Georgetown Shops, Police Use App to Discuss ‘Suspicious' Shoppers

Some Georgetown retailers are using an app to report people they suspect of shoplifting or otherwise deem suspicious, according to a recent Washington Post article -- and there's a concern that it's leading to racial profiling in some cases.

Early last year, the Georgetown Business Improvement District (BID) partnered with D.C. police to launch an effort called "Operation GroupMe." The program is named for the GroupMe app, a mobile messaging service that allows large groups to share text messages and photos in chat rooms.

The Georgetown private group includes merchants and D.C. police officers. Both groups share what they're seeing in stores and in the neighborhood.

"Like retail districts around the country we have a shoplifting issue," Joe Sternlieb, CEO and president of the Georgetown BID, told News4 partner WTOP.com.

Since the partnership launched, "the app has attracted nearly 380 users who surreptitiously report on -- and photograph -- shoppers in an attempt to deter crime," the Post reports.

But the Business Improvement District has found that, of the more than 3,000 messages sent since January, 70 percent of the people who were called "suspicious" were black, the Post reported.

And in some cases the reports have little corroborating evidence.

For example, the Post reports:

"Suspicious shoppers in store," an American Apparel retailer posted in April last year. "3 female. 1 male strong smell of weed. All African American. Help please."

"What did they look like?" a True Religion employee in May last year asked an American Apparel retailer who had reported a theft. "Ratchet," the American Apparel worker replied, using a slang term for trashy that often has a racial connotation. "Lol."

"To be fair," the Washington Post reported, "police officers and others frequently press each other for more details, or correct users who veer into stereotyping."

The Post says that an employee at Hu's Wear shared an image of a tall, well-dressed African American man, saying he was "very suspicious" and "looking everywhere."

An employee at Suitsupply responded, saying, "He was just in Suitsupply. Made a purchase of several suits and some gloves."

The app has led to "relatively few arrests," Sternlieb told the Post, adding "It's impossible to know what's working and what's not to deter crime."

Sternlieb told WTOP that app users are encouraged to call 911 first and only report criminal activity. He said he did see racial profiling, but only in about 14 of hundreds of GroupMe posts.

"We don't allow it to be used for that, so if that's what somebody's doing we throw them out of the group," Sternlieb told WTOP.