[bsder]

> Would anyone suggest the company were at fault if we were not discussing Walmart?

There is a a difference between at fault and being stupid.

No one deserves to be mugged, but one does not walk through a slum, drunk, while waving a wallet around.

As for WalMart, it can do many things. Identifying known shoplifters and escorting them out. Following shoplifters back to their car and identifying license plates and then reporting THAT to the police (which often has the advantage of catching a lot of shoplifted merchandise). Designing customer flows so that people don't feel they can shoplift easily. Note that a lot of this falls into PREVENTION rather than APPREHENSION.

Walmart has lots of options, but no incentive to use them as long as they can pass the cost onto the police.