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More and more young girls are stealing make-up for large amounts.
Now the police are warning about the new Tiktok trend.
– They see it as a game and want to try it, says municipal police officer Maja Karlsson.
“Borrowing”.
This is how a trend that has spread on social media in recent years, not least on Tiktok, is described. It’s about young people who share tips about how to shoplift.
Now the trend has come to Sweden and in Jönköping the police are now warning about the phenomenon, something like P4 Jönköping has reported on.
– We can see that this trend has taken hold in our municipality and in our county. It is above all our shopping center Asecs, says Maja Karlsson, municipal police in Jönköping.
Recently, they have seen that more and more young people, not least girls, are performers. According to the police, it is about girls between the ages of 13 and 15, who in questioning say that they saw the trend on Tiktok and that they wanted to try it themselves.
– The girls are encouraged to commit criminal acts. When we have checked the girls, they have stated in connection with questioning that they have seen this trend and the videos and had it as a source of inspiration. That is what has influenced them to do this.
“Seeing it as a game”
According to the police, it is about the girls wanting to test the trend themselves.
– Our opinion is that they are taking this very lightly and that they are not aware of the types of consequences it has and that you are actually committing a criminal act. They see it as a game and want to try it, says Maja Karlsson.
The trend began in the United States a few years ago and was motivated, among other things, politically by young people stealing from large stores and chains as a protest against capitalism.
In Jönköping County, there has been an increase compared to last year. During the period May to August last year, 35 thefts took place in stores. In the same period this year, the number of shop thefts was 87 in Jönköping County.
– It feels like this trend could be a factor. I understand that if you are a rather sensitive and impressionable youth or child in the lower teens, you are affected by this and take it in, says Maja Karlsson.
Police: Pay attention
According to the police, it is about large amounts.
– It is quite common for them to resort to make-up and there we can come up with quite high sums. But there is usually no preliminary investigation, but all too often results in a report of concern to social services.
She wants to send an invitation:
– As a parent, you have a responsibility to keep track of what the children are doing on social media. We try to draw the social services’ attention to young people who have this type of deviant behavior quite early so that we catch them quickly, says Maja Karlsson.