A sharp rise in store thefts and threats of harm from thieves across the United States in the last few months have raised fears among shoppers.

Some shops have begun locking up basic items like toothpaste, deodorant and tissues behind transparent doors.

"It has to stop and the only way to get things done is if people start getting involved," Ann McGee, a New Yorker from the borough of Queens, said. "It's time to rally — I want to start a class action."

McGee is behind a recent petition denouncing the insecurity caused by rising retail theft — sometimes by thieves operating in groups and threatening anyone near them with violence — in her neighborhood.

The drugstore chain CVS was targeted in June by McGee's petition, which she also sent to her local councilman, Democrat Robert Holden.

Holden reached out to CVS chief executive Karen Lynch to denounce what he called "rampant retail theft" in four of its stores and the lack of action by the company to alert the police.

"Failing to report retail theft constitutes a dereliction of duty and poses serious consequences," Holden wrote in a letter to Lynch.

"It inadvertently incentivizes criminals to continue their unlawful activities while putting CVS staff and consumers in unnecessary danger," he added.

Holden's office told Agence France-Presse that he received a response from CVS's head of security, who pledged that all incidents would be reported to the police from now on.

But on the ground "nothing has changed," when it comes to security, according to McGee.

"Everything is all locked up, it's horrible. I feel like a criminal. I don't like shopping like this," the mother of four added.

"The other day, I went to CVS to buy some air freshener to put in my car. Everything was locked up," she continued. "I didn't buy it, I didn't want to wait for an attendant just for that."

In response to the recent rise in crime, McGee now shops in upstate New York where "it's very, very secure and very safe."

WITH AFP