Between 25 and 50 incidents of shoplifting are reported in Hanover each year, which constitutes a "serious problem," according to Hanover Police Captain Chris O'Connor.
About half the reported cases involve Dartmouth students, O'Connor said.
Although O'Connor said over the years there has been a gradual rise in shoplifting cases, not because the 'five-fingered discount' is growing more common but because store owners are getting smarter about fighting it.
"Merchants are becoming more aware of different detection capabilities and actually catching more people," O'Connor said.
Store owners are also growing less tolerant about shoplifting, he said.
Though Hanover police deals with shoplifters only at the request of store owners. "Shoplifting is a serious crime and we will treat it as so," O'Connor said.
Police prosecute all shoplifters, he said.
The crime constitutes a class B misdemeanor and includes a minimum fine of $250 plus a 20 percent penalty assessment for the cost of the stolen item.
O'Connor said most shoplifters are local high school students, Dartmouth students and "mostly young kids."
The most-stolen items are compact discs from the Dartmouth Bookstore, he said. The Bookstore suffers the most from shoplifting.
Doug Rexford, the manager of bookstore, said he reports between 75 to 100 shoplifting cases each year to the Hanover Police.
Despite a security system and tags on CDs and other merchandise, "more than 50 percent of shoplifters get away," he said.
Most shoplifters caught in the act are usually cooperative with the store employees who detain them.
There are few documented cases of physical resistance by suspects resisting detainment.
Rexford said he has seen "kids hiding stolen items in their caps" and employees chasing shoplifters through the crowded streets.
"But those kind of things don't happen too many times," he said.
