Alpha 2 Alarm — Page 10

Who Is Your Typical Shoplifter?

May 23, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Shoplifting is a crime. Stealing merchandise and walking out the door is a crime millions of people are doing every year.

It costs the retail industry billions of dollars yearly, as well as the communities where these incidents occur. Tax income that is not collected from the stolen merchandise leaves communities and many social programs unfunded and in some instances cut out altogether.

The National Association for Shoplifting Prevention (NASP) states that there is no profile of a typical shoplifter. Women and men shoplift as equally and often.

The following news stories will give you a glance at the shoplifters for this month. Shoplifters come from all walks of life. Profiling a person because of preconceived notions of what a shoplifter is supposed to be, is not only illegal but wrong.

Click on the links below to read more about shoplifting.

Husky Caught on Surveillance Shoplifting a Loaf of Bread, Then Returning With an Accomplice

Get your paws off the merchandise!

A Siberian husky was caught on security footage shoplifting a loaf of bread from a Dollar General store in California.

Although a store worker tried to stop the furry bandit before she escaped out the automated doors, “the suspect was able to avoid apprehension and escaped on all fours,” according to the Shafter Police Department, which released surveillance on their Facebook page following the event last week.

Police officer resigns after allegedly shoplifting by stuffing meat in his pants

DES PERES, Mo. (KMOV.com) –

A St. John police sergeant is off of the force after police arrested him for shoplifting hamburger meat at a Des Peres grocery store.

On April 21, Des Peres police say Sgt. Matthew Barthelmass walked up to the meat counter at the Dierbergs on Manchester Road. The security guard followed him, and saw him walk to the cooking supply aisle and “conceal the product inside of his waistband. He had a larger Cardinals pullover on and could not see a bulge,” read the report.

The report goes on to say Barthelmass paid for items inside of his cart, but not the meat in his pants.

He was confronted by the security guard when he was leaving.

“I asked the subject to remove the meat from his pants. He explained to me that he was a police officer for St. John Police Department,” said the report.

St. John Police Chief J.R. Morris says Barthelmass has been with the department for 10 years.

LOCAL DOCTOR ARRESTED FOR SHOPLIFTING

CULLMAN – A local doctor was arrested for shoplifting recently, according to reports from the Cullman Police Department. Mir Kwon Wu Varquez, 59, was arrested on May 10 and charged with fourth-degree theft of property/shoplifting, a Class A misdemeanor.

Police Chief Kenny Culpepper says the incident occurred at the Wal-Mart store on Highway 157.

Varquez is a cardiologist at Cullman Heart & Urgent Care, P.C.

According to Alabama Code, Section 13A-8-5, theft of property in the fourth degree is applicable when the theft does not exceed $500.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alabama Shoplifting Laws, Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, anti-theft devices, anti-thefts devices, Dollar General Store, EAS Devices, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Loss Prevention Seminar, Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Workshop, NASP, Periodic inventory, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security and monitoring, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting surveillance, surveillance

How To Prevent Shrinkage With Technology

May 10, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

It is true the retail industry losses are staggering. Losses due to shoplifting and employee theft are a problem that seems to have no solution. Small mom and pop stores close their stores for good because of the losses they encounter and cannot recover from. Big national retail stores have the capability to withstand losses from shoplifting and employee theft that other smaller stores cannot.

New technologies have been a help for many of these giants in the prevention of shoplifting and employee theft. The new technology has helped these retail stores prevent the crime before it happens or when they are happening. Two of these technologies are: Video analytics along with video cameras and Face recognition software. They have played an important role in shoplifting prevention in the retail industry.

For more about preventing shoplifting and employee theft

Here are a 20 ways to make more money and boost your profit margins by minimizing loss in your business: – Modest Money (press release) (blog)

There’s an old saying that “you have to spend money to make money,” but it’s also true that one of the best ways to make money is to avoid spending money in the wrong places. If your business is spending too much money on unnecessary business expenses – or worse, if your business is losing money due to theft by customers or employee fraud – you are letting good money go out the door. And this makes it harder for your business to be profitable because you have to work that much harder.

Here are a 20 ways to make more money and boost your profit margins by minimizing loss in your business:

Reduce Administrative Errors: Many businesses make seemingly simple mistakes in their pricing, paperwork or bookkeeping that lead to big losses over time.
Prevent Employee Theft: Employees stealing from their own companies is a major cause of “shrinkage” or business profit loss. According to RetailNext, employee theft makes up almost half of the $42 billion in retail shrinkage each year.

How to tackle employee theft with real-time inventory

Minna Nurmisalo, project & marketing manager at MariElla Labels, takes a look at how real-time inventory can help deter employee theft.

No retail business wants to believe that they might be subject to theft from their own employees. Unfortunately, it is a very real problem. It might be stealing items on their person, or exploiting employee discount privileges to significantly reduce the price – either way, employee theft can account for as much as 28% of unexplained inventory loss globally, according to the recent Global Theft Barometer Report.

In order to prevent it, it is first important for employers to be aware why employees might feel the temptation to steal – from financial pressures in their personal lives, to general disgruntlement with their employers.

But irrespective of the emotional reason that causes employees to consider stealing, it all boils down to something very simple: they think they can get away with it.

Beat The Shrink: How Inventory Management Can Help Reduce Shrinkage

Retailers ate losses of more than $45 billion thanks to shrinkage in 2015, a $1 billion jump from the 2014 total. If this trend continues, the 2016 figure could exceed $47 billion!

How can so much inventory just walk out the door? According to the National Retail Federation, there are five main ways for your supply to disappear.

Sometimes it doesn’t even make it to the store. Roughly seven percent of shrink comes from the vendors in the form of overcharges or undersupply. Small businesses can be especially vulnerable to this if they operate on more informal bases with their supply companies. Check your contracts and make sure expectations are clear.

Human errors count for another 16 percent. Maybe someone ordered too much product to move in a realistic timeframe. A stocker accidentally slapped the wrong price on an item and led to an impromptu sales event. It could be something as simple as poorly-inventoried stockrooms that harried employees tally by physical count and tally marks.

Other times, though, goods may get a helping hand out the door.

Shoplifting counts for 38 percent of loss. People may steal for personal use. They might need to make fast money from a resale. It could be nothing more than they steal because they can, but the end result remains the same: Lost revenue and unbalanced books.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, Background checks, EAS Devices, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Loss Prevention Seminar, Loss Prevention Training, retail security and monitoring, security, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

Have Fun With Shoplifters, Yeah Really!

April 30, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Okay we know that shoplifters are one of the lowest forms of life. Stealing from people is not noble or right in any situation. I believe that shoplifters are a strong competitor for the oldest profession in the world. After all, I bet a cave man was able to steal a rock from another before prostitution even existed and politicians didn’t even exist yet. Even though some in Congress seem to have been around much too long.

So if we can’t get rid of them, we might as well have a little fun with them. In the process make them very frustrated and uncomfortable. All the while your staff is being entertained. This provides a great break to the normal retail grind for your folks, ultimately sends the shoplifter packing with an empty bag and the best part of all saves you money. And let’s not forget this sends a signal to the shoplifting community to go elsewhere and leave your store alone.

So what’s the secret????? Customer Service! Once you know how to spot a shoplifter customer service them to death, overtly and openly. If you don’t know how to spot shoplifters even before they steal, contact us, we can teach you how to do that.

You see the one thing that all shoplifters need is privacy or at least the perception of it. If you or your staff is customer servicing them, they can’t do the dirty deed and they get the message. Typically they simply go elsewhere and don’t bother you further.

Entertainment is great but try to avoid getting the popcorn and 64 ounce drink out and watching. That would just be rude.

CC Intro:

I bet you never thought that shoplifters could be a form of in-store entertainment did you? Why not! These bottom feeders are not exactly the sharpest tools in the shed so let’s drive them crazy and have some fun at the same time. That is what our Feature Article is all about this month. ENJOY!!!!

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, Background checks, employee background checks, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting systems, Loss Prevention Seminar, Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Workshop, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, racial profiling, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security and monitoring, security devices, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

Credit Card Fraud, Bad Checks And Counterfeit Money: Tips To Combat All Three

April 30, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

I live in a resort area so we get all types of fraud activity. Stolen credit cards, stolen and counterfeit checks and counterfeit cash, in addition to the day to day shoplifting and employee theft cases keep us busy. For L.P. departments in our area this can become overwhelming from an investigation standpoint. Employee training and awareness is crucial to effectively combat this activity, L.P. Managers can’t be in a store 7 days a week and even if we could be we can’t see everything. Store associates and managers are the first line of defense in preventing fraud at the point of sale. Here are some tips to identify and deter financial transaction fraud.

Let’s start with credit card fraud. I used to harp on cashiers to look for signatures on the back of cards and if a card wasn’t signed or had “See I.D.” written on it, they were expected to ask for ID. When proper ID was not produced a transaction was declined, no exceptions. With today’s technology, people swipe their cards or hold smartphones up to the card reader and the information is transferred to the Point of Sale (POS). Chip cards are also considered a more secure means of payment than the older self-swipe. With chip technology every transaction has a unique code attached to it, whereas the old mag stripe cards had unchanging data that could be replicated and transferred to another card (source creditcard.com). Because chip enabled cards still have mag stripes and not all companies have changed to chip reader technology, fraud is still an opportunity. To minimize risk, if a small transaction for a few dollars is followed by a large dollar transaction be cautious, there is a strong possibility a stolen card is being used. The small transaction acts as a test to be sure the card is going to work. Second, if you have chip readers, don’t bypass them. Ask for a different form of payment if necessary but let the system work for you. You are always free to ask for an ID to compare to the card, and turn down a sale if the customer doesn’t have one.

Check fraud is becoming less common. The advent of Apple Pay, Pay Pal, and pay apps for various companies, has resulted in fewer checks being written. Still, business checks are pretty common and a personal check is tendered from time to time. Check creation kits are easy to purchase and with a routing and account number it is a piece of cake to create a fraudulent check with any name, address or phone number you want on it. The good thieves will also have fake ID’s to match the information on the check. A few actions you can take to reduce the chance of check fraud in your store include, requiring a government issued ID for check transactions and recording the ID number on the check. If your POS system can electronically process a check let it. Don’t override the system if a check is declined. Look for high dollar checks being written in the later evening hours and on weekends when banks tend to be closed. The bad guys are counting on you not being able to verify account information.

Counterfeit money is a problem and with high quality printers available on today’s market it is easier for criminals to create currency that at first glance appears very convincing. Without going into specifics, counterfeiters have found ways to get paper that can pass muster with regular people like you and me, though trained bankers would notice the difference in quality. They spread their money around a town for a few days and then leave before authorities can start following a trail. The only thing I can suggest to combat these thieves is to watch for the small purchases, such as a pack of gum or soft drink being purchased with a $50 or $100 bill. The criminals are getting real money in change at the cost of no more than a couple of bucks. Along the same lines, watch for the $1 bills that have been altered by pasting higher denominations on two of the corners, usually $50’s and $100’s although sometimes $20’s are used. These bills will be mixed in with several other bills with the dollar corners concealed in the stack.

One last word of caution, if you use the words “In Training” on your name badges, stop! Criminals look for people they think are new and easier to con. Identifying your new people is an invitation for trouble. Financial transaction fraud can be expensive and cost you a lot of money. Properly training cashiers and monitoring transactions can help you deter the crime from happening in the first place.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, Background checks, EAS Devices, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, loss prevention, Loss Prevention Seminar, prevent shrinkage, preventing shoplifting in your store

Cash Handling Tips That Can Prevent Cash Losses

April 30, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Have you ever noticed that when a convenience store robbery takes place the crook never demands all of the credit card slips? I have never heard of a bank robber pulling out a gun and yelling for the teller to give them all of the checks in the drawer. What is it the bad guys are always trying to get their hands on…CASH! While Loss Prevention departments do work on credit card and fraudulent check cases our bigger concern is cash theft and fraud. It has been my experience that in many incidents involving a stolen credit card or check, I have been able to work with bank investigators and police detectives to identify and in some cases resolve those crimes. In those situations there is usually a victim as well as a perpetrator of the crime. When it comes to cash loss cases it becomes another matter altogether, the victim is the store. While we may have video of the crime there may not be any other means of tying in additional information. Another issue with cash losses is that the stolen money cannot be tracked further. Stolen credit cards tend to leave a trail of locations where they are used which can lead to greater opportunities to pick up on additional evidence. The same can be true with fraudulent check writing cases. With a cash loss case, once it’s gone you don’t see it again, money is not traced.

What kind of situations can lead to cash losses? The first thing that comes to mind is internal employee theft. A cashier may steal directly from a register till and pocket the money. You could also have a cashier stealing from customers by short-changing them. I recall at least one case I had in which the employee was keeping back a dollar every so often from a customer’s change they were due back. Until a customer complained to the supervisor rather than going back to the cashier, I had no idea it was taking place.

External causes of cash loss can include:

Robbery
Short change artists
Till Tappers
Counterfeit and fraudulent cash (fraudulent bills may be a $1 bill with two $100 corners pasted over two of the $1 corners. The other two corners are pasted on another $1 bill giving the bad guy $200 of value for a $100 bill and yes, it does happen when a bad guy tries to hurry a new or young cashier).
Grab and Runs

In all the cases of external cash losses there are cash handling tips that any store can use to minimize the risk of loss or the amount of exposure to loss:

Be sure to do daily bank deposits. Preferably contract with an armored car service to pick up money or drop off change orders. If you choose to conduct your own deposits vary the time of day and the route to the bank. Storing excess money in your cash office only increases the amount you could lose in a robbery.
Train cashiers to call a manager or supervisor for any transaction that is $20 or less and the payment is a $100 bill.
Train cashiers to never allow someone to put their hand in the till. Slam the drawer closed if necessary. If a customer is taking too long to look for change, the drawer should be closed.
Have cashiers place all large bills under the till and call for a pick up when the transaction is complete or have a cash drop at the register that can only be opened by a supervisor. This keeps bills from being seen by customers when the drawer is opened and prevents a grab and run.
Use locking till covers for registers. When a register is not in use but has money in it, the till cover prevents someone from getting to the cash even if they have a register key to open the drawer.
Cashiers should each have their own till. When multiple employees work from one register it is more difficult to pinpoint who may be causing cash shortages and dishonest cashiers know it.
Conduct register skims when they are over a pre-determined dollar amount. There is a temptation for dishonest employees to feel that the more money in the register the less likely a $10 or $20 bill will be missed. Lesser amounts in a register drawer also take away incentive for a potential robber.

There is always going to be risk of loss when cash is an accepted form of tender for your business. Minimizing that risk can be done through training and a few commonsense security measures.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, anti-theft devices, anti-thefts devices, employee background checks, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, Loss Prevention Seminar, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security and monitoring, security, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

Shoplifting And The Law

April 25, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Law changes across the United States dealing with shoplifting are always changing. Police departments across states work among businesses to protect them from shoplifting and other illegal activities. Businesses need and demand harsher sentences to deter shoplifting. Businesses dealing with shoplifting are inarguably in accordance with the police force, and want solutions to protect their business and ultimately their bottom line. When training your loss prevention personnel, what is allowed and what is prohibited according to the law, must be addressed with them and with the management of your company. A well trained loss prevention officer can be the difference between a law suit or not.

For more about this topic, follow the links below.

Civil Demand Letters After You Are Busted For Shoplifting

Shoplifters who were caught and released are getting an additional scare in the mail after the event occurs. You may have been caught lifting a pack of gum, or a shirt from a local store. When you were caught you may have just been asked some questions and let go on the spot. However, a letter might come in the mail to scare you after the fact even if you aren’t arrested.

Typically when you are caught shoplifting in Illinois, the store gets their merchandise back undamaged, on the spot. There are no damages incurred by the store, as they are free to sell that t-shirt or pack of gum. However, some law firms are coming after shoplifters in an attempt to gain monetarily for the event. A letter arrives, from a law firm claiming damages and back legal fees they claim a shoplifter owes. This is called a civil demand letter. This letter does not mean any charges have been filed against the shoplifter and the person who receives the letter probably shouldn’t pay. In my opinion, making the payment admits guilt.

Know Your Rights if a Store Detains You for Shoplifting

Being detained by a store or mall security office under suspicion of shoplifting is an experience no one wants to have. Often mall security will try to pressure you into signing a statement admitting your guilt (often threatening to call the police if you don’t) or force you to pay restitution for your offense, but in some cases things can escalate. If you’re detained for shoplifting—regardless of whether you’re innocent or guilty—you have rights. Here’s what you need to know.

This post is part of our Evil Week series at Lifehacker, where we look at the dark side of getting things done. Knowing evil means knowing how to beat it, so you can use your sinister powers for good. Want more? Check out our evil week tag page.

What Has to Happen for a Store to Detain You

The first thing you need to know is what a store has to have or has to see in order to exercise their right to detain you. First, a witness or employee needs to establish probable cause.

Shoplifting offenses are fairly common, but that doesn’t mean shoplifting crimes aren’t taken seriously.

Shoplifting offenses are fairly common, but that doesn’t mean shoplifting crimes aren’t taken seriously. Every state’s penal code includes provisions that apply to shoplifting (usually under the umbrella of theft or larceny statutes), and penalties can be harsh — especially when the dollar value of the merchandise is high, or the offender has a criminal record.

What is Shoplifting?

Shoplifting is typically defined more broadly than the simple removal of merchandise from a store without paying for it. You can also be charged with shoplifting (or retail fraud) for things like:

altering a price tag
removing (or even just trying to remove) security tags and other theft-prevention
“secreting” an item on your person while still in the store (putting merchandise in your pocket or purse), and
removing an item from its packaging and concealing it in or among other merchandise.

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Defective Hiring

March 31, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Would you knowingly buy a car with a defective engine? Of course not! So why would you hire a “defective employee”?

My definition of a defective employee is one with a criminal history, horrible credit history, has lied on their application and more.

Getting this kind of problem child in your business is asking for trouble you don’t need or have time for. On top of that, do you really want someone who has stolen, committed violent acts or worse in the environment you are trying to build? That person then wastes your hard earned resources including payroll, training and time by causing the same aggravation they have for others. But this time you have to deal with them.

Do you know what the most lied about item is on an application? It is not pay, experience or even that they really do not have a sunny disposition. It is the dates of employment from their previous jobs. Let’s say they have had three previous jobs. They got fired from number two so they stretch the dates of number one and three and whoosh job number two never existed. As employers we want to have it all including the good, bad and especially the ugly. This allows us to make better hiring decisions.

We can find this out for you. The criminal acts, thefts, assaults, DUI’s, rapes, illegal drug convictions and more. Oh yes, we can even find those jobs they are not telling you about and get the dates of employment.

You do not want a car that breaks down as soon as you drive it off the lot. Why would you want the same thing in an employee? Contact us today; we can start pre-employment background checks for you right away. In most cases we have same or next day results.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, Background checks, employee background checks, employee hiring, Employee Theft, employment training, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, Loss Prevention Workshop, pre-employment background check, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, racial profiling, retail security and monitoring

Physical Security Inspections Can Help Impact Sales While Keeping Customers And Employees Safe

March 31, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Daylight savings time is over and for most of us in the U.S. (yes, there are a few exceptions) we have moved our clocks and groaned at the loss of a precious hour of sleep. We have to adjust and get used to the change and eventually we do. For our personal lives there isn’t a lot of impact, once we are used to it we do benefit from the additional daylight and get to enjoy more outdoor activity. The time change is useful as a reminder for changing batteries in smoke detectors. You may even use it as a point when you will start planning your summer vacations. For business owners daylight savings time can be a reminder that it is time to conduct a store physical security review. Time changes may not impact us much individually but for retailers there is an impact for the building, employees and your customers.

How does daylight impact your business? With more daylight you may want to take a look at your parking lot lighting. Are the lights on the exterior of the building set to timers? If they are it would be appropriate to set them to the new hours of dusk. Lights turning on too early wastes energy and drives up electric expenses. Having lights come on when it is already dark makes a parking lot feel unsafe and will keep shoppers away from your store. In an article from Buildings.com titled “4 Parking Security Essentials” by Jennie Morton, 11/30/2012, the author states, “Give your lighting a hard look stresses Geary Robinson, parking and transportation services director for Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and a member of IPI. Dark shadows that can conceal aggressors, reduced visibility for pedestrians and vehicles, and inadequate color rendering all chip away at safety.” The article continues, “Not sure if your parking area has a lighting problem? Look at the behavior of visitors. If people feel compelled to use their headlights in your garage or cars are grouped in your lot closest to light poles, these activities indicate that users may be uncomfortable with the level of darkness.” (Emphasis mine). If lighting is not adequate or if lamps are out, this is the perfect time to get them replaced. If you lease your property a call to your property management company is in order to get lights repaired or replaced.

Since we are talking about a thorough physical security review of the building I would recommend testing fire exit push bars. Are they alarming properly? Do the doors open easily? I once had a set of fire doors that would not close properly after testing the push bar and we could not reset the alarm. What if the opposite had been the problem? What would have happened had the doors not opened properly in an emergency situation? You cannot assume that systems will work simply because you want it to be so. While you are at the fire doors, check the fire exit lights, make sure they are lit. This can be difficult with some lights. While they may seem dim to you, some are designed this way. Ask the fire department to come to the store and test the lights to ensure they meet code requirements. By auditing and testing you identify potential issues and get them repaired so you can depend on them in the event you need them. You could also avoid hefty fines for safety violations in case of an inspection by the Fire Marshall.

Include testing of your burglary and fire alarm systems at this time. Your alarm system company should be able to walk you through a test of the burglary alarm system. Testing door alarm points and any motion sensors your store may have. You may also need to do a break glass test to be sure your system will pick up front door and window glass breaks. Fire alarm tests and sprinkler riser tests can be conducted through a third party vendor. You don’t need to be the expert in how to conduct the tests, just be sure to get them done.

Many people associate spring with a fresh start. Give your business a fresh start annually, use this time of the year as a reminder to check your safety measures. Keep your customers and employees safe while protecting your business from unnecessary fines or lawsuits.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, anti-thefts devices, Background checks, CCTV cameras, CCTV equipment, CCTV monitors, EAS Devices, employee background checks, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, loss prevention, Loss Prevention Seminar, Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, shoplifting statistics, small business security, small business security lighting, surveillance

Tuning Up Your CCTV To Maximize Safety And Security

March 31, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

When do closed circuit television malfunctions occur? I’m sure you can guess, it is always at the point when you need it most. I can’t recall the number of instances when I had a cash shortage I needed to look for and when I attempted to pull video through the DVR the video was already dropped or the camera wasn’t functioning. I remember having to look for an image of a suspect in a shoplifting incident and the picture was too grainy to be of any use due to a dirty camera lens or dome. One slightly embarrassing situation that stands out in my mind involved robberies that were taking place behind our store. I had developed a great working relationship with our local police department and they knew the quality of our camera system. Investigators came to me seeking assistance with outdoor camera footage to try to identify the criminals conducting the robberies. I pulled up video of the date and time in question and much to my chagrin the camera had a great shot of the ground directly underneath it. A power surge had impacted the programming of the pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) camera and placed it in a default position. I had not noticed the problem in a timely fashion and could not recall how long it was before I did catch the issue. The good news was I was able to re-program the camera and eventually we did provide footage of an incident a little later that led to an arrest.

It is important to do a spring cleaning of your Loss Prevention tools, and especially a tune up of your closed circuit television (cctv) equipment. As a Loss Prevention Manager for a big box retailer, each spring we would have what we referred to as a bounce back checklist. The checklist covered a number of housekeeping items, including cleaning and checking CCTV components. Doing so helped to ensure we were getting maximum video retention, quality camera pictures, clear public view monitor images and we would identify equipment needing repairs.

I used to train my team to look at CCTV equipment from the eye of a shoplifter. If there is a public view monitor it is supposed to be a deterrent to crime. When the bad guys see their picture on a monitor the idea is that they will be less inclined to do what they intended whether it is shoplifting, stealing purses or robbing the business. I would emphasize that a filthy monitor or poor quality picture indicated to the bad guys that the store didn’t take Loss Prevention seriously and diminished the deterrence value.

CCTV equipment maintenance is not just for stores with a Loss Prevention Department. Many stores do not have a security department but there is equipment that is a precaution against crime. Often a camera system with a digital video recorder, computer and or multiplexer is housed in a small office recording activity. It can be easy to forget about it if there is not someone assigned to check on it daily. Sometimes it is neglected until a robbery takes place or money is missing from a register and then a manager goes to review footage and finds the system is not functioning. Using a spring checklist helps managers ensure equipment will be functioning when it is needed.

So what should be included in a cctv tune-up checklist?

Dust digital video recorders, keyboards, computers and multiplexers with canned air and good quality dusters
Check all connections and ensure nothing has come loose and no wires are frayed
If equipment is maintained in a small office, ensure the room is properly cooled
Review each camera and picture, is it positioned to see what you need it to see?
Clean every camera lens
Wipe down all camera domes (even dummy domes)
Clean Public View Monitors. If a monitor has a burned picture, replace it. Look at it during different hours of the day is there a time when too much glare hits it? If so, you may want to try repositioning it.
Check your video retention. If you aren’t getting at least 30 days follow up with your vendor to see about clearing space or optimizing recording. You may be able to set recording zones or sensors that will only record when movement in an area happens.

No one wants to think about a robbery, employee theft or shoplifting taking place in their store but it is something you have to be prepared for. Take care of your cctv by tuning it up so that IF the time comes when you need it you will have the video necessary to help police in their investigation to put the criminals away.

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Spring Cleaning Should Include A Review Of Evidence Held For Shoplifting And Employee Theft Cases

March 30, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

When I was a Loss Prevention Manager we would catch a shoplifter or a dishonest employee and recover merchandise. Depending on the type of case we would sometimes hold the evidence for a few days until the court hearing other times it could be much longer. If a shoplifter refused to plead guilty or requested a jury trial cases could be held up for months if not longer. I had several cases that went on for more than a year. Felony shoplifting cases and juvenile cases in our jurisdiction often meant lengthy wait periods depending on caseloads in the court. I also recall at least one shoplifting case in which the lawyer for the defendant requested extensions three separate times hoping that I would not appear for the hearing and the case would be dropped. No dice, I showed up for each hearing and finally the lawyer entered a guilty plea. The problem with the lengthy cases was that we would have to hold the evidence until the cases were settled. In some situations the police department held the recovered merchandise, such as when they stopped the suspect after the suspect fled the store. When merchandise has to be held for long periods it is possible for it to sit in evidence and be forgotten about. For stores that are too small to have security or Loss Prevention Departments management may be storing that evidence and no one is thinking about following up on cases with their police department or court.

Spring is the perfect time to look through cases and see if there is merchandise that can be returned to inventory. Before you just go in and start looking through evidence closets or lockers that you may have in your store take some things into consideration. Just as police have chains of custody, a store should have a similar program in place. No one should be able to open a security cabinet and start digging through it. A proper evidence locker will have a listing of evidence that is associated with a case number, date and suspect(s) name. This enables the store to track the progress of a case. It also gives reference information so that a call to the Clerk of Court can help their employees find the status of a case. When the locker is opened, there should be a signature sheet with a date and time entry showing when it was accessed. There should also be an evidence release form in the event police have to take custody of property (be aware that they will have their own chain of custody form for you to sign too).

Why is it so important to go through and review for evidence that can be cleaned out? From an inventory standpoint the product could be losing value. I did have merchandise sit in my evidence locker and some SKU’s went clearance as the merchandise had to be held while the case was in limbo. In a few instances merchandise completely dropped from the books and I had to take financial sheets and account for the products. Occasionally police would come by with merchandise from cases I had forgotten about and let me know that they were cleaning out their evidence lockers and a case had been dismissed or adjudicated without any follow up with our store. Again, this was infrequent as most cases were disposed of with me present or a call from the Clerk of Court letting me know the defendant had entered a guilty plea. Our store was large enough that we could absorb some of these lost markdowns or the items dropped from the system without making a major impact on our stock shortage. For smaller stores this could be problematic. Every dollar and piece of merchandise should be accounted for whenever possible at inventory time. The lower the annual sales the more impact each lost or uncounted piece of merchandise has on overall shortage.

What is the solution to potential losses because merchandise is in evidence? Use spring as the time to review what you may have in your evidence locker from shoplifting and employee theft cases. If there are cases that have been sitting for a month or more, place a call to the court that is responsible for the case and ask about the status. If it has been closed on their end you should be able to release the goods back to the store. If it is still awaiting trial or disposition continue holding it in evidence. One final piece of advice, some jurisdictions will permit photos of evidence to suffice for court. Contact your local police department or court to find out their rules and guidelines.

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