Dive Brief:
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After six weeks of no action taken, a former Fairfax County, VA, sheriff deputy was charged Monday with two counts related to shoplifting cases at a local Leesburg, VA, Target store.
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Action apparently took so long because Target at first declined to press charges. The store also fired the security employee who had identified the deputy and provided police with security footage of the incidents.
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The deputy, who had worked at the sheriff’s office for 20 years, quit the force just days after the accusations. Although charges have now been filed, the employee, who worked at Target for eight years, has not been reinstated.
Dive Insight:
It’s hard to know if all relevant details have been revealed in this story, but the optics aren’t good for Target. Even though this appears to be a small-town tale, it is growing into an issue that may have to be addressed at the corporate level.
Indeed, news has reached Twitter, and defenders of the store’s security officer have flooded the site with hefty criticisms of the retailer and with calls for the employee, Dallas Northington, to be reinstated.