BATON ROUGE - Retail theft is a problem all over the country. It's no secret, it also happens in and around Baton Rouge. What you might not know is a lot of it goes unreported.

If you look around the parking lot and the building itself at the Walgreens on South Acadian Thruway and Government Street, you'll notice no visible surveillance cameras.

Brian McGowen lives next to the Mid City Walgreens and has taken it upon himself to post surveillance cameras.

"Why do I have to have security on Walgreens? Because they don't have any," McGowen said.

What he's captured might surprise you. There are dozens of videos of people urinating behind the business' dumpster, others of people doing and selling drugs. The videos prompted Walgreens to make changes and move the dumpster to a more central location at the business.

There's more. Several weeks ago, McGowen's cameras caught a person running from the rear of the store with bags in hand. They dropped items along the way but continued running toward a white car, then went back to pick up what was lost. The driver starts to leave as the person is still closing the passenger door.

The incident turned out to be a theft.

"You're sending a signal to the public that you just don't care what's going on in your parking lot. It's bad for business," McGowen said.

An employee at the Mid City Walgreens told 2 On Your Side they reviewed the cameras and confirmed items were stolen, but the theft went unreported to police. Brittany Weiss asked about it, the police were never called. Since August 1, 2022, the Baton Rouge Police Department says there have been a dozen thefts reported at this Walgreens. Police say that's only a piece of what's going on.

"Let's just say that we know there are more," Sgt. L'Jean McKneely said.

Police admit that thefts are happening, but they are not being called in. It's something that's happening all over the country.

In San Francisco, CNN reported that theft at Walgreens stores was running rampant. A viral video showed a man on a bicycle in the store shoving items into a black plastic bag as a security officer stood by watching and others filmed the incident on their cell phones. The man rode out of the store on his bike with little incident, other than the officer attempting to grab the bag and throw the thief off course.

"Some of those businesses have policies in which they don't really call for police assistance, they let those persons leave that business with that merchandise and write it off as a loss," McKneely said.

Brittany Weiss asked Walgreens corporate about why theft is going unreported in Baton Rouge. A spokesperson didn't answer the question, but did say the company takes measures like installing anti-theft devices and using security personnel to deter theft. Baton Rouge police have an idea why they aren't receiving calls about thefts.

"They don't want that type of image on their business," McKneely said.

Inside several Baton Rouge Walgreens stores, customers might notice the amount of stock behind plexiglass. It includes detergent, fabric freshener, deodorant, body wash and several other items. Petty theft is a criminal enterprise and everyone plays a part—from the seller, to the retailer, the criminal, the consumer and the unaware online shopper.

"They turn around and sell them on the street. They may trade them for drugs. There's a combination of things that may come from them stealing those items," McKneely said.

It's not just Walgreens. People steal left and right from places, sometimes out of desperation. McKneely says that some people who steal may be reaching out for help and that's their way of reaching out. Police say hardware stores are a big target.

"Those persons feel comfortable going to businesses committing crimes and there's no recourse of action for the things that they're doing," McKneely said.

The Walgreens on Perkins Road and Staring Lane recently closed, same with the Sherwood Forest Boulevard location. Walgreens says the stores closed because of the dynamic of the local market.

But there are other theories and people will tell you.

Dr. Peter Scharf is a health criminologist at LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans. He says that this attitude and disregard about unreported loss is a real problem in the community.

"Don't worry about it, nobody got killed, but does that create a climate in which violent crime becomes permissible?" questions Scharf.

His studies include whether unreported theft can lead to violent crime.

"The question is, how does that link to the murders - both New Orleans and Baton Rouge have had horrendous murder problems - the question is for you, are these two epidemics or are they one?" Scharf said.

Police says it's a concern to them. They'd rather the theft be reported and the evidence captured, rather then letting the crime slide.

"They're getting the merchandise and then your employees don't feel empowered to stop those perpetrators from stealing," McKneely said. "I think it's a bad idea, I think they should be forthcoming with reporting these incidents."

Security, or lack there of might be an issue. Some stores have taken it upon themselves to hire their own. Baton Rouge police officers are posted outside stores day and night to deter theft. There used to be an officer at the Mid City Walgreens, but that's changed. When asked why, Walgreens didn't answer.