repeat offenders to the military to reorient their lack of morals….
Thats what they did in the old days. Join the service or go to jail.
They should also have to reimburse the store for the items they took.
Regarding the judge’s comment…A thief IS a bad person…”down on your luck” has other options and choices.
The labor they perform should go towards restitution—and the thief should have to personally present their restitution to their victim. A lot of the ills of our society stem from not holding people accountable—even if they are “down on their luck”. That’s no excuse for causing others to become down on their luck through your own selfish behavior.
Well said!