Walmart shoplifting calls strain law enforcement, cost taxpayers

Deputies in Volusia County are responding to hundreds of shoplifting calls a year at Walmart stores alone — and taxpayers are footing the bill.News 6 Investigator Troy Campbell reviewed Volusia County Sheriff’s Office dispatch records spanning several years, including calls to the Walmart on Howland Boulevard in Deltona. Records show deputies were called to that store about 465 times between August 2025 and August 2026. A second Walmart, on Princeton Avenue in Orlando, logged nearly 480 dispatches during the same period.Many of those calls involved shoplifting and other minor theft incidents.Repeat offenders drive the problemAt the University of Florida’s Loss Prevention Research Council, criminologist Read Hayes studies the relationship between retailers and law enforcement. The research center runs a simulated retail store equipped with security technology, giving retailers a place to test theft-prevention strategies. Hayes said the council works with 191 retailers, including Walmart