The false claim: Former President Donald Trump put retail theft in the spotlight when he falsely claimed shrink is on the rise because law enforcement officers are reluctant to stop consumers walking out of stores with items such as refrigerators and air conditioning units, per ABC.

• “The police aren’t allowed to do their job,” he said. “They’re told if you do anything, you’re going to lose your pension. You’re going to lose your family, your house, your car.”
• And before outlining his solution to the problem—allowing police officers to get “extraordinarily rough” with suspected thieves—he complained about one of the tactics retailers have used to mitigate the issue. “You know, in New York, you can’t walk into a drugstore now,” he said. “It’s like you’re in a prison of glass. If you want to buy aspirin, you have to wait 45 minutes for a clerk to come up and open it, because of what’s gone.”