Douglas County’s leaders want to put an end to the “look the other way” mentality when it comes to retail theft — and they aim to do so, in part, by threatening to fine businesses that fail or refuse to report shoplifting.

The three county commissioners on Tuesday passed on first reading a measure that would hit businesses in unincorporated parts of the county with $50 fines for each 24-hour period following an unreported theft, with a maximum fine of $1,000 per incident.

The measure still needs a second vote to become law.

“We’re not going to allow a culture where people walk out of a store with a stack of drills and nobody says a word — that era is over in Douglas County,” said Commissioner Abe Laydon during a livestreamed news conference from county headquarters in Castle Rock on Tue

See Full Page