How To Approach a Shoplifter- Loss Prevention Training

August 2, 2014 by
If you have a customer suspected of shoplifting in your store, what do you do? For some the answer is simple- you walk up to them accuse them of shoplifting and demand to search their bags to find the stolen items.
For others, the answer is to not confront them and to call the police to have them arrested. As for the rest of your employees, the best approach is one of denial- “He was a shoplifter? Really? I didn’t notice.”
While all of these approaches make sense depending on the type of person you or your employees are, none of them are the best way to go.
If you accuse a shoplifter directly, you open yourself up to a variety of scenarios. The first is an open/ aggressive confrontation can escalate into a potentially dangerous situation. The shoplifter might be armed, or prepared to fight his way out. If you do not have any proof, you might open yourself and your business up to a wrongful detainment/ accusation lawsuit. It can cost tens of thousands of dollars and potentially negative press. Same thing goes for calling the police without actual proof.
A passive/ non-existent approach can lead to shoplifters coming back because they do not fear getting caught. The best way is to learn the five steps retailers’ use and how to legally approach a shoplifter. Loss prevention seminars can walk you through the steps and answer most of the legal questions you might have.
For more information on Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, or Loss Prevention Workshop contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
Visit the Loss Prevention Systems website for more information on Retail Employee Theft and Retail Shoplifting problems and view the Retail Loss Prevention Seminars, Retail Loss Prevention Training and Retail Loss Prevention Workshop we offer to help with your Employee Theft and Shoplifting problems.

If you have a customer suspected of shoplifting in your store, what do you do? For some the answer is simple- you walk up to them accuse them of shoplifting and demand to search their bags to find the stolen items.

For others, the answer is to not confront them and to call the police to have them arrested. As for the rest of your employees, the best approach is one of denial- “He was a shoplifter? Really? I didn’t notice.”

While all of these approaches make sense depending on the type of person you or your employees are, none of them are the best way to go.

If you accuse a shoplifter directly, you open yourself up to a variety of scenarios. The first is an open/ aggressive confrontation can escalate into a potentially dangerous situation. The shoplifter might be armed, or prepared to fight his way out. If you do not have any proof, you might open yourself and your business up to a wrongful detainment/ accusation lawsuit. It can cost tens of thousands of dollars and potentially negative press. Same thing goes for calling the police without actual proof.

A passive/ non-existent approach can lead to shoplifters coming back because they do not fear getting caught. The best way is to learn the five steps retailers’ use and how to legally approach a shoplifter. Loss prevention seminars can walk you through the steps and answer most of the legal questions you might have.

For more information on Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, or Loss Prevention Workshop contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

Visit the Loss Prevention Systems website for more information on Retail Employee Theft and Retail Shoplifting problems and view the Retail Loss Prevention Seminars, Retail Loss Prevention Training and Retail Loss Prevention Workshop we offer to help with your Employee Theft and Shoplifting problems.

Filed Under: Seminar Tagged With: , , , , ,

Social Media Helps Authorities Catch Criminals

July 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment

law-3As of the first quarter 2014, Facebook had 1.28 billion monthly active users. This of course is only one social media site that people tend to gravitate to and one of the many sites authorities are using to capture criminals dumb enough to post selfies with stolen merchandise, or bragging about their crimes. Social media sites are playing many roles in the lives of people, from keeping them connected to friends to preying on victims.

For more about this and other stories follow the links below.

Facebook Led These Criminals To Face Time Behind Bars

Doing a crime is inherently stupid, but boasting about it on social media takes it to a whole new level of idiocy. Bidness Etc takes a look at some of these ‘criminal geniuses’ and how their addiction to social media got them caught.

They say social media is nothing but a waste of time and intelligence. While we agree with this notion to a certain extent, we believe that it is actually the horde of brain-dead, half-witted, below-average excuse for human beings that destroy social media’s reputation on a daily basis.

We believe that this epidemic (i.e. stupid people running rampant on social media) is because of the inherent nature of the internet. You see, everyone – even criminals – have access to it, can sign up for various sites, and are then free to express their worthless opinions there. Speaking of petty criminals, there have been many instances in the recent past where the criminal’s own stupidity on Facebook Inc (FB) helped the law catch them and put them behind bars for good. The law’s triumph not only restored our faith in the legal system, but it also gave us hope for the future of social media sites as well.

Criminals using social media sites to prey on victims

NEW ORLEANS —In the past three weeks, three similar crimes happened in the Crescent City – all with one common thread: social media.

Police said sites like Tagged, Tinder and Kik have been used to lure victims to potential danger, resulting in robberies and carjackings.

The first case happened in the 1600 block of Baronne Street, where police said a man met a woman and was later robbed by three men.

The second crime was committed in the 2100 block of Danneel Street by 10 men – four of whom had guns.

Digital Detectives: Social Media Helping Police Put Criminals Behind Bars

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) — Anne Arundel County Police say social media is helping them put criminals behind bars.

Rochelle Ritchie explains how.

At the stroke of a keyboard, residents in Anne Arundel County are becoming digital detectives in helping Anne Arundel County Police solve crime.

“We’ve been able to solve crime based on social media tips,” said Lt. T.J. Smith, Anne Arundel County Police.

After one man’s photo was placed on their Facebook page, the comments began to pour in. It didn’t take long for the alleged ATM robber to be put behind bars.

“We have the opportunity to get the message out to tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of people at the click of a button,” Smith said.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Dumb Criminal Videos

July 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (10)There are some thieves that manage to do a lot of damage to a store before they get caught, others just can’t restrain themselves and show off their stolen merchandise to the world, making police arrests quick and a blessing for the store owner.

Follow the links below to see the videos.

Dumb Criminal Posts Facebook Photo Wearing The Dress She Stole Earlier That Day, Is Summarily Arrested

from the dress-to-impress dept

At some point, it might become useful for Facebook to release some data on exactly how many dumb criminals have been brought to justice via some aspect of the social media giant. For reasons I can’t fathom, it seems like we see this all the time. Criminals share the police station’s status update implicating themselves. Fraternities vomit their crimes all over their Facebook pages. Fugitives from the law occasionally post pictures from their vacations, alerting police to their exact whereabouts. It’s a brave and utterly stupid new world out there for criminals and they’re just not handling it well.

The latest example is Danielle Saxton, who thought it was a good idea to steal a distinctive leopard-print dress (very tasteful) from a clothing boutique and then post pictures of herself wearing the stolen property to Facebook mere hours later.

Police say 27-year-old Danielle Saxton stole from a downtown boutique last week. Then, she posted pictures of herself wearing the merchandise. Investigators say Saxton shared the pics just a few hours after the theft. The images quickly spread on Facebook, and led officers straight to her. Police say the pictures are evidence of shoplifting committed by Saxton. The theft happened at Mortie’s Boutique in West Frankfort, where multiple items disappeared last Friday.

It Only Takes 4 Seconds For These Wannabe Thieves To Realize They Picked The Wrong Gas Station To Rob

These two wannabe robbers just didn’t know who they were messing with.

As KPRC reports, an attempted robbery ended up poorly for the bad guys after they jumped a Fuel Depot employee returning from the bank with a money bag.

They must have had no idea who his co-worker was, otherwise they probably wouldn’t have chosen to rob the gas station.

Working at the cash register when the assault happened was Mayura Dissanyake, a semi-professional mixed martial arts fighter. And as we can see on the surveillance footage, in an instant, he put his skills to incredible use.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: , , , , , ,

If They Steal $1,000 That’s All I Lost….. Right?

July 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (13)Whether it involves employee theft, shoplifting or some other real loss, you actually lost a lot more than $1,000. And I mean real money. One of the advantages I have as the former Senior Loss Prevention Executive for several major companies, is that I bring a larger scope of experience to you, the small and medium business owner or manager.

Okay, so the thief got away with $1,000 of your merchandise but that ​​is ​​not all you lost. That merchandise had to be purchased, paid for, shipped, handled by your staff and made available for sale to your legitimate customers. In many cases we do not factor these tasks and the ever tighter profit margins we work with into the loss equation.

As an example, let’s say that your profit margin after taxes, labor and other expenses like rent, electricity, gas…. is 1.5%. Actually this is an average for most US retailers. Some have a higher profit margin others like grocery stores average less than 0.5%.

So take your loss, in this case $1,000 and divide by your margin, again in ​​this case 1.5% (.015). The result is $66,666.67. That is your actual loss. You are going to have to sell another $ 66,666.67 simply to BREAK EVEN on a $1,000 loss! How many more merchandise items will ​​you have to purchase and sell to do this? And remember that is only to break even on the $1000 loss NOT to make a profit.

Oh wait a minute – you have insurance. Few policies cover this kind of loss. If they do, try putting in for several of these cl​aims. You will probably find yourself looking for a new insurance carrier after they drop you or raise your rates through the roof.

There is only one way to do this and be profitable: prevention. You must stop losses before they occur. In addition your loss prevention efforts cannot consume all of your time or resources. Otherwise you lose focus on your sales. But the LP effort has to be a part of your standard operating environment, not on and off. You would not turn off the power to your sign every other day to save money. Why would you do that with loss prevention?

The really great news is that a solid loss prevention program is neither expensive nor difficult for the small to medium retailer. You should loo​k at loss prevention in three areas that are all working together at the same time.

First is Training & Awareness – have you set the standard right from the very beginning with your employees? Do they know what is expected of them and their performance including their responsibilities to protect your assets? Do ​​they understand you do not tolerate any theft by them or their friends regardless of size?

Second – do you have an operational audit or review of your operations? Do people actually know and believe that you look in depth into your operations and losses. Are you ACTUALLY holding them responsible for their performance?

Last is investigation. You must look into and understand why a loss has occurred. Then take action to keep it from occurring that way again. Thinking that it will go away or even worse fix it by itself is ridiculous. IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE.

All of then feeds back into Training and Awareness. Once you start this cycle if will feed on itself. You will ​​even find that your core employees will pick it up and go with it. I have other techniques to this process that you may find helpful. Give ​​ me a call at 770.426.7593 x101 if you would like to discuss this or any other loss prevention issues. Again, remember shoplifting and employee theft losses can be controlled!

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Loose the Battle, Win the War

July 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (1)I read a horrifying news article about a man, who had been convicted of shoplifting, winning a lawsuit to the tune of $500,000. That’s right- half a million dollars paid out to a man who was convicted of shoplifting from a store. The report was horrifying for two reasons.

The first, because he was a shoplifter who might never have to work a day in his life again, basically was paid out to steal. Two, because the reason he won his suit was because he was injured during the course of the apprehension as a result of his shoplifting.

It raises a very important question of where do we, as retailers and business owners, draw the line? Where do we say we will allow this particular loss to happen to avoid an even worse loss? In essence, how do we loose the battle to win the war?

As the news report goes on, this particular man seems to have made a habit of bringing up (and winning) lawsuits stemming from his alleged shoplifting incidents. When the businesses could not win their cases against this man to convict him of shoplifting, he turned around and sued for slander, liable, and wrongful apprehensions.

While this particular situation is probably one of the more extreme examples of how a shoplifting stop can go horrifically wrong, this is not an unrealistic topic for businesses to be aware of.

Any time a shoplifter is stopped, or even approached, we have a responsibility to be right- 100% right. We also have to be able to prove it in a court of law. The days of acting on gut feelings or suspicions are long gone.

We have a right to protect our stores and to make shoplifting stops. We need to do so in a way that is also fair and legal to the suspected shoplifter- lest we also incur a half million dollar settlement at our expense.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Start Before It Becomes An Issue

July 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (2)Employee theft can and will happen to every small business at some point in time. The question of how you handle it, and what you can do about it relies on the protections you have in place before an incident occurs. Without these protections in place setting precedence, you might find your hands are tied in regards to the specific incident currently in front of you

The best place to start is in having anti theft verbiage in your employee handbook. That of course, means you need to have an employee handbook in place to standardize all of your business policies. If you do not have a handbook, you need to develop and implement one as soon as possible.

Within your handbook you need to be clear and broad all at the same time. A sentence stating that employee theft of any kind will under no circumstances be tolerated. Theft is defined as possessing or removing any company asset or another employee’s possessions without prior authorization from management.

You can further elaborate on the different types of company assets, or you can leave it open to all assets from pens and paper to merchandise and cash. Next you may want to include that the company will prosecute all cases of employee theft.

After having a written record of the company’s intentions, the policy should be verbally covered in employee on boarding and training. This way there is no confusion as to what the expectation is. Some businesses even have the employees sign a paper (to be retained in their employee file) that they are aware of this policy.

By clarifying up front, most employees will take heed to this warning. For those that do not, it is much easier to prosecute the employees for their theft, or misappropriation of company assets, when there is proof that the employee was aware of the consequences ahead of time.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Internal Audit

July 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (11)An important, but often overlooked part of running a successful (read: profitable) business is conducting internal audits. An internal audit helps give you a base line of how your business is operating, and whether operational procedures are being followed.

Even if you are making your sales numbers and gals, you might still be missing out on maximizing your profits if operational processes are not followed- costing more than what you may realize. One of the potential areas you might not be loosing is in inventory and merchandise costs.

If you are loosing sales because you do not have the right inventory in place, you are missing a huge opportunity for profit. When those lost sales are because you have employees or shoplifters stealing your merchandise, you are hit three times financially- once for the lost sale, and twice in your cost of goods, since you have to buy the item twice to sell it to a customer once.

Internal audits are a control mechanism within your store. When employees are more cognizant that their execution of tasks and processes will be tested at any point in time, they will be more apt to comply with the correct way of doing these tasks. When they are called out for failing their part of an internal audit, the employees understands that their lack of suitable job performance can lead to counseling and up to termination for repeat offenses. As employees are more willing to execute to your standards, the openings for employee theft and shoplifting are reduced.

We have found repeat evidence that almost all crimes committed against a business are because of a procedural breakdown. Had the store employees been more aware of not only what they were doing, but how they were going about doing it, the procedural breakdowns would not have happened, and the crimes would have been harder to commit.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Retail Shrinkage and More News

July 22, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (13)Recent research about loss prevention states that the industry loses about $57 billion yearly. The perpetrators are more brazen and the consequences more expensive. Surveillance and private surveillance personnel are not enough to stop shrinkage in the retail industry. The steps that the store employee can follow depend on the store and the state they are situated. Private Citizens are generally not allowed to restrain people against their will and by doing so opens the doors for civil or criminal law suits. For more news about shoplifting follow the links below.

Survey: Retail shrink translates into $57 billion loss; cash theft jumps 20%

New York — Shrinkage levels average 1.27% of sales, which translates to a $57 billion loss to the industry, according to the U.S. Retail Fraud Survey, which is based on research into the systems and strategies used by 100 leading North American retailers.

The biggest area of store loss remains employee theft (38% of shrink), up 3% from last year, according to the study, published by U.K. based Retail Knowledge and sponsored by Volumatic and Kount. It is followed by cash theft (24%), up 20% from last year, administration and book keeping errors (21%), down 9%, and shoplifting (11%), down 15%.

The biggest area of online loss is fraudulent use of credit cards (59% of shrink).

In other survey highlights:

• Return fraud is costing retailers an average of 0.25% of sales this year, compared with an average of 0.4% last year.

• With regards to loss prevention departments, on average, each member of the fraud prevention team is responsible for $103 million of sales.

Retailers apprehend shoplifters and dishonest employees in record numbers

While the increased brazenness and skills of both shoplifters and unscrupulous employees continue to plague retailers across the United States, the industry’s most respected loss prevention researchers offer some good news in their just released survey. According to numbers highlighted in the 26th Annual Retail Theft Survey conducted by Jack L. Hayes International, the leading loss prevention and inventory shrinkage control consulting firm, both apprehensions and money recovered from retail theft increased again in 2013.

The survey says almost 1.2 million shoplifters and dishonest employees were apprehended in 2013 by just 23 large retailers, who recovered over $199 million from thieves. The figures show that shoplifting apprehensions were up 2.5 percent and recovery dollars increased by 4.5 percent. When it came to cracking down on internal theft, the survey revealed that apprehensions for dishonest employees rose 6.5 percent and recovery dollars rose 2.5 percent. According to Mark R. Doyle, President of Jack L. Hayes International, these figures display a positive trend of apprehension and recovery that has been seen for three consecutive years.

A look back: Four lessons from my first LP conference

I was named NRF’s Vice President of Loss Prevention a little more than a month ago. It was perfect timing for me to jump in and do my best to meet thousands of my peers at NRF’s annual Loss Prevention Conference. Here are my top takeaways after experiencing the event for the first time behind the scenes.

  • There’s a live stream audience for retail loss prevention. Gus Downing, producer of the LP News Network (LPNN), led this historic first-ever live broadcast from any loss prevention conference. Thousands of viewers watched LPNN’s eight hours of educational content, news and even an interview with me and Vicki Cantrell. Thanks to Downing and his team for their diligent coverage of the retail loss prevention issues that matter most to our community – at the event and throughout the year. There is added value as the stream is currently being broadcast on the D&D Daily as the gift that keeps on giving to the LP community.
  • We’re in the age of “Brand and Business Protection.” The protection of products, our brands, employees and customers: No matter your focus, Cantrell was direct in her opening remarks last month. “We must prepare, plan, preserve, prevent and – most importantly – protect those we are entrusted to serve. By protecting our organizations, we keep them strong, and it is the strong who survive and thrive.” The transformation of NRF’s Loss Prevention Conference to NRF PROTECT is a commitment from NRF to prepare this community for the growing challenges, threats and responsibilities for retail loss prevention professionals. Keep your eyes peeled for more to come!
Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Are You Letting Your Employees Steal From You?

July 14, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (2)Employee theft is one of the most difficult issues a business owner faces. An employee is 15 times more likely than a non-employee to steal from an employer and they are responsible for approximately 44% of business’s theft losses (National Federation of Independent Business). And yet it’s one of the problems owners and managers are least likely to address.

However, the denial method of management doesn’t work causing nearly a 1/3 of businesses to fail due to employee fraud (U.S. Department of Commerce).  There are many reasons why owners are resistant to addressing the problem of employee theft. Three of these reasons are centered in the owner’s personal beliefs.

I’m a good guy – Some managers simply refuse to consider the idea that their employees would steal from them. They believe “I’m a good guy, so my people will never steal from me”. They misinterpret the issue of employee theft as a personal issue, a referendum on their character, rather than the personnel, business and legal issue that it is.

It’s not that much – Many loss prevention specialists, accountants and business analysts are aware of the open “secret” in many small businesses. Some owners and managers know and don’t care that their employees are stealing. They think, but don’t actually know, the loss is a small amount and for a variety of poorly thought out reasons believe it’s “not worth dealing with”.

There’s nothing I can do about it – These owners or managers don’t want the responsibilities of their jobs. They develop beliefs which permit them, in their minds, to not be held accountable for their managerial duties. For example, they have convinced themselves thatit’s impossible to find good quality workers, so employee theft happens all the time and everyone does it. In this rationalization, there’s nothing the manager can do, so he’s justified in doing nothing.

One of the most important components to any comprehensive loss prevention program is management’s commitment to and involvement in it. Many times business owners can be the biggest obstacle to a successful program due to their erroneous personal beliefs. Regrettably, many have found that ignoring the vital issue of employee theft leads to drastic consequences.

Nicole Abbott – writer, educator and psycho-therapist

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Shoplifting Videos from Around the U.S

July 8, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (12)The United States Retailers lose billion of dollar every year due to shoplifting. The National Association for shoplifting prevention has programs dedicated to helping those with these problems and educating and reaching out to the youth of this country. Stealing affects every one of us and the repercussions of shoplifting affect those closest to the shoplifter. Here are some articles and videos for you about shoplifting around the country. Follow the links below.

Texas woman sentenced for million dollar shoplifting ring

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) – A Texas woman has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for taking part in an international shoplifting ring where members used oversized bags to steal millions of dollars worth of goods from high-end stores, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
Eva Salazar, 49, pleaded guilty on Monday to second degree theft for stealing merchandise from stores including Victoria’s Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Coach, said Trey Banack, the chief of the White Collar Crimes Division of the Bexar County District Attorney’s office in San Antonio.

Salazar and three other women would enter shopping malls with bags that could hold deceptively large amounts and then “clear entire tables and shelves of merchandise,” Banack said.
“They then delivered the merchandise to a fifth woman, who would sell the items through her online store,” Banack said.

The ring hit malls in Austin, Houston and San Antonio, and also struck internationally, with suspected thefts in countries including Canada and Australia, he said.

Children left home alone while couple goes shoplifting

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – Louisville Metro Police have charged a couple with leaving their children home alone while they went to a store to shoplift.

Around 7:20 p.m. July 7, police said Crystal A. HDC) 33, of Louisville, walked out of the Preston Highway Meijer with merchandise she had not paid for. The arrest report says Herthel had a receipt in her hand as if she had paid for the items, valued at $556.57, and placed them in the truck of her car.

During questioning, Herthel admitted to stealing the merchandise and said that her boyfriend, Kurt Sheets, 35, helped her select the items.

According to police, Sheets and Herthel walked into and out of the store separately. Officers also said each gave conflicting statements about why they were at the store.

Police also learned the pair had left their children, ages 10, 4 and four months, at home while they went out to commit the theft.

Both Herthel and Sheets were arrested for shoplifting. According to officers, the two had a total of $34 in cash on them.

Police said Herthel had previously been arrested for shoplifting from an Indiana Meijer store.

Video appears to capture weekend shoplifting assault outside Madison Square Mall

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — A video that surfaced online this weekend appears to depict the assault of a Belk employee as he tried to stop a shoplifter outside Madison Square Mall.

The incident occurred Saturday evening, when a loss prevention officer was trying to stop a woman who had stolen merchandise from the Belk department store. The Huntsville Police Department said two men came to the woman’s aid and assaulted the employee, who was reportedly not seriously injured.

The suspects fled with the merchandise and no arrests have been made, police have said.

The video surfaced Sunday, when a woman named Whitney Woolen posted it on Facebook. As of 1:50 p.m. today, the video has been shared nearly 500 times from Woolen’s page.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »