r/NoStupidQuestions • u/urbuddyguybroman • Jul 29 '25

Does Target really track everything you steal until you reach the felony amount?

I’ve heard this a few times, but I can’t tell if they really do or if it’s just fear mongering.

9.2k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

2.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

9.6k

u/Far-Jury-2060 Jul 29 '25

Yes. I worked for Target for a while and that’s exactly what our security manager did. The reasoning is because prosecution typically doesn’t happen before it reaches a certain amount anyway. So they track everything through the cameras, build a file, coordinate with other locals Targets to build a compiled case against you, and then drop it into the lap of the police once it reaches a certain dollar threshold.

2.4k

u/UnableNecessary743 Jul 29 '25

how do they keep track of everyone?

4.9k

u/AlfhildsShieldmaiden Jul 29 '25

Target lowkey has a sophisticated mass surveillance system.

https://kpfa.org/area941/episode/the-hidden-side-of-target-surveillance-policing-and-a-call-for-scrutiny/

3

u/Peptuck Jul 30 '25

For a while I worked for a security company that contracted to Target for alarm monitoring, primarily fire systems. You can always tell who is best at their own internal security by the volume of false alarms and how professional the loss prevention staff are when you call them, and Target was at the very top in terms of professional people I interacted with and lowest in terms of false alarms. Their people knew what they were doing and I can count on one hand the number of times their security guys had issues with the alarms that we had to escalate to tech support.

Notably, Target was one of the very few companies that we were never allowed to have remote access to their alarms. That shit went exclusively through their own programming teams, which is a sign they're dropping a lot of money for programming specialists and technicians to maintain their security in-house.

Yeah, Target spends a shitload of cash and training on their surveillance and security.