My anecdotal experience is the exact opposite of yours. As a teen, I worked shipping and receiving at a Macy's in the mid-to-late nineties, and frequently hung

My anecdotal experience is the exact opposite of yours. As a teen, I worked shipping and receiving at a Macy's in the mid-to-late nineties, and frequently hung out in the security camera room. I watched them follow thieves on the cameras while we waited for them fill their bags with a felony-level amount of merchandise before giving chase - chases I was at times enlisted to participate in. Not a single thief was "seemingly wealthy," and we never, ever, let anyone walk out with merchandise. If anything, the opportunity to catch a rich person in the act would've been immediately seized, if only for the novelty.