Employee Theft And Safety

September 26, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Are you a small business owner dealing with the security of your store? Are you tired of not knowing where the losses are coming from? Employee theft and shoplifting are two of the major losses retail stores across the United States face every day. The millions of dollars the retail industry loses every day are due to employee theft and shoplifting, so how do you prepare yourself from employee theft?  Employee background checks can be a first step in dealing with employee theft.  Paying for background checks for your employees is investing in the future of your store.  Training them and going through the hiring process takes time and money.  By hiring the right people the first time, you save time and money that can be spent elsewhere.

For more about this and other topics follow the links below.

5 Smart Ways to Prevent Employee Theft

Do you know how much money you lose every year to employee theft? Read our article to find out how to prevent or reduce those losses.

As a retail business owner, you understand the risks you take by hiring a staff you don’t know. It’s difficult to build a whole lot of trust in a small amount of time, but you must. Still, employee theft is a more prevalent reality than you may realize.

Research conducted by four different agencies – the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Easy Small Business HR, the Institute for Corporate Productivity and Jack L. Hayes International Inc. – show that workers are daring with their pilfering. Shoplifting is a big enough risk for retail shops, being 35.6 percent of the source of inventory shrinkage, but employee theft comes in at 42.7 percent.

Annually, businesses in the United States are losing about $50 billion to employee theft. Also, 75 percent of employees admit having stolen at least once from their employers. Those are sobering statistics. However, there are a few precautions and actions you can take to reduce the chance of being ripped off by those you’re paying to work for you.

Convenience store manager fires gun after shoplifting incident

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) – An E. Washington St. convenience store manager is under investigation for firing his gun at a shoplifter.

It happened Monday night at Sam’s Food Mart & Tobacco Store.

Eyewitness News spoke with one of the store clerks about why the manager decided to fire his weapon.

The clerk said the shooting happened after his co-worker chased a customer through the front door and into the parking lot. The shoplifter left with a couple of items without paying for them.

Someone flagged down an IMPD officer to report the incident.

Eyewitness News has learned the shoplifter stole a bag of Planters peanuts and a package of Hostess Zingers.

Shoplifters of TVs Held in Death of 81-Year-Old Sears Worker

Authorities say an 81-year-old Sears sales associate was killed by two men who shoved him down while stealing television sets.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — An 81-year-old Sears sales associate was killed by two men who shoved him down while stealing television sets from a South Carolina store, authorities said Wednesday.

Sheriff Leon Lott said he charged “two punks” with murder as well as strong-arm robbery when Duaine Hamilton died, four days after his head hit the store’s concrete floor.

“It wasn’t a struggle. They just struck him. He’s 81 years old. He attempted to stop them by standing in front of them and they just attacked and knocked him down. And they still stole the TVs,” Lott said at a news conference.

Jeffrey Simmons, 58, was arrested Friday, and Jason Randolph, 40, was taken into custody Wednesday after a traffic stop, deputies said.

 

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Do You Know Who Is Stealing From You?

September 11, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Do you know who is stealing from you? It could be anyone.  Shoplifting rings across the United States are now a common practice.  Millions of dollars are stolen every day due to shoplifting, and many millions more are because of employee theft. 

The shoplifter can be anyone; from a grandma, a city employee, or a government official, shoplifters come in all shapes and form.  Police officers have been known to be apprehended when shoplifting, and  juveniles are notorious for stealing merchandise when they visit a store.  Training and awareness from you as a store manager, and from the employees at your supervision, can limit the amount these shoplifters take from your store.

For more about this and other topics, follow the links below.

Feds Break Up $20M Shoplifting Ring That Stole Clothing From Coast To Coast

Federal authorities say they’ve arrested more than a dozen people and broken up a massive shoplifting network that trafficked in some $20 million in apparel and other items stolen from stores all over the country and then sold in Mexico.

According to a grand jury indictment [PDF] unsealed this week, the San Diego-based defendants allegedly assembled “crews” of shoplifters who would steal items from a variety of stores — Victoria’s Secret, Hollister, American Eagle, Banana Republic — at malls both local and thousands of miles away.

Prosecutors say that this ring pilfered items at stores as far-flung as Washington state, Illinois, and Maryland, all with the intention of transporting the stolen goods back to the San Diego area, and then on to a fence in Mexico.

The indictment details the various roles given to the shoplifters involved in any given theft. There were “team leaders” who selected stores and targeted items within the store, while doing advance scouting for the presence of police or loss-prevention staff. When it came time to shoplift, the team leader would relocate the items targeted for shoplifting, putting them in spots within a store that made it easier for others to steal them.

Former school district employee charged with felony theft

Former St. Cloud school district buildings and grounds supervisor Bryan Brown was charged Friday with felony theft for using public funds for personal purchases, according to a complaint filed in Stearns County District Court.

Brown resigned April 3 after 27 years with the district. He began working for the district as a custodian in 1990. In 2011, he became the buildings and grounds supervisor.

Brown’s supervisor, former executive director of business services Kevin Januszewski, resigned April 6.

After the resignations, the district asked St. Cloud Police Department to investigate the possible theft of public funds at the school district, according to the complaint. That investigation was launched April 7.

Employee theft cost US businesses an average of $1.13 million in losses, according to 2017 Hiscox Embezzlement Study™

NEW YORK, NY, Aug. 23, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Hiscox, the international specialist insurer, today released the 2017 Hiscox Embezzlement Study™, an examination of employee theft in the US. The findings reveal that US businesses impacted by employee theft lost an average of $1.13 million last year. Small and mid-sized companies (fewer than 500 employees) continue to be disproportionally victimized by employee theft, representing approximately 68 percent of cases.

This is the third annual Hiscox Embezzlement Study, which examines employee theft cases that were active in the US federal court system in 2016.

“There is a necessary level of trust between employees and their employer that is required of successful businesses,” said Doug Karpp, Crime & Fidelity Product Head at Hiscox. “When there is a breach in that trust because an employee or executive steals, it can have a significant impact on the entire organization both financially and emotionally. Business owners and executives need to make the shift from blind trust to intelligent trust to ensure they are able to spot and prevent employee theft.”

 

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Employee Theft

September 6, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Addiction is a big factor is some shoplifters’s lives.  They steal to then sell the stolen merchandise to be able to purchase drugs and alcohol.  Employees with a drug addiction problem are dangerous to a retail store, specially those employees that are given a position of power, or have some type of freedom with merchandise, cash or even the security of the store.

Employees that feel as deserving employees that are not being properly compensated can be a liability to a retail store as well.  Anger, bad attitudes, and eventually theft can be a big problem for the store where they are employed.

Retailers and employers in the United States and around the globe loose billions of dollars to shoplifting and employee theft every year. Periodic inventory of employees, merchandise and security of the store are not only necessary but imperative to the health of the business. 

If as an owner, any part of the proper management of the store is left unattended, the results can be catastrophic.

For more about this and other topics follow the links below.

Your Loyal, Hardworking, and Intelligent Employee Might Be Stealing From Your Business

Most perpetrators are middle-aged, longtime employees who never take vacation, says new study.

Last June, Linda Clark, a 68-year-old bookkeeper, who worked for a credit union in Iowa, plead guilty to embezzling almost $2.5 million from her employer between 1978 until she resigned in 2015.

The SCICAP Credit Union in Chariton, Iowa, had to liquidate due to Clark’s 37-year-long scheme, during which she diverted small sums of money into her bank account as well as those of her children.

Clark fits the profile of the average embezzler, according to a studythat looked at over 400 embezzlement cases in federal court, conducted by insurance provider Hiscox. The study found the average embezzler to be a small-business, middle-aged employee who works in the accounting and finance department. Perps were female in 41 percent of the cases.

Clark’s scheme went on longer than average, but the majority of schemes, 28.7 percent, go on for five years with an average theft amount of $2.2 million. For schemes that last 10 years, the average loss hits $5.4 million.

Employee theft cost US businesses an average of $1.13 million in losses, according to 2017 Hiscox Embezzlement Study™

NEW YORK, NY, Aug. 23, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Hiscox, the international specialist insurer, today released the 2017 Hiscox Embezzlement Study™, an examination of employee theft in the US. The findings reveal that US businesses impacted by employee theft lost an average of $1.13 million last year. Small and mid-sized companies (fewer than 500 employees) continue to be disproportionally victimized by employee theft, representing approximately 68 percent of cases.

This is the third annual Hiscox Embezzlement Study, which examines employee theft cases that were active in the US federal court system in 2016.

“There is a necessary level of trust between employees and their employer that is required of successful businesses,” said Doug Karpp, Crime & Fidelity Product Head at Hiscox. “When there is a breach in that trust because an employee or executive steals, it can have a significant impact on the entire organization both financially and emotionally. Business owners and executives need to make the shift from blind trust to intelligent trust to ensure they are able to spot and prevent employee theft.”

 

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Do Shoplifters have Rights?

August 29, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Shoplifting and shoplifters have been a constant reliable problem the retail industry has had for many years.  The billions of dollars lost due to shoplifting is not a laughing matter.  The millions of dollars the retail industry suffers daily due to shoplifting, cripples local economies and leaves them unable to fund social programs that benefit those communities.  The tax loss from stolen merchandise affects those communities as well.

It is very hard to empathize with a shoplifter. Shoplifting is a crime after all but, we must remember that shoplifters have rights and whether security personnel likes it or not they must follow the law.  The procedures a security employee must take when apprehending a shoplifter are very clear.  Law enforcement personnel must follow procedures as well. Shoplifters have rights, and as a security employee you must follow them.

For more about this and other topics, follow the links below.

LP Interrogation Techniques Can Work as Negotiation Tactics

Negotiation tactics are synonymous with terms ranging from compromise and mediation to haggle and interrogation. It is not difficult to argue the fact that interrogations represent the hardest form of negotiating. When people enter into negotiations or mediations, they understand they may need to sacrifice some of their interests in order to reach a mutual agreement because both parties, at some level, have shared interests.

On the contrary, when subjects enter into loss prevention interrogation, they have no intentions of sacrificing any of their interests. Interrogation subjects are typically motivated to stake themselves to a position of innocence and to vehemently defend that position. Skilled interrogators overcome these obstacles by creating shared interests, reducing their subject’s resistance, and creating perceived benefits for confessing.

Many corporate executives view negotiating tactics and skills as both critical to their success and professional development.

Court rules company extorts money from accused shoplifters

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) – A State Superior Court judge has ruled that a “corrective education” scheme for accused shoplifters is considered “extortion.”

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed the lawsuit against Corrective Education Company, which partners with retailers like Walmart, Bloomingdale’s, Burlington Coat Factory, Abercrombie & Fitch, Ralph’s grocery chain and Kroger’s.

Suspected shoplifters at those retailers don’t get handcuffed by police, instead, Herrera says they answer to a private business called CEC or Corrective Education Company.

“They basically would intimidate and get someone they suspected of being a shoplifter and say uh, unless you sign this form and and pay us money, we’re gonna report you to the police,” said Herrera.

The problem with that, Herrera says… it’s illegal.

“The law is clear. This is a textbook case of extortion and false imprisonment,” said Herrera who filed the lawsuit back in November of 2015.

This week, California’s State Superior court agreed.

Burlington Coat Factory Security Guard Arrested After Shooting

​A security guard who shot a man Tuesday during a confrontation over an alleged shoplifting incident in San Francisco has been arrested, police said today.

The shooting occurred shortly after 2:30pm in the area of Fifth and Howard streets at a Burlington Coat Factory store where the guard, a 42-year-old man, confronted a suspected shoplifter, according to Officer Robert Rueca.

A struggle ensued that moved outside of the store, and the guard shot the 33-year-old man in the leg, Rueca said.

The victim was taken to a hospital with injuries that are not considered life-threatening.

The guard, whose identity has not yet been released, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a firearm and shooting at an inhabited dwelling.

 

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Ashleigh’s 2 Year Anniversary!

August 28, 2017 by Leave a Comment

By Bill Bregar, CEO Loss Prevention Systems, Inc.

We have just celebrated our very own Ashleigh Berry’s two year mark with Loss Prevention Systems. Ashleigh is a perfect fit for the duties she performs. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice she has the mind set to read between the lines when she conducts our client’s employee background checks. Many times perspective employees will omit or distort information on their application regarding their background. Ashleigh works very hard at spotting these discrepancies. In one case, an applicant completed the release form and did not list any convicted crimes. Upon reviewing his criminal history, the applicant was convicted of 2 traffic misdemeanors, 1 violent crime and 1 felony. The applicant has admitted to 4 convictions and was applying for a job that would allow access to the public and vehicles! It’s important to know of a prospective employee’s background. What they don’t tell you will hurt you.

Ashleigh has championed our quick turnaround speed. Same day or next day for many criminal records checks is our target and standard.

Generally Ashleigh is also the first person a new customer to Loss Prevention Systems talks to about their shoplifting problems and the use of a Checkpoint System. She takes the time to understand what an individual retailer is going through and gathers the information necessary to allow us to solve his/her shoplifting problem once and for all. This goes hand in glove with LPSI’s consultative sales approach.

As CEO, I am very proud of her work and accomplishments. But more importantly, Ashleigh’s unwavering positive attitude and charming demeanor, is a joy to have here at LPSI. If you need something from us, do not hesitate to ask for Ashleigh and experience real Southern Charm at its best.

Ashleigh is also a Ford Mustang car enthusiast.

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Get on the fast track for better profits, drive for improved shortage results

August 28, 2017 by Leave a Comment

We’ve all been there, we are on our way to work and the next thing you know you come to a standstill. Cars backed up as far as you can see and no one is going anywhere. The clock is ticking away and you begin to worry knowing you are going to be late getting to the office. You look for a side street to try to get out of the mess then, someone with a little bit of guts and a four-wheel drive truck pulls onto the shoulder of the road and speeds by everyone to get to their destination. Everyone gets to where they are going but some people are determined not to let obstacles get in their way and they take the fast track to get there. They went the same route they just overcame the obstacles that would get in their way.

Retail can be like that too. A new store may start off doing pretty well and may even see growth the first few years. Over time the store does nothing new, profits stagnate or start to decline a little but it is just blamed on a slowdown in the economy.

The media and industry trade journals attribute the decline in sales in brick and mortar stores to online competition and the ease of shopping at home. I liken this to getting stuck in traffic and not being able to see more than a hundred yards ahead of where you are. You guess there is an accident or you assume there is a traffic light out and it is certainly not your fault you are going to be late for work.  Does that HAVE to keep you from getting through to your destination? I argue that it does not. The innovator takes a risk, gets on the shoulder of the road and blazes on by everyone else in the traffic jam. Is there risk? Yes, and notice I did not say the innovator plows through all the other cars leaving mass destruction in his wake. The risk is to the driver and his vehicle because he could run over an unseen hazard in the dirt or run into a ditch. The other vehicles are safe as they idle and slowly start to run out of gas. The risk taker measures the risk and determines that the payoff is worth the risk he/she is taking.

So how does all of this relate to shortage and profitability? Some store owners have chosen to operate their businesses without the use of any type of retail anti-theft devices. The store may conduct inventory and losses show up but the owner decides that the losses are related to operational issues rather than theft or fraud. Another inventory cycles and shrink goes up a bit but there is little thought given to the Impact of shoplifting. Over the years the shrink gradually creeps up just a little at a time and sales remain basically where they have been. That shortage is eating into the profit line of that retailer but no one takes notice. Eventually theft impacts the store to the point where it is too late to regain control and the owner is forced out of business. He’s just sitting in the backed up lane of traffic waiting to run out of gas and get pushed off to the side of the road. Had proactive steps been taken the problem could have been avoided. Had the owner chosen to install an electronic article surveillance towers at the doors and use tags on merchandise theft would have been prevented before things spun out of control.

Improving shortage means improved profits for store owners. The use of retail anti-theft devices and looking for fresh, new ideas to bring in additional customers can be the combination that keeps a store from falling by the wayside. You have the green light to get in the fast lane and pass up your competition.

     

     

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Employee Retention Is Made Easier When You Conduct Speedy, Accurate Background Checks

August 28, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Turnover for many businesses can be a real headache. You take the time to post job ads, review job applications, set up interviews and then conduct the interviews. Your new hire starts and within a couple of weeks they quit. It happens far too many times and it is a pain. Why did the person quit? Did they have a propensity for job hopping already and you missed it on the job application? Did they start stealing from you and got enough money or merchandise and quit before you caught on to their schemes? Perhaps it was a young employee on their first job and they wanted more weekends and night shifts off so they could “hang out” with their friends. All of these are reasons for high turnover in retail stores especially. Lose too many people at once and it can cripple your business, stretch the staff you currently have and it may potentially lead to more employees quitting.

On the other end of the spectrum there are the businesses that are very careful, almost to the extreme. They go through the same hiring procedures, posting the ad, contacting applicants and conducting interviews but they add an additional step. They conduct a background check before making a job offer. Sounds good right? Making sure you aren’t hiring someone who will steal from you or threaten others in the workplace. Here’s the catch, hire the wrong background check company and you may be losing great employees because pre-employment screening is taking too long to conduct. Thoroughly vetting a prospective new hire is fine, but if that candidate has to wait too long for results they may decide to go somewhere else.

I know of one retailer that conducts pre-employment screenings but in some of their stores they have a problem with retention rates. In one instance the management team was reduced to the store manager and an assistant. The assistant left the company and only the manager and a skeleton crew were running the building. The store manager was trying to get new managers on board as soon as he could. He was working 7 days a week and personnel from other stores were going up and helping to fill in as managers on duty so the store manager could get a break.

Reportedly the store manager had a department manager candidate to hire and attempted to get the background check expedited to give him some help. The request was denied and it took several additional weeks for the positions to begin to be filled. I heard through a third party that the manager was close to quitting due to the staffing problems at this store and the failure to get critical jobs filled. Several weeks later the person the manager wanted to fast track was cleared and hired for the store. While this was an extreme situation, consider how close the manager came to leaving the company.

What about the chance the district level manager or higher took with the candidate. The position was not an extremely high paying job and there are plenty of other opportunities with similar or even better pay. It would have been easy for the candidate to just find another place to work with the length of time the background check was taking.

Not having a pre-employment screening on candidates is foolish. You are gambling with your business and profitability if you bring on the wrong person for your staff. Hire the wrong Background Check Company that doesn’t recognize the value of timeliness when conducting your checks for you and you risk the loss of potentially very strong candidates. It is important to find a company that understands the challenges retail owners and managers face every day. From taking steps to grow profits, combating theft and fraud, to retaining the best people to work in their stores it can be overwhelming. Give Loss Prevention Systems a call to discuss background check options with people who understand the challenges of the retail industry. Proper hiring and operating profitable stores go hand in hand.

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Shoplifting and Security; Are You Prepared?

August 23, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Security personnel engaging in following or chasing shoplifters outside the premises, should proceed with caution.  The laws, the dangers, and the safety net a store provides, are not longer on the security’s personnel side while outside the premises.  After you leave the store, you are vulnerable, and the dangers abound.  Keeping and stopping a shoplifter within store limits is the best decision for your safety.

To read more about shoplifting news, follow the links below.

Colorado Springs police officer fatally shoots shoplifter following foot chase

No information has been released about the shoplifting suspect

The name, gender and age of the shoplifting suspect have not been released.The officer who killed the shoplifter is on routine paid administrative leave pending an investigation by deputies of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, said Jacqueline Kirby, sheriff spokeswoman.

An employee from the Walmart store at 3201 E. Platte Ave. called police about the shoplifter at 11:30 p.m. Monday, Kirby said.At first, one officer responded to the shoplifting call. A foot chase ensued as this officer identified the shoplifting suspect, she said.A second officer joined the pursuit that led to the 3200 block of Bijou Avenue. The officers caught up with the suspect a few minutes after midnight, Kirby said.

Acting U of L foundation CFO fired after shoplifting arrest at U of L Golf Club

Interim University of Louisville president Greg Postel’s efforts to re-shape the image of the U of L foundation aren’t exactly off to a rousing start.Robert “Bob” Mims, who was recently hired on the recommendation of Postel as an independent contractor to serve as the acting CFO for the foundation, was fired following an arrest for theft and shoplifting in Simpsonville on Wednesday.

Card Chronicle can confirm that the location of that theft was the clubhouse of the U of L Golf Club, where Mims was reportedly inquiring about a membership given his new position at the university. An employee at the golf club called the police once Mims had left. The police then pulled Mims car over, where he confessed to the crime.Mims had worked for the foundation for only two weeks and was fired following the news of his arrest.

This apparently was not Mims’ first foray into this particular brand of theft. A source tells CC that another local country club recently discovered camera footage of Mims stealing more than $800 worth of merchandise from its clubhouse and circulated his picture to other golf clubs throughout the area.

Retailers Tackle Growing Consumer Expectations With Integrated Supply Chains

Shoppers have access to almost any product at any time and fulfillment times are shrinking by the month. With almost constant availability, consumers are asking ‘where?’ and ‘when?’ while retailers are increasingly asking themselves ‘how do we meet customer expectations?’

In the turbulent and unpredictable market, with e-tail’s growing presence, and with consumer expectations constantly growing, running a fully integrated supply chain is vital. Good communication and joined-up operations lead to better decisions and in turn to lower inventory levels, better availability, less waste and more sales.

Yet siloing, where one hand doesn’t know what the other hand is doing, remains far too common and produces the opposite results.For instance, very few retailers consider space management part of their supply chain replenishment process. This is because space is not generally the responsibility of the Supply Chain Director. This is a typical silo-driven mentality and, in modern retailing, it exposes businesses to higher risks.


 

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Can Your Shelving Prevent Shoplifting? Oh Yeah!!!

August 1, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Retail shelving along with store design has a huge impact on shoplifting losses. Typically a shoplifter likes and needs privacy even if only for a moment. So why not keep that in mind when designing or remodeling your store. Your shelving and isles can work for you by simply considering several factors.

Shelving height can be critical. It may be tempting to have shelves go all the way to the ceiling. However, this creates cover for shoplifters. They feel more secure when they cannot be seen. Shelving that allows your staff to see over and keep track of customers make a shoplifter uncomfortable.

Do not create dead sports. Shoplifters will pick up your merchandise and head for “dark areas” of your store. Areas when they can remove packaging, pricing… and have time to conceal it.

Speaking of lighting. Make sure that you align lighting with your isles. Not only will that encourage sales but again, adequate lighting will not allow shoplifters to get comfortable.

You should also put some thought into your end cap displays. Move small or high value merchandise to end caps that are easily seen by your staff. Likewise place merchandise that is larger and lesser value on end caps that face away from staff.

When designing your stores’ layout consider the foot traffic of staff, customers and shoplifters. We want retail staff and even back office personnel to routinely visit all areas of the store. It may be tempting to have a single direct path but that could leave a number of areas rarely visited by staff throughout the day. That is a gold mine for shoplifters. They watch staff traffic and will naturally migrate to areas less traveled.

Likewise you want your good customers to assist you with shoplifting prevention. They can do this in two ways. If your store is laid out in such a way that keeps legitimate customers spread out and in all areas of the store not just focused in one or two places, then they help you with removing privacy from the shoplifter.

Another technique to shut off shoplifters is to make your legitimate customers into your store security, without the customer even knowing it. You can use a PA system or even radios that can be heard by the public (not on a headset) for this.

To do this make a “ghost call”. If you suspect that shoplifters are in the store then on the PA system say “security to section 3…,” then watch what happens! Legitimate customers will not care, they are not in the mindset to steal. They are focused on what they are looking at. At most they may look up and around, then simply go back to what they were doing. Shoplifters on the other hand will react differently. By calling security to an “area” that is not marked or corresponds to anything such as isle number… the shoplifter does not know what is going on. And that legitimate customer that then happens to come into the isle or area they are in now becomes an undercover store detective regardless of age, gender…. You can even assign ghost calls to staff as a responsibility to be made randomly every hour or so.

All of this because of a little forethought on your part and shelving design help.

Bill Bregar is a 30+ year loss prevention expert. Bill was the Director of Loss Prevention for several major retailers and is now the President of Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. LPSI specializes in Checkpoint Systems anti-shoplifting equipment. He has personally apprehended many shoplifters and over 2300 employees stealing from their employers. Bill can be reached at: [email protected] or at 770-426-0547

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Didn’t Your Momma Teach You Better? Inside The Mind Of A Shoplifter

August 1, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Growing up did you ever do something dumb and your mom or your dad would ask you, “What were you thinking?” Having lived in south for the past 32 years I have learned of the local colloquialism when someone does something stupid, “Didn’t your momma teach you better?” Unfortunately, as a young boy I did a lot of dumb things making me wonder if my brain developed a lot later in life than most people. For example, I had a propensity for walking behind batters warming up to go to the plate for my father’s teen baseball teams. I ended up with more than one fat lip from my stupidity…obviously not learning the lesson the first time. I had a fascination with electrical outlets and wires and old rotary dial telephones…I won’t go into details but no they didn’t work when the wires were pushed into the outlet, I was not injured but I had one very busy guardian angel.  What goes on inside of the mind of a child? I have NO idea and my wife and I have raised THREE of them! The same can be said for shoplifters I have no idea what goes on inside their heads. I can speculate on it, having caught hundreds of them but I am not convinced they have developed their brains yet.

Where I live is a tourist area. In order to get to the beaches and hotels you have to cross over one of any number of bridges. We have a saying around here that tourists leave their brains on the other side of the waterway before crossing the bridge…because they do DUMB things. It may well be that shoplifters leave their brains at home before venturing out. Here are some of examples of what I mean:

  • You have a criminal history for shoplifting and are currently on probation. You walk into a store and decide it is a good idea to steal some clothing. Then, when you are caught you ask if you can be let go and you won’t come in again. “Have you lost your mind?”
  • You shoplift and get chased and have the audacity to stop and put your hand in your purse and suggest you have a gun. Police draw down on you and put you on the ground to arrest you. Oh that’s right you also had a prior arrest for involuntary manslaughter on your record as well as multiple shoplifting violations. “What were you thinking?”
  • You make a decision to shoplift, get away with it and come back later that night and steal again. You are stopped and run but the Loss Prevention Officer grabs your purse as you flee. Yes, you get away but wait a minute, what did you have in your purse? Oh, a butcher knife and your prison I.D. card since you happen to be on parole. “Didn’t your momma teach you better?”
  • You have a station wagon loaded with television sets you’ve been stealing from hotels. What do you do since you obviously have plenty of time on your hands? You park out front of a store in the fire lane by the front doors, go into the store, steal a video player and walk out the door. Not only do you set off the Checkpoint EAS tower, Loss Prevention has been watching you. You are approached by L.P. and run. It just so happens that about 8 police officers have been outside following you from the hotels. Why it only makes sense you would run from them too, and try to jump in your station wagon, start it and nearly run into a police car. You are surprised by the fact you are physically dragged out of your car and face-planted in the pavement? Don’t forget to pick up your brain from the other side of the bridge when you do get released from jail.
  • You shoplift from a store, Loss Prevention chases you and you pull out pepper spray. You decide to try to use it but the L.P. person is smart enough to keep their distance. A police officer arrives on scene, is about to arrest you and in a moment of shear and total stupidity, you elect to pepper spray HIM! That’s a special kind of STUPID!

What’s in the mind of a shoplifter? I don’t know. The question always elicits the usual responses of, “They can’t help it,” “They didn’t understand what they were doing,,” , etc. I say someone didn’t ask them, “Didn’t your momma teach you better?” then give them a good swat on the posterior when they were younger. And yes, all of those things really happened.

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