Misbehaving 5 year old..

My friend called me Friday night wanting some advice to her daughter. She is 5.

At school her daughter is out right bad. She steals from other kids, yells at the teachers, and when she gets disciplined she throws an outright fit causing a huge scene.
At home, she is fairly good. But recently my friend and her husband noticed that she had been stealing things(including some of her money)and lying about it.
She told me that she is punished from all tv. And only has about 1-2 toys in her room left. She has been spanked (please don't judge, I'm only asking for advice), time out...etc
Her and her husband are at their wits end. Everything they do to punish her...it just doesn't work. They are friends with a police officier, and have been thinking about asking him to dress up and talk to her. Hoping to scare her into behaving.
She called me for advice on what they could do...or possibly something they could try. But....I had no help for her. I have a 6 year old and an 8 year old...but they aren't really that bad.

Any suggestions that I could pass along? Thanks!

its a phase..
my 7 yr old is going through it now mainly at school...
at home he just talks back alot and blames his sister for everything

im hoping its just a phase...

Quoting amethyst rain:“ My friend called me Friday night wanting some advice to her daughter. She is 5. At school her daughter ... [snip!] ... I have a 6 year old and an 8 year old...but they aren't really that bad. Any suggestions that I could pass along? Thanks!”

That is quite the predicament to be in. I dont really know if this helps but my BD and his brother skipped school one day when they were lil bitty he was five and his brother were 6. Their mom happened to catch them trying to scale the backyard fence to get into the house so she called a cop that she knew and he took them down to the station and put them in a holding cell for about an hour. Lol it worked.....and made for great stories later on