When examining methods to implement a successful retail theft prevention program, it’s important to understand why an offense occurs and why certain measures are effective and others fail to deter crime. Developed by Marcus Felson and Lawrence E. Cohen, Routine Activity Theory draws on the principles of Rational Choice Theory and Situational Crime Prevention. A delinquent act occurs through the interaction of three necessary conditions: offenders (shoplifters), targets (merchandise), and places they meet (retail stores). Further, each condition has a controller because they can influence each condition: handler, guardian, or manager.

Handlers are individuals with whom an offender has an emotional attachment and can shape their actions. Guardians are responsible for protecting the targets, such as security guards or Checkpoint security tags. Lastly, managers are the retailers, owners, and employees who affect the functioning of the retail environment. According to RAT, a crime is likely to occur if an offender meets a target in a place that lacks any controls. For the purposes of this anti-shoplifting discussion, guardians are the more crucial control for retail theft prevention.

Most retailers can’t direct an offender’s actions or determine if they have proper role models in their life. In addition, in a competitive and litigious society, managers can only manipulate the environment to a certain extent without impeding an honest customer’s enjoyable shopping experience. When using RAT to assess retail theft prevention measures, retailers can deter shoplifting most effectively by applying the guardian controller to protect merchandise. When applying this controller in terms of anti-shoplifting efforts, the most valuable guardian takes the form of Checkpoint security tags to protect high-risk targets. When taking advantage of solutions offered by Checkpoint systems, stores aren’t becoming places where offenders and targets meet without controls.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase retail anti theft devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems.

For more information on Anti Shoplifting, Checkpoint Security System or Checkpoint Security Tags and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

Several months ago I began working for a department store that was unlike my other positions because they didn’t utilize any type of asset protection technology, while my previous employers all used some form of a Checkpoint security system. What was difficult about working for this store was not only did their retail theft prevention strategy rely solely on apprehensions, but as a result of their lack of security tags, the store attracted a distinctive type of thief that I had encountered sporadically in my previous years of experience, but not in this volume. The troubling situation I’m referring to is adult females shoplifting while their children are with them.

As I mentioned, I had encountered cases involving mothers and their offspring acting as accomplices and detained the occasional parent with their kid in tow. However, I had never witnessed the kind of neglect, endangerment, and blatant disregard for a child’s well-being as I did at this retailer. These women committed acts of retail theft that led to situations that confused and terrified their children and often jeopardized their safety during the arrest. One subject hid a pair of denim jeans under her baby carrier in the stroller, another threw a hat in her diaper bag, and one woman even concealed jewelry in her infant’s diaper. Upon detainment, we would have to not only deal with a difficult shoplifter, but also screaming toddlers and the question of what to do with them when mommy goes to jail with the police.

I believe that the frequency of these incidents were the result of this store’s lack of a comprehensive retail theft prevention strategy. These mothers could steal the high-price merchandise available at other department stores, but this retailer didn’t pose the problem of defeating a Checkpoint security system in front of their kids. In addition, shopping with children in tow tends to set the thief at ease that they don’t look suspicious and may deflect the attention of an inexperienced LP associate.

 Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase retail anti theft devices from Checkpoint Systems.

For more information on Anti Shoplifting, Checkpoint Security System, or Checkpoint Security Tags contact us at Retail theft prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

Electronic Article Surveillance is at the heart of most retail theft prevention programs. Checkpoint security tags have been a long-standing staple in anti shoplifting devices, and rightly so. These little tags are widely known in the thieving community as problematic devices to avoid. They take way to long to deactivate, if ever. Checkpoint security tags draw way to much attention when they set off any of the Checkpoint security system alarms. These little plastic UFOs have thwarted many an attempt to steal.

Of course the days of Checkpoint security tags only being little round UFO looking things attached to the bottom of a garment are long gone. Now, thanks to the innovation at Checkpoint Systems, these hard tags come in a multitude of shapes, sizes and colors. Each tag is geared to fit an individual product’s unique challenges for anti shoplifting counter measures.

Every one of Checkpoint systems’ EAS tags is designed to work simultaneously within a Checkpoint security system of soft tags, hard tags, towers and antennas. Because the hard tags are reusable, you don’t have to worry about excessive replenishment expenses. The tags are also designed to be reliable each and every time they are attached onto your products.

There are many great features and benefits to using EAS tags. It is safe to say that they will be around for a very long time.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase retail anti theft devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems.

For more information on Anti Shoplifting , Checkpoint Security System or Checkpoint Security Tags and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

Retail theft prevention can be a very overwhelming task, especially if criminals already overtaking your store. There is no worse feeling than to stand in the middle of your store and not know which direction you should be looking because you know you are going to miss a shoplifter on the opposite side of the store.

If that is the case, then you need to make a big initial ruckus about your retail theft prevention strategy. One of the first steps is to install a Checkpoint security system in your location. Time and time again, shoplifters say that they will target a store that has no apparent form of anti shoplifting devices like Checkpoint security systems.

The next step is to dedicate some time teaching your staff about retail theft prevention and anti shoplifting best practices. While you may not want every one of your associates to try to make an apprehension, you can focus on customer service initiatives and how they will compliment anti shoplifting tactics.

Customer service has and always will be the best deterrent for shoplifters. Customer service includes greeting the customers promptly, genuinely offering assistance and answering questions. It can even be adding on sales by holding a customer’s purchase at the register so their arms are free to pick up more merchandise.

Shoplifters hate that sort of attention, so make your new policies work for you.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase retail anti theft devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems.

For more information on Anti Shoplifting , Checkpoint Security System or Checkpoint Security Tags and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

I used to think that all there was to retail theft prevention was anti shoplifting devices like Checkpoint security tags. Boy was I wrong. Checkpoint security tags are just the tip of the iceberg. While they are a very important component to retail theft prevention, there is so much more out there when it comes to anti shoplifting technology and tools.

When I first started in Loss Prevention I had a general understanding that the little hard plastic tags (EAS Tags) would set off an alarm if someone were trying to steal. I also knew that the tags were filled with ink that would spray everywhere if someone attempted to tear the tags off.

Little did I know that there are so many other components to a Checkpoint security system. One other piece to the puzzle are things like the camera system. The camera system or Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) consists of all of the stationary cameras as well as the Pan/ Tilt/ Zooms (PTZ).

The Checkpoint security system might also include things like public view monitors (PVM). This is a monitor stationed in a high shrink area that allows your customers (and thieves) to see exactly what you are seeing in the camera room. All of that is in addition to any recording devices and monitors in the camera room as well.

Having a comprehensive shrink reduction plan involving EAS tags is really only the beginning. Your own level of retail theft prevention is really only limited by your imagination.

 Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase retail anti theft devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems.

For more information on Anti Shoplifting , Checkpoint Security System or Checkpoint Security Tags and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

So you have a brand new Checkpoint security system and all the tags one could ever need for a store but still question how to implement it.  The important thing to remember is that any anti-shoplifting system will likely stop all but the most seasoned thieves in their tracks so you need to know how you might consistently confound their efforts long enough to spot them and call the cops.

One thing to consider would be placement of individual tags.  You always want to make the tags visible enough so your staff knows where they are to remove them, but in such an awkward and unnoticeable spot that they prove difficult to remove otherwise.  I have seen a lot of winter jackets with tags placed at the very edge of the sleeves where there is little fabric for the tag to hold onto making it extremely easy to simply pop them off.  Instead I must recommend a point such as the base of the collar or even the armpit area of the jacket.  That way there is a decent amount of clothing in the way to conceal the tag, but also makes it nearly impossible to illicitly remove said tag without causing severe damage to the jacket itself.

The other thing to consider is the Checkpoint system gate.  These noticeable, unmistakable pieces of equipment sit at your doorways waiting for some tagged item to pass through them before emitting a loud and irritating alarm for all to hear.  It does no good without tags on your products so make sure all the items you are looking to protect have the appropriate tags on them.

 Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase retail anti theft devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems.

For more information on Anti Shoplifting , Checkpoint Security System or Checkpoint Security Tags and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

 

I learned a series of valuable lessons on Saturday.  The most important of all of is that if you are approaching a suspect and they are with a group of other people you have to separate them from that group no matter what.  If not, your endeavors to ensure proper retail theft prevention may prove for naught.

A perfect example of this occurred this past weekend.  A suspect was spotted on the floor, followed throughout the store via cameras by myself and the LPM as she selected a fragrance and used her nails and teeth to remove the plastic anti shoplifting shell from the item.  Once that was accomplished she discarded everything but the perfume itself in various parts of the store until she left where she was stopped by another member of the team under orders of the LPM.

The problem took place when she was being escorted back inside.  Before she had been stopped she had rendezvoused with several friends who were not only following her back inside the store, but also creating a scene.  At one point I thought they would start a riot.

While this was occurring she was claiming she no longer had the item.  I directed my LPM via radio to the locations of the anti shoplifting shell and the other discarded pieces but she insisted that the perfume was still in the store.  A friend of hers directed the LPM to a display rack and produced the missing perfume.

We were shocked and under the immediate assumption it was a bad stop until I reviewed the video.  Not once had the suspect come within ten feet of the display.  That led us to the conclusion that while the group was creating a scene one of them planted the item there AFTER returning to the store.

The moral of this story of retail theft prevention: kick the crowds to the curb and just take the suspect.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase retail anti theft devices from Checkpoint Systems.

For more information on Anti Shoplifting , Checkpoint Security System or Checkpoint Security Tags contact us at Retail theft prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

When a loss prevention associate or store manager makes an apprehension, most companies require the five steps to be in place. The reason behind the steps is to eliminate any doubt that may arise that a theft has taken place.

The first step is to see the subject enter the store, or department. This allows you time to see what the suspect does or does not have in their possession. The use of a Checkpoint security system like CCTV can help make this happen.

Next you want to see them select the merchandise. This shows that the product is actually yours, and not the suspects. You can further emphasize this step by observing that the merchandise is equipped with an anti shoplifting device like Checkpoint security tags.

The third thing is concealment. Where have they hidden the product on their person? Most thieves will attempt to detach the checkpoint security tags prior to concealing the item. Don’t forget, if they wear the item out, like a jacket, this is the applicable step to help prove their intentions.

Next you want to maintain constant observation. You can either watch them directly on the sales floor or by the checkpoint security system like CCTV. You are really trying to make sure that the suspect does not discard the product before they exit. It is also important to know if they are stealing more than one item.

Finally you need to have them exit the building. Some states and some companies do allow for apprehensions to be made just inside a doorway or vestibule. Make sure you are aware of your local codes and company policies to know your limitations.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase retail anti theft devices from Checkpoint Systems.

For more information on Anti Shoplifting , Checkpoint Security System or Checkpoint Security Tags contact us at Retail theft prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

 

When one thinks of working towards retail theft prevention they don’t exactly envision a high-tech industry combating groups or individuals who have the resources of an organized crime syndicate, but in reality it is those types of people who are the greatest threat to our profession.  As things become more desperate in this economy, the professional thieves have upped their respective games in more ways than one.  Some have become more violent, resorting to outright threats of harming those who get in their way, while others have learned of more methods to cover their tracks such as changing the license plates on their vehicles or wearing realistic masks or prosthetics.  Then there are those who are ‘tech-savvy’.

The technically minded shoplifters have begun devising ways to circumvent anti-shoplifting safeguards with computers cell phones.  Last week, one of my stores suffered a complete failure of their camera system because an ingenious team of thieves used a series of laser pointers of a certain type to create a feedback error to the system.  It disabled the cameras throughout several parts of the store and gave them time to grab what they wanted and make for the doors.  Unfortunately for them they miscalculated when they tried to beat the Checkpoint security system.  Nearly everything they had grabbed was large and had some sort of Checkpoint security tag on it.  Despite their best efforts, the Checkpoint security system went off as they passed the threshold and allowed us on the floor to figure out which way they had exited.  When we caught them, the police found a device that they claimed was supposed to jam the frequencies used by the Checkpoint security system for setting off the alarm.

It looked like they miscalculated.

 Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase retail anti theft devices from Checkpoint Systems.

For more information on Anti Shoplifting , Checkpoint Security System or Checkpoint Security Tags contact us at Retail theft prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

 

In retail theft prevention the key to a safe apprehension is simple; be smart. We have all seen the horror stories of apprehensions gone wrong, and situations where something gets out of hand causing dangerous circumstances. I myself have experienced situations that have come close to getting out of control had I handled it incorrectly. Situations like these can cause lawsuits, job loss, and can even be life threatening. The biggest thing to remember is that a bad apprehension is never worth its weight in what we could have recovered. Relying on your checkpoint systems can help keep you safe from apprehensions gone wrong.

Your first line of defense is to check for defeated anti shoplifting devices when investigating a shoplifter. Finding defeated anti shoplifting devices is extra proof that the shoplifter had the intent to steal. If you don’t find removed tags or anti shoplifting devices, did the checkpoint systems alarm sound when they left the store? If it didn’t, are you positive you saw concealment and had constant surveillance? Video review to ensure accuracy is not only easy with the right equipment, but can save you from a bad mistake if you missed something during your surveillance.

Always be sure you are making a safe approach to an apprehension. Ideally have one person on cameras that can obtain a vehicle description, license plate, direction of travel, or relay any potential threatening situations to the police while someone else is making the apprehension.

Be a good judge of the situation; always be aware of what is going on around you and be prepared to get out of the way if danger ensues. Having used the hands off approach for years, I have come to realize there is always another way. If words don’t work, rely on the authorities to locate the suspect for you with the information you have already obtained.

If a shoplifter makes a threat or acts to harm you, simply getting out of the way and allowing them to leave will usually resolve the situation. A threat of harm is typically only levied as a way out for the shoplifter. Giving them that way out resolves the need for them to be physically violent. And in that worst case situation where the shoplifter gets away, remember that they will be back, and next time will be even easier to catch them as you already know what they are going to do.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase retail theft prevention devices from Checkpoint Systems.

For more information on Anti Shoplifting , Checkpoint Security System or Checkpoint Security Tags contact us at Retail Theft Prevention or call 1.770.426.0547