OT: Thefts of Tide laundry detergent across the US baffle police

Again, your American ways are strange to us Canadians.

You are thieving copper and other metals from your private and public infrastructure at an astounding rate, and now some of you are "turning the tide" - by stealing Tide laundry detergent!

It's a little bulky to use as street currency, but what-ever turns your crank I guess...

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Law enforcement officials across the US have been left baffled by a crime wave targeting an unlikely item -- Tide laundry detergent.

Theft of Tide detergent has become so rampant that some cities are setting up special task forces to stop it and retailers like CVS are taking special security precautions to lock down the liquid.

One Tide thief in West St. Paul, Minn., stole $25,000 of the product over 15 months before he was arrested last year.

"That was unique that he stole so much soap," said West St. Paul Police Chief Bud Shaver.

"The name brand is [all] Tide. Amazing, huh?"

Tide has become a form of currency on the streets. The retail price is steadily high -- roughly $10 to $20 a bottle -- and it's a staple in households across socioeconomic classes.

Tide can go for $5 to $10 a bottle on the black market, authorities say, and some thieves even resell it to stores.

"There's no serial numbers and it's impossible to track," said Detective Larry Patterson of the Somerset, Ky., Police Department, where authorities have seen a huge spike in Tide theft. "It's the item to steal."

Police say thieves target the Procter & Gamble detergent because it is the most popular and, with its Day-Glo orange logo, the most recognizable.

George Cohen, spokesman for Philadelphia-based Checkpoint Systems, which produces alarms being tested on Tide in CVS stores, said, "Name brands are easier to resell.

"In organized retail crimes they would love to steal the iPad. It's very easy to sell. Harder to sell the unknown Korean brand."

Most thieves load carts with dozens of bottles, then dash out the door. Many have getaway cars waiting outside.

"These are criminals coming into the store to steal thousands of dollars of merchandise," said Detective Harrison Sprague of the Prince George's County, Md., Police Department, where Tide is known as "liquid gold" among officers.

He and other law enforcement officials across the country say Tide theft is connected to the drug trade.

"We sent in an informant to buy drugs," Sprague said. "The dealer said, 'I don't have drugs, but I could sell you 15 bottles of Tide.'"

Police in Gresham, Ore., said most Tide theft is perpetrated by "users feeding their habit."

"They'll do it right in front of a cop car -- buying heroin or methamphetamine with Tide," said Detective Rick Blake of the Gresham Police Department. "We would see people walking down the road with six, seven bottles of Tide. They were so blatant about it."

Reply to
Home Guy
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I am not far from the border, know lots of Canadians, go there for business and pleasure and none are like you. So I am sure "us" or "we" doesn't apply to anything you write.

Reply to
George

They're just not as vocal or express their opinions in public.

We all think you're going down the toilet as a country. The UK is following right behind you.

Reply to
Home Guy

Home Guy wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@Guy.com:

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Reply to
Tegger

You're telling us all Canadians agree on something?

Wow, you Canucks are WEIRD!

We don't have anything like that here.

Reply to
Dan Espen

I thought everyone knew? Americans are a homogenized, pasteurized, monolithic bunch. It's like "you people" of any usage through the years. We're all alike. And you should have known that.

And, I hope no one thinks I'm being serious.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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.

I am not far from the border, know lots of Canadians, go there for business and pleasure and none are like you. So I am sure "us" or "we" doesn't apply to anything you write.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Sorry, you only speak for yourself and somehow imagine you might be like others. I just spent the morning with a good friend who is Canadian and is very vocal and tells it like it is and he is nothing like you. I know many others just like him.

Reply to
George

If he's telling it like it is then he'd be saying the US is going down the toilet.

Geeze - half the people in your own country are saying the same thing. The other half are in denial.

Reply to
Home Guy

What makes you think that something is making me think that you care about what I think?

Nobody in Canada has cabin fever after this so-called winter.

Reply to
Home Guy

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It used to be baby formula that was the most popular theft item. Since many stores now keep that locked up and/or keep only a small supply on the shelves, it looks like they're switched to stealing Tide. I wonder what the next product will be, once all the laundry detergent joins the baby formula behind the locked doors.

Reply to
Hell Toupee

Rhetorical. ;-)

Reply to
krw

re: "Most thieves load carts with dozens of bottles, then dash out the door. Many have getaway cars waiting outside. "

How quickly can someone load dozens of bottles of Tide into a getaway car? Seems like witnesses ought to be able to snap lots of cell phone pictures or jot down relevant information - assuming they want to. At a minimum a store employee should be able gather some incriminating data in the time it takes to transfer dozens of bottles of detergent from the cart to the car.

And what about those that *don't* have getaway cars parked outside? Seems like someone running down the street pushing a cart filled with dozens of bottles of Tide would draw some attention, especially with that right front wheel rattling all over the place.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

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Funny you should ask "what's next?" I had to laugh when I saw this:

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TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

On Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:26:45 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03 wrote Re Re: OT: Thefts of Tide laundry detergent across the US baffle police:

Yeah, the whole story seems like bullshit.

Reply to
Caesar Romano

On a serious note: cultural distance makes US citizens 'appear' all alike [and sadly, THAT world wide perception is starting to become evident]. Just as in familial look alikes. If you're a member of the family, everyone looks different. If you're viewing that family from outside, from a different family, the resemblance betweeen siblings and members is incredible.

Reply to
Robert Macy

If price is any example, toilet tissue, paper towels! Quick invest in Crown-Zellerbach!

Reply to
Robert Macy

This baffles you?

Scrap metal prices are high, and people are greedy.

Tide, same way... Tide is 40% more expensive than any other brand of detergent, and it's the only one that does a decent job.

Reply to
dennisgauge

It baffles me why there isn't an end put to it. It's been done and it's not hard.

and it's the only one that does a decent job.

Reply to
krw

People need to add a teaspoon of Trisodium phosphate to the wash !

Reply to
HeyBub

I guess it could be that this guy just hasn't done laundry in a long time...

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Reply to
DerbyDad03

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