The USA has the most people in the world in the jail and this article is about the rising shoplifting problem. You are correct, those people that are currently in jail are not stealing.
Can you explain how "it works" when jail inmates cost $106000 per year? You don't need jail to make someone steal less than $106k. You can just let them steal in supermarkets, they'll never get to that amount.
Because that's the whole point, isn't it? Prevent economic loss. So that means the solution needs to cost LESS then the problem. Jails cost more. This is exactly the opposite of working, even on purely economic terms.