As a former loss prevention agent , I can tell you the benefits of having and using CCTV equipment inside of stores.
Several years ago, I was working a small chain of specialty stores. They catered to a high end customer and didn’t really believe that the customers that shop their stores would do anything as “humiliating” as shoplifting.
They were under the impression that all customers in their stores were honest because they had money. Let me assure you, they were wrong.
Within one week of working a store, I had apprehended several shoplifters for various items. Over the next several weeks, the apprehensions continued.
As time went on, the corporate office was so astounded that their customers were stealing; they decided to implement a CCTV system. 6 cameras were installed. 2 overlooking the registers and 4 others strategically placed throughout the stores. The four cameras on the floor were PTZ or pan, tilt and zoom, basically cameras you could move and zoom in on customers. My apprehensions doubled.
As a loss prevention agent , tools are an important factor in boosting profits and protecting assets. Many companies seem to skimp when it comes to camera equipment. Take a chain of stores, 8 stores. These guys sold alcohol and tobacco amongst other merchandise. They had no camera equipment, none. Working these stores as a loss prevention agent made me earn my pay. I was all over these 10,000 square foot stores, watching customers, detaining shoplifters and in many instances, repeat shoplifters.
One on occasion, I was in the back of the store interviewing a shoplifter when I got a call from the front registers that a customer had just stolen all of the money from one of the registers. When I arrived at the front, the employee said as she opened the drawer a man quickly reached his hand in and took all of the bills and ran out of the store. Unfortunately, since the incident happened so quickly, witnesses could not describe him. He got away.
Had the store installed a basic camera system covering the registers and exits, this man would not had gotten away so easy. A trained loss prevention agent could have quickly notified the local police and provided the appropriate video footage.
For more information visit us at loss prevention agent or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
