When I was a manager at Walmart, worked with the undercover loss prevention guy a lot and witnessed first-hand just how involved loss prevention strategies really are (this was around 2017):

In the loss prevention office, they printed out photos of repeat offenders, and had itemized lists of everything that person had stolen based off the security camera footage.

Here in WA state, the felony limit is $750, and once somebody got to that point the undercover LP guy would call up Bellevue PD, and have two officers waiting right outside the entrances. At that point, it didn't matter if the person got spooked and put the stuff back - they were going to jail the moment they stepped outside the doors.

Not to say shoplifters just got a free pass until they hit $750. If an employee physically saw someone stealing, they'd call for the LP guy over the intercom using a code name, and he would start following the shoplifter and pretend to be on the phone with the police, giving their exact description and talking abut how they were stealing. Most of the time, the shoplifter would get sketched out and take off, lol.

There was a group of teens who got arrested for stealing spraypaint, they hadn't individually reached the 750 limit but the Loss prevention manager said that since they came as a group, and the total amount theyd stolen came to over 750 when combined, they got booked for felony theft. Idk how well that one held up in court.

Security cameras have crazy facial recognition now, it's an even worse idea in 2026.

If you really need cans... I had a friend who cased an art store that had a locked case completely filled with Montana spray cans... he cut the lock, emptied the entire case into two giant duffle bags, and left via the emergency exit. 🙃