Preventing Employee Theft

One of the best method to prevent shoplifting is by eliminating the opportunities the shoplifter has.  Greeting a customer and asking them if they need help is a nice way to let the customer know you are alert. Security cameras, and signs alerting the shopper that as a business you will prosecute if they are caught stealing, are great deterrents that can help you prevent shoplifting.  But, what about employee theft? The amount of money employees steal is greater than what the normal shoplifter steals.  So, how can you prevent your employees from stealing?  For more about this topic, follow the links below.

The Employee Investigation: Does It Pass the Smell Test? Part 1

Red flags during an employee theft investigation usually confirm that “the milk is spoiled.”

When it comes to an employee investigation, sometimes the “smell test” will just not let you rest. You know, those situations when you listen to a story or a business practice and something just plain stinks. On the surface nothing appears to be wrong, but there is a smell just below the surface that makes you think, “This is spoiled milk.” We don’t have to taste it to know that it’s bad. A quick sniff, a glance at the label on the side of the bottle, the floating lumps, and our decision is made.

Our last several cases failed the smell test because there were so many red flags. There were problems and circumstances that should have been further explored, yet they were overlooked. Occasionally, the smell test is wrong. But over the years we have seen that when the red flags appear, they consistently confirm that the milk is spoiled.

Let’s take a look at the red flags we have found to be most useful in ferreting out the dishonest employee. When reflecting on our interview and interrogation techniques, we should note that there are great differences between an employee who is a thief, and one who is a fraudster or embezzler. While both types may be stealing from the organization, their methods are often very different, as are the red flags indicating dishonesty. Part 1 of this article series focuses on the employee suspected of fraud.

Reduce employee theft

Loss prevention and theft experts weigh in on a thorny topic.

According to statistics from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 75 percent of employees steal from work. And most do so repeatedly. If that’s not enough to get you to pay attention, that same U.S. Chamber of Commerce study, 30 percent of corporate bankruptcies are a result of employee theft. The FBI calls employee theft the fastest growing crime in America.

The employee is key

King Rogers has helped companies with loss prevention and security for nearly half a century. After helming his own company for many years, Rogers now is business leader, security management services for Master Technology Group. He says the first step to preventing employee theft begins with the hiring process.

“It starts with recruiting the employee,” Rogers says. “The orientation should include a clear communication of expectations.”

Part of this orientation should include disclosing any initiatives that exemplify how much the business owner values his or her company and all the people working there.

“This let the employees know management cares very much about this business and about the employees,” Rogers says. “As a result, management is going to keep an eye on the business as well as the employees.”

Former Bothell PD employee charged with theft from agency

The evidence technician is accused of taking cash for himself from the evidence room.

A former Bothell Police Department employee is accused of taking more than $50,000 from the agency’s evidence room.

William Kenney, 62, is charged with first-degree theft after police say he admitted to pilfering money from the evidence room for his own benefit.

The missing money was discovered during a regularly scheduled audit of the evidence room in January 2015. Kenney, an evidence technician, had called in sick that day and employees claimed he had been acting strangely in recent months, according to court records.

Employees conducting the audit were unable to find money that records indicated was in a safe, according to the Washington State Patrol, which conducted the independent investigation.

When Kenney was asked to call the department about the safe, he replied with a personal email with an apology, reports say. The email allegedly detailed a “nasty divorce,” financial woes and an admission that, “I found myself borrowing from the property room …”