WHAT IS WHITE COLLAR CRIME???

August 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Well, you may be thinking of the new television series, White Collar Crime…but that’s not quite it! White collar crime is specifically defined as “a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation.”  This term was first coined by Edwin Sutherland in 1939.  In recent decades it has taken on a whole new meaning including embezzlement, forgery, money laundering and, today’s favorite, identity theft.

Many company executives get caught in a white collar crime due to negligent safety or environmental issues.  In 2007, the Atlanta based company Acuity Specialty Products was fined $3.8 million dollars in violation of the Clean Water Act.  As a result of the investigation, Daniel Schaffer, Acuity’s former Director of Environmental Compliance, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Clean Water Act, in February 2006. This ladies and gentlemen is one of the largest fines ever levied against a chemical corporation and also a perfect definition of white collar crime .

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, these types of crimes are estimated to cost the United States more than $300 billion annually.  The penalties for white-collar offenses include fines, home detention, community confinement, paying the cost of prosecution, forfeitures, restitution, supervised release, and imprisonment. However, sanctions can be lessened if the defendant takes responsibility for the crime and assists the authorities in their investigation.

If you feel white collar crime is affecting your business or place of employment contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.

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Loss Prevention Agent…Want a new career path?

August 20, 2010 by

Loss Prevention is found in every company, especially retail, that is concerned about reducing losses from theft.   Loss prevention agents are involved in apprehending shoplifters, testifying in court, investigating employee theft, conducting interviews, and much more.

What type of person makes a great loss prevention agent ?  If you have prior military service, loss prevention is a great transition to the civilian job force.  Criminal justice majors in college are also great candidates for this type of career.  It will help get your foot in the door for later career opportunities. 

There are online courses as well as classroom style settings that will offer training for loss prevention agents .  Some of these courses can be completed in as little as 2-3 weeks.  Many individuals going into this career path do not have prior experience.  Companies who hire loss prevention agents are mainly retail but can include hotel chains, restaurants, super markets and distribution centers. 

It sounds kind of clandestine; however these people are not like security guards with a uniform and a night stick to attack you as you exit.  They quietly observe the shoppers, or shoplifters, and individuals in the retail setting, much like they are a customer themselves. Usually these types of careers are not dangerous.  Most companies will employ a non violent policy to protect their employees. 

You probably will not become rich taking a job of this nature.  The average national salary for loss prevention jobs is $20-$30K per year.  This total includes bonuses as well as benefits.  Retail, clothing and apparel stores seem to pay a higher price than say a restaurant or hotel.  On average, Macy’s is the top income provider coming in at $26K straight salary.  Kmart is the lowest at $18K.  This information was gained from payscale.com.

If you need additional information on training or hiring a loss prevention agent please contact us.

 

 

 

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Loss Prevention Consultants

August 20, 2010 by

There are a lot of people that call themselves loss prevention consultants, but what should a professional loss prevention (LP) consultant provide? There are a number of disciplines in LP: employee theft, shoplifting, inventory control, safety sometimes falls under LP, LP training and auditing just to name a few.

Many LP people that consult are generalists in most of these areas. You should narrow down your search by looking carefully at what you need. Loss prevention consultants that have auditing development skills can help you keep your losses down by identifying and preventing theft, loss, shoplifting and more.

Auditing is proactive. Audits are designed to seek out the causes of loss and bring them to the surface. Management then can make policy and procedure changes that increase profitability. Audits are then done on a routine basis but unannounced basis. The results should go directly to Senior Management.

Another proactive area loss prevention consultants can help a business with is LP Training.  Training should target entry-level employees all the way to middle management. Topics can include employee theft identification and prevention, how to deal with employee theft, shoplifting, inventory control, vendor fraud, pre-employment interviewing and more.

Seasoned loss prevention consultants should have a minimum of 15 years of loss prevention experience in several major companies. Do not be afraid to ask for letters of reference or referrals. You should talk to them at length about their experience. Does it fit with your business model and goals? Watch for people that try to talk like the police. A true LP professional is a businessman not a cop.

Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. of Atlanta employs professionals with store level, regional level, district level and director level Loss Prevention experience, each with decades of success. For more information contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

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Reasons for pre employment screening needs on the rise

August 20, 2010 by

Employers of all sizes are now conducting pre hire employment screening of some type and are looking at several areas. The obvious ones are:

A criminal background check probably comes to mind at or near top of the list.  Banking institutions or retailers seeking to hire individuals who will be handling potentially thousands of dollars per day want to be sure there is no record of theft and so on.

A driving records check obviously makes good sense if an employee will be using a company vehicle.  A bad record will cause insurance rates to soar.

A credit check will give a great idea of how a person manager their money which will translate into many roles across many industries.  A bad manager at home will not likely do miracles at work.

A public records check will show court record like bankruptcies, lawsuits and judgments that could be unwanted baggage for the employer.

Worker’s compensation claims checks are gaining popularity. There are individuals who have a pattern of filing claims wherever they work and again it is possible to avoid potential problems there.

One reason to conduct employment screening employers may not consider, but could possibly rank at the top of the list is to avoid a negligent hiring lawsuit.  If an employee harms others intentionally on the job and it is found that the employer did not conduct pre employment screening on the individual and that they had a violent past… this makes the employer liable in the eyes of the plaintiffs and their legal representation.

For more info contact the experts at employment screening

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EMPLOYEE BACKGROUND CHECKS….ARE THEY BENEFICIAL TO YOUR BUSINESS?

August 19, 2010 by

YES!! In today’s tough economic times many companies, especially small ones, have eliminated some fundamental job applicant requirements, such as drug testing or checking someone’s history.

In today’s climate, employers should be even more cautious who they hire, particularly in high risk positions, such as individuals in the teaching or day care profession.  Things such as the Enron scandal, September 11th and other corporate scandals have caused a heightened awareness of falsifying information and put higher scrutiny on company officials.

Many federal and state laws now require employers to run employee background checks on potential canidates. It will depend on what your particular company does and what those employees are being hired to do. Even if your business ventures are not high risk, resume fraud is on the rise, you do not want to hire an employee that costs your business profits in the long run.

Reporting on a potential hire can include an extensive amount of information or can be as simple as verifying education and social security numbers.  Often these reports include:  driving records, credit history, court records, bankruptcies, medical history, military records, past employer information and criminal history.  The computer and information technology age has increased what we can find out about other individuals.  It is up to you how extensive you want your search information to be. Each state law outlines what can be searched on an individual’s history.  You can also check the Fair Credit Reporting Act for additional guideline information.

Why is all this information important to an employer? Often an employer can be held accountable for criminal acts or acts of negligence committed by an employee.  This is especially true if the employee will be working with the public, elderly, children or entering people’s homes.  Conduct employee background checks….it can save your profit margin!

Contact us at employee background checks for more information or call: 1.770.426.0547

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Paperwork and Retail Loss

August 19, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Three of the major contributing factors to retail loss are internal and external theft, and paperwork errors.  Paperwork errors are frequently the easiest to control and just require some thought and care to prevent.  Although this type of shrink would seem to be harmless – since the merchandise is not stolen – it is still a serious problem and a drain on profits.

 One of the major contributors to the large overall problem of inventory shortage –  retail shrinkage  – is carelessness and a lack of control over paperwork.

 What causes paper shrink and how can you help to control it?

  • Receiving.  The receiving paperwork says you should receive 30 items, which you sign for, and you only receive 28.  Detailed receiving counts will avoid the loss of 2 items.
  • Breakage, spoilage, items for company use, and other inventory adjustments.  Sometimes, physical items are removed from stock for legitimate purposes, only some of which are named here, with the intention of completing the adjusting paperwork later.  If we forget, the result is inventory shortage.  Complete the paperwork and process it immediately to prevent unnecessary  retail loss.
  • Mispriced merchandise.  An item is carried in inventory at $10.00 and priced at $9.00.  Every time a sale is made, $1.00 is lost to shrink.  Any mistake when marking, changing, or recording prices can mean increased shortage, which means less profit.
  •  Inaccurate counts.  At inventory time, when making price changes, or when transferring merchandise, incorrect counts mean unbalanced inventories, which contribute to shrink, which result in unexpected losses to the company.

 These are a few of the ways inaccurate, incomplete, or an absence of supporting paperwork can affect inventory.   There are many other ways, and you can probably think of more of them yourself.

 The way to solid inventory control is to assign jobs correctly; take time to avoid errors; and accurately complete the paperwork in order to complete the job.

 Retail loss caused by paperwork errors is preventable.

 For ideas on implementing an effective loss prevention program, go to  retail loss 

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Don’t confuse security and loss prevention

August 19, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Many smaller to midsized retailers often confuse their definition of security and loss prevention.  Just ask them what they are doing for loss prevention and they will tell you they have a security system.  (Bear with me this is not a bashing article.)

Let’s define a couple things.  First what most call their “security” system is technically a “burglar” system because it is only turned on after hours and will alarm if a burglar breaks in.  It does nothing during business hours which is when losses occur.  So with that being stated, the words security and loss prevention are in two different ball fields.

In fact, burglary doesn’t even hit the radar when measuring inventory shrinkage in the US.  What does hit the radar according to the holy grail of studies in the industry, the National Retail Security Survey by The University of Florida: #1 employee theft, #2 shoplifting #3 Administrative errors, #4 Unknown, and #5 Vendor fraud.

So what is true loss prevention? Let’s look at what Wikipedia says:

Retail loss prevention (in some retailers known as asset protection) is a form of private investigation into larceny or theft. The focus of such investigations generally includes shoplifting, package pilferage, embezzlement, credit fraud and check fraud.  Loss prevention” or “LP” is used to describe a number of methods used to reduce the amount of all losses and shrinkage often related to retail trade.

In other words loss prevention involves specific people using specific methods to discover sources of loss and solutions to reduce those losses.  Only larger retailers employ these individuals as staff and many that have done so in the past have cut them from the payroll to cut overhead in these rough economic times.

What makes sense is to consult a  loss prevention professional to review your specific issues, your current security and loss prevention methods.  The next step will be to develop a custom program that will improve your operational effectiveness and reduces your losses whether shoplifting, employee theft or other.

For more info go to: security and loss prevention 

 

 

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Clothing security needed now more than ever

August 19, 2010 by

Retailers are facing an alarming rise in organized retail crime which is reason enough to install a clothing security system.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) recently reported in their annual Organized Retail Crime (ORC) survey that 85% of retailers said their company has been a victim of organized retail crime within the 12 months. The fourth annual survey also uncovered that 66% of retailers have noticed an increase in organized retail theft activity in the past 12 months.

These organized retail crime rings sell the stolen merchandise at flea markets or online. According to the NRF survey 68% of retailers in the study identified or recovered stolen merchandise and/or gift cards from a fence location. And 63% also say they’ve identified or recovered stolen merchandise from an e-fencing operation.

114 retailers representing all sectors of the industry including drug, supermarket, general merchandise, home improvement, apparel, department and specialty stores participated in the survey.

The most commonly used clothing security among large retailers is an EAS or electronic article surveillance system.  Checkpoint Security Systems has 57% of the market in this area utilizing the latest RF or radio frequency technology.  The system involves antennas installed in entry/ exit points that pick up protected merchandise which is tagged with Checkpoint tags or checkpoint labels.

To learn more go to clothing security  or visit Checkpoint Security Systems

 

 

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Why use a background check company

August 19, 2010 by

One way to to answer the question why use a background check company is to tell a true story about employee theft.

Smart pre hire processes will help you identify potential threats to your business and prevent potential losses like the one one of our clients experienced in the story below.

Management of a chain of hardware stores received an anonymous tip that an employee was making suspicious refunds. Our refund audit at that location uncovered over $20,000 in refunds that could not be verified as legitimate, and were traced to the employee, a cashier. During the interview with our investigator, the clerk admitted taking stock from the sales floor and initiating refunds, crediting them to her relative’s accounts. The cashier also implicated other employees who were involved in other illegal activities.

People like this do not start at this level and you will see a pattern if you conduct a criminal background check through a professional background check company that will help you avoid hiring such a bad apple.

You will want to get not just a criminal background check but also driving history if any company vehicles are to be used at any time in the forseeable future.  Bad driving record will have the potential to skyrocket your insurance costs.

Also things like educational verification will identify exaggerations or flat out lies about their credentials/ background.  A credit search will identify a persons ability to manage their money which is important if you plan to trust them to manage anything for your business.

These are the highlights of why you should use a background check company.  You will also want to dig deep into the actual solution you will be getting because just like anything else, not all companies providing this service are equal or provide equal results.

To learn more go here:  background check company

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Prevent Shoplifting! It’s Not Getting Better

August 18, 2010 by Leave a Comment

If you are not actively working to prevent shoplifting your business is going to suffer. Shoplifting is not going away. As the economy remains unstable and un-employment is high more people will turn to theft to get what they want. Studies also show that shoplifters shift to unprotected retailers.

I know that from experience that once shoplifters know that you are an easy mark they will return time and time again. They will also tell their friends who also shoplift. You slowly become a magnet and with out realizing it your profits drop.

What measures do you take to prevent shoplifting?

Training!!! Anti-shoplifting training. You can’t do it just once you have to refresh and train new people.

Checkpoint Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) systems. Tag and label your merchandise. This will act as a labor multiplier. This means less labor dollars to watch the same amount of sales floor. A shoplifter tries to steal and they are caught at the door.

Do not be afraid to approach a suspected shoplifter. They want to remain anonymous. Give them the feeling that you know, see and are helping them. Customer service! Shoplifters hate it.

Don’t wait prevent shoplifting now before you loose any more profit.

Contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

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