I used to work for Lowes before I walked out. It depends on the store and if a Loss Prevention person is working that day. It's actually funny to see an LP chase a guy after getting a customer's car, considering that my store had 7 cars (3 of them twice) stolen, broken into, or tires slashed, and Lowes said Tough Shizzle.
The worst thing is I work in a bad community, we have 1 LP working 40/hours a week. That's 66 hours a week with no LP, who is also responsible for employee & customer safety. They have lots of LP people in stores that are in good neighborhoods.
Our old LP guy caught someone breaking into a contractor's van. The owner came out and saw the LP struggling with the guy, and punched the theif straight in the face. The theif tried to sue Lowes and the Contractor, and the police for not arresting the contractor for punching him. His case got thrown out faster than I wish I could throw away my bills.
Sadly, at my old store, it was usually contractors who did most of the theft inside the store, and by contractor, I mean some guy whose only credentials are that he owns a pickup truck; no license, crappy workmanship, can't speak proper English if he tried, and works under the table so he can also collect welfare or disability. They gave good contractors a bad name, as corporate sent LP a memo to watch all the contractors. Of course, we could tell the difference between a contractor and a "handyman."
