Colorado leaders in one suburban county say they’re “done looking the other way” on retail theft – but their newest anti-shoplifting move doesn’t go after thieves first.
It goes after the stores.
In Douglas County, Colorado, commissioners and law enforcement just rolled out a proposed ordinance that would fine businesses up to $1,000 if they don’t report shoplifting within a few days. The push has already sparked questions about whether the county is cracking down on crime or revictimizing victims – and why the target is retailers instead of the people walking out with the merchandise.
The move was detailed in an official Douglas County news release and examined more critically in a TV report by 9NEWS investigative reporter Marshall Zelinger.
Officials Promise ‘We Incarcerate Thieves. All of Them.’
At a Dec. 9 news conference, Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly and 23rd Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler stood alongside Commissioners Abe Laydon, George Teal, and Kevin Van Winkle to send a loud public message.
“Shoplifting will not be tolerated here,” the county’s news release declared, framing retail theft as a driver of more serious crime — including weapons offenses, auto theft, drug activity and organized gang operations.
Sheriff Weekly said that when a business calls in a theft, deputies respond “quickly and decisively,” stressing that officers have already nabbed “numerous offenders” and stopped incidents from escalating.
District Attorney Brauchler went even further, promising that anyone who heads to Douglas County to steal should “plan on staying,” because, as he put it, “We incarcerate thieves. All of them.”
The message is classic tough-on-crime rhetoric, especially aimed at holiday shoppers and retailers. Brauchler said he wants people to come to Douglas County’s “world-class mall and amazing outlet stores” knowing they’re in “the safest part of the metro area.”
The crime backdrop is real. The county cited analysis from the Colorado-based Common Sense Institute estimating retail crime cost state businesses $1.4 billion in 2022 and stripped taxpayers of roughly $78 million in sales-tax revenue. Theft reports are up more than 22% in just one year, and national data suggests nearly 9 in 10 incidents are never reported at all.
Against that backdrop, it makes sense that local officials want a stronger response. The controversial part is who they’ve decided to pressure.
New Ordinance Puts Reporting Burden on Businesses
The proposed Douglas County ordinance doesn’t actually create a new shoplifting crime.
Instead, it’s designed to enforce a state law that’s been on the books since 1979, which requires any person or business with “reasonable grounds” to believe a crime has occurred to promptly report it to law enforcement. The county’s plan is to turn that old rule into a local enforcement tool, with civil fines aimed at businesses that don’t pick up the phone.
According to the county’s own description, the goals are to:
- Change public expectations in an era when some places are seen as more lenient on retail theft
- Discourage the idea that Douglas County is an “easy target”
- Support law enforcement through timely reporting and evidence preservation
- Encourage more collaboration between retailers and investigators
Commissioner Laydon framed the move as “ending the era of looking the other way” on shoplifting. He insisted the county’s priority is protecting honest customers, keeping costs down for families, and “not allowing losses to be passed on to the community.”
Crucially, Laydon argued they are “standing with” business owners, not penalizing them. He says the real problem is corporate-level policies that tell employees not to engage with or report shoplifters.
Commissioner Kevin Van Winkle echoed that point, saying the ordinance is aimed at “corporate policies that may punish employees for reporting shoplifting to law enforcement.” In his view, the measure is meant to give front-line workers cover to “do the right thing” without fear of being disciplined by their employer.
On paper, enforcement comes with some discretion. Under the county’s description, violations could draw anything from a warning to a civil citation, capped at a $1,000 maximum fine.
How the Fines Would Work – And Where They Apply
Marshall Zelinger’s report for 9NEWS helps fill in the practical details. He notes that the ordinance, which only applies in unincorporated Douglas County, would fine businesses $50 per day for failing to report a theft, up to that $1,000 cap.
Stores would have four days from the incident to notify law enforcement before the meter starts running.
That means roughly 900 retail locations are potentially covered — but major malls like Park Meadows and the Outlets at Castle Rock are not, because they sit inside city limits in Lone Tree and Castle Rock.
Zelinger pressed Sheriff Weekly on the obvious enforcement gap: “How do you fine a business for not reporting shoplifting if it’s never reported?”
Weekly answered that the ordinance would come into play “if events come to our attention that we need to engage on,” such as when a business is “simply looking the other way,” and that behavior creates additional calls for service.
He didn’t fully spell out what those “events” might look like if the core complaint is that stores aren’t calling in thefts in the first place.
There’s also a fairness question.
As Zelinger pointed out on air, a $1,000 fine is the kind of thing a big-box chain might shrug off as a cost of doing business. But for a small shop where a theft might involve something as minor as a pack of gum, being forced to file a report every time or risk a stacking daily fine could turn into a real administrative and financial headache.
During public comment, some residents raised that exact concern and suggested that small businesses should be exempted. Zelinger reports commissioners seemed at least open to that feedback, though the ordinance has already cleared its first reading unanimously.
Supporters Say It’s About Fighting “Corporate Leniency”
Douglas County’s official message is that this isn’t an attack on local entrepreneurs. It’s a pushback on corporate policies that tell clerks and managers to stay out of it when people brazenly walk out with armloads of merchandise.
The county news release highlights that more than 75% of crimes in Douglas County are committed by people who don’t live there, and leaders clearly want to send a signal to organized retail theft rings: this is not the county to target.
Commissioner Laydon pitched the ordinance as a deterrent aimed at the perception that shoplifting is tolerated in some parts of Colorado and the country. If big retailers have built a culture of not calling the police, he argues, that culture changes when there’s a local rule – and a financial penalty – for staying silent.
From that standpoint, the ordinance isn’t just about a $1,000 fine. It’s about forcing national chains to rewrite their internal policies to line up with Douglas County’s expectations. Laydon told 9NEWS that at the corporate level, companies tend to “institute policies at their larger national headquarters to comply with local government regulations.”
In other words, if the rules say “report every theft,” headquarters may finally stop telling workers to stand down.
There’s a real logic there. If retailers don’t consistently report thefts, police can’t build cases, identify patterns, or focus resources on organized groups instead of one-off shoplifters.
But that logic runs into some uncomfortable contradictions when you zoom out.
Critics See Mixed Messages on ‘Revictimizing’ Victims
The most striking criticism highlighted in Zelinger’s report is a political one.
In 2021, Democrats at the Colorado legislature passed a statewide law fining gun owners $25 if they fail to report a stolen firearm within five days. Supporters said it was about public safety and tracking weapons.
Every Republican voted against it – including then-state Rep. Kevin Van Winkle, who is now one of the Douglas County commissioners backing this retail theft ordinance.
Asked why he opposed the gun-theft reporting rule but supports fining businesses that don’t report shoplifting, Van Winkle told 9NEWS the older law “simply re-victimized an already victim.” He argued that if someone’s home is broken into and a firearm is taken, “the police then come after that person, charge that person, it doesn’t make sense.”
That’s where the critics will likely dig in.
From a distance, both policies look similar: you’re fining a victim of theft for failing to report the crime fast enough. For guns, that was unacceptable “revictimization.” For shoplifting, it’s now being framed as common-sense public safety.
The county’s response is that large retailers aren’t helpless burglary victims, they’re deep-pocketed corporations choosing not to cooperate with police. That’s a meaningful distinction when you’re talking about companies that absorb millions in shrink and write it off.
Still, the ordinance doesn’t distinguish in its language between a national chain and a mom-and-pop shop. Without careful tailoring, it risks punishing the exact small businesses that Douglas County leaders say they want to protect.
And that’s the tension at the heart of this story.
A Bigger Debate About Ownership, Safety, and Responsibility
Taken together, Douglas County’s news release and Marshall Zelinger’s reporting paint a picture of a county trying hard to draw a line in the sand on retail theft – but also navigating all the gray areas that come with that stance.
On one side is a real and growing problem: organized shoplifting, escalating theft, and a sense among many ordinary people that nobody is doing anything as brazen thieves clear shelves and walk out.
Officials like Sheriff Weekly and DA Brauchler are responding to that anger and fear, promising jail time for thieves and insisting Douglas County won’t become another viral “walkout” video.
On the other side is the reality that crime policy is messy. When you start fining businesses for what they don’t report, you raise hard questions about who’s responsible for crime, who’s being punished, and whether you’re truly cracking down on offenders or just adding one more burden onto people already dealing with losses.
If Douglas County ultimately passes this ordinance – and all three commissioners talked it up publicly – the real test won’t be the press conferences. It will be how often the fines are actually used, whether small businesses get carved out, and whether big corporations really change their policies.
For now, the message to retailers is simple, even if the policy isn’t: in this corner of Colorado, if someone steals from your store, keeping quiet may soon carry a price of its own.
Raised in a small Arizona town, Kevin grew up surrounded by rugged desert landscapes and a family of hunters. His background in competitive shooting and firearms training has made him an authority on self-defense and gun safety. A certified firearms instructor, Kevin teaches others how to properly handle and maintain their weapons, whether for hunting, home defense, or survival situations. His writing focuses on responsible gun ownership, marksmanship, and the role of firearms in personal preparedness.
