I've seen a shoplifter tackled to ground in AZ by loss prevention a few times. One resulted in a broken nose. I bet that person will not shoplift again. And I spent years in CA watching shoplifters walk out and store personnel saying they are NOT allowed to do anything and they were told to not call police since they do nothing and waste time. Difference? one state voted to decriminalize shoplifting below a certain amount and one did not.

Shoplifting is criminal in both CA and AZ. If this is some "it's just a misdemeanor which isn't really criminal" nonsense, misdemeanors are still crimes, and the threshold for a felony is actually slightly higher in AZ ($1,000 versus $950).