The Durango Police Department is stepping up enforcement of stolen shopping carts by issuing warnings followed by tickets after a steady flow of complaints from community members.
“Everybody’s getting sick of it,” said Deputy Chief of Police Brice Current. “We get emails almost daily from people that are tired of it and wondering what we are doing. My officers are also hearing complaints from the stores.”
Durango Code Enforcement officer Steve Barkley has been collecting abandoned shopping carts and keeping track of their numbers for more than a year.
“We’re somewhere in the neighborhood of $85,000 worth of shopping carts recovered within the city limits and returned to various stores,” Barkley said. “And the stores themselves realize that they are losing quite a bit of revenue because of that, so the police department called around and put this plan in place about two weeks ago.”
Current called store managers across Durango all reported losses and even confrontations between store employees and people making off with the carts.
“It’s really more about the public safety of the people who own the stores who have to go out and try and recover these,” Current said. “It’s our job to create a safe environment and to protect people and public safety.”
Police officers are issuing warnings when they talk to people who have stolen carts, as well as offering them bags to carry their belongings. If people persist, a citation to appear in court with the charge of theft of goods is issued. The fine is $350 or less but could get knocked down to community service.
The effort is still new and only four citations have been issued since October.
City Market, Albertsons, Walmart, Home Depot, Walgreens, Nature’s Oasis and several health food stores have all had carts stolen, Barkley said.
The price of shopping carts have doubled since COVID-19 and are more difficult for the stores to purchase, managers told police.
“A year ago when I pulled up the average cost it was $350 a cart, so that’s the number I used,” Barkley said. “And they range from $200 to $700 with some as high as a thousand bucks nowadays. But we don’t have any of those in town.”
gjaros@durangoherald.com
