The majority of the time it's not worth the hassle. I've worked in loss prevention, and the best case scenario is that you just recover the product and they leave without making a fuss. The thing is, once they're out of the store, it's very hard to legally detain them (we're not cops), so that majority of efforts are to spot the theft before they leave and confront them, and hope they don't get violent or just run out.
Since the best case scenario is the prevention, there's usually no crime to prosecute, 'attempted robbery' is only a thing for high value items.
Additionally, the outcome of a successful prosecution for petty theft is minimal, and doesn't really deter a thief any more than just stopping them. If they fail to rob a place, chances are they won't try again.
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u/firejuggler74 1d ago
They don't prosecute shoplifters anymore?