Court Room Drama

law-3If you have never been in court before, it can be a very eye opening experience. There are similarities between TV courtroom proceedings and real life, but the overall experience is very different. If you are planning on prosecuting shoplifters or employees for theft, it is important to understand this step in the process.

Working within the court system is essential to ensure the employee or shoplifter has an official record of their wrongdoing. This criminal prosecution provides concrete evidence against an employee or shoplifter of their alleged acts. This record makes it easier for potential employers to understand an applicants past history, an indicator of their future reliability.

Here is how the process generally works. At the time of a shoplifter’s apprehension, or the completion of an employee theft interview, local law enforcement will be called in. This could be the city police, county police, or even the local sheriff’s department based on your individual store’s location and jurisdiction. If you have multiple locations, understand the jurisdiction might be different for each one. Specifically knowing which department to call ahead of time will simplify the process during an actual incident.

The responding law enforcement will ask a few questions from you. They will take a statement from both sides, and usually ask to see any video available. This is the initial opportunity to present your evidence against the suspect. This is not a time to hold back actual evidence you may have, or give unsubstantiated opinions as evidence.

Law enforcement will take the suspect into custody (if applicable) and file a police report. You may need to go down to their station to fill out additional paperwork depending upon the local protocol. From there papers will be filed with the court system. You should receive a subpoena stating the time, date and place of the court case for your suspect. Understand that it might take a few weeks to several months for this to happen. It is all based upon your local court’s current caseload.

During this downtime, you should ensure that you have created a case report with statements explaining each step of the shoplifting incident, any statements made by the suspect, any paper evidence, a detailed listing of merchandise stolen (size, style, UPC or SKU, color, quantity) photos taken of the suspect, their ID or the merchandise, employee ID, and any video evidence. This case report needs to be kept in a private, locked file cabinet or other place that eliminates contact or access by other employees. Any deviation may allow the defendant’s attorney to question the integrity of the chain of evidence and speculate that it has been tampered with.

When you are set to go to court on the specific time and date given, make sure you show up early and bring your case report with you. Law enforcement may have requested copies at the time of the arrest, but it is better for you to not rely on law enforcement to bring it with them. They have so many cases on a daily basis; they may not remember months later what they were given. It is your responsibility to prove the suspect guilty based upon your evidence. If you show up with nothing, the suspect may be found innocent. Bring the report and file with you.

When you show up, find the prosecuting attorney. They are the ones presenting the case on your behalf. Show them your file, your video, and answer their questions. They are not trying to pick your case apart; they just need to have a full understanding of what they can present to the defense attorney and the judge. Arriving early allows you enough time to best prepare your case with the attorney and have better end results.

While you cannot dictate that a suspect is charged with a specific crime (felony theft vs. misdemeanor theft) you are allowed to let the attorney know that the suspect is not to return to any of your store locations. If so, they will be charged with trespassing.

At this point the attorney will confer with the defense attorney. They will try to work out a plea bargain, which the suspect hopefully will take. They may not stick with the original charges, but a plea bargain will save you countless hours and trips back and forth to the courthouse for an actual trial.


What You Should Be Auditing

theft (11)When you work for yourself, you often spend a lot of time inventing the wheel. There is no corporate policy already in place for your stores to adapt. No one is there looking over your shoulder and telling you what records to keep and for how long. Sure, you probably have an accountant somewhere helping you with some record retention requirements. There are other IRS and tax records that you keep for a certain period of time. Overall, it is up to you to make these decisions and have a standard in place.

One area that can be difficult to make your own standard is having an internal audit. While it is a chore to come up with the questions and audit points, the payoff of having a better standardization and in store accountability will far exceed the trouble you put into to establish an audit.

One of the best places to start is by researching Sarbanes- Oxley. The Sarbanes- Oxley act of 2002 is a set of legal requirements that all organizations, regardless of size, must comply with. It basically regulates financial practices, after several companies were found guilty of falsifying their own financial records. The company’s biggest fallout was that they ended up devastating thousands of their own employees financially.

The ultimate point of the act is that companies are required to provide accurate and truthful information as to the company’s financial status. Over inflating sales, inventory, amongst other practices, to give a deceitful impression of a company’s success is now illegal. Companies must retain records of their financial status to ensure accuracy at all levels.

The easiest way to do this is to perform self-audits in key areas. These audits should be done daily, weekly, monthly and yearly, depending upon the task. Hiring a consultant can provide you with the legal specifics to keep your company on the up and up. Understanding the basics ahead of time can help you decrease those consultation costs, as you will already have some practices in place.

The first place to start is with your inventory. Understanding a cradle to grave approach to your product will not only help you with accuracy in your auditing, but keeping a closer eye on your product will help you decrease your shrink over the long term. Your starting point is with your receipt of goods.

Each shipment of inventory you receive should be documented and a bill of lading retained and filed by month. On each BOL should be the signature of who received the items, the date and time received, and a check mark or tally of what was received- either by piece, box or pallet.

Next, you should maintain listings and reports of items that are taken out of your inventory for a specific reason. If they are damaged and thrown out, sent back to a vendor for credit, used in the store, stolen, etc. There needs to be a paper trail attached to where these items have gone and why. A signature, or employee ID or who reallocated the products disposition should be included with these document (also retained and filed by month).

If you are still using paper sales receipts, including paper journal tapes, those records need to be filed by date, and then month. This is your listing of what merchandise has left your stores and is your proof that these sales actually happened and were not fraudulently contrived. If you have an electronic sales tracking system, you still need to have paper documentation of these sales retained somewhere in case of a computer glitch, etc.

Finally, all returns must be retained and spot-checked for accuracy. Since returns are another way for inventory to come back into the store, it is an important process to verify that these returns are accurate. Look for multiple transactions of the same item, or significantly larger dollar transactions. These are the returns that are most likely to have been done in error (over inflating your actual inventory) or can point to an employee’s dishonest activities.


Like An Old Friend- Loss Prevention Workshop

Everyone has that one person in their lives that they look up to and frequent for insight and advice. This person is usually experienced, wizened and has seen enough of the world to have a different, and useful perspective on any given situation. These are the mentors we rely on for advice in our love lives, financial matters, and other personal questions.
Hopefully, we also have a mentor like that in our work lives, not just in our personal lives. This should be someone who has a greater insight to different aspects and topics of our business than we do. It should also be someone who has valuable insight based off of his or her own experiences.
A mentor like this is particularly important when it comes to loss prevention and store security. The business acumen needed for these areas can’t easily be learned simply from reading up on the topics. Having a mentor, especially one that has personally encountered many of the potential security situations, helps you become that much more knowledgeable.
Having an experienced mentor to explain the nuances and pros and cons of certain actions to improve store security and reduce shoplifting losses will be far better than anything you can get from a manual computer based learning scenario alone.
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.

Everyone has that one person in their lives that they look up to and frequent for insight and advice. This person is usually experienced, wizened and has seen enough of the world to have a different, and useful perspective on any given situation. These are the mentors we rely on for advice in our love lives, financial matters, and other personal questions.

Hopefully, we also have a mentor like that in our work lives, not just in our personal lives. This should be someone who has a greater insight to different aspects and topics of our business than we do. It should also be someone who has valuable insight based off of his or her own experiences.

A mentor like this is particularly important when it comes to loss prevention and store security. The business acumen needed for these areas can’t easily be learned simply from reading up on the topics. Having a mentor, especially one that has personally encountered many of the potential security situations, helps you become that much more knowledgeable.

Having an experienced mentor to explain the nuances and pros and cons of certain actions to improve store security and reduce shoplifting losses will be far better than anything you can get from a manual computer based learning scenario alone.

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.

 

Shoplifting Policies and Procedures

law-3Every business is different, and their policies and procedures varied from store to store or office to office. In a retail store, the policies and procedures concerning a shoplifting accident have to concise and known by every employee in the store. Knowing what to do and how to react to those kind of situations is important and financially responsible to the business. If your policy is to prosecute every shoplifter regardless of age, or the amount of merchandise they steal, your employees should be aware of it. If your policy is to get the merchandise back without prosecuting, they should be aware of that too. Avoiding a lawsuit against your store regarding a shoplifting accident should be an important subject to discuss with your employees and your management team.

Follow the links for more news about shoplifting.


NM shoplifters as early risers

EDGEWOOD — Five-thirty in the morning might be an odd time for a shopping spree, but it’s a common time of day for shoplifters.

Combatting shoplifting, especially in those wee hours of the morning, is a common struggle for operators of 24-hour stores, and Wal-Marts throughout the area have been experiencing individuals pushing fully loaded shopping carts out the doors without paying a dime. Edgewood Police Chief Fred Radosevich said his department received a call two weeks ago reporting four suspected shoplifters attempting to leave the premises, with what later turned out to be nearly $2,000 worth of goods.

“It happened on Oct. 8 at about 5:30 in the morning,” he said. “We got a report of people possibly shoplifting. Officer (David) Lovato responded. Through the investigation two people were arrested.”

Lovato identified four people on the scene as suspects – three females and one male. He arrested Joyce Newman, 50, of Bernalillo and Jacee York, 19, of Rio Rancho. The pair both have extensive records, including past charges for shoplifting.

The remaining two suspects had not exited the store when they were stopped so they have not been arrested, but they will be issued a summons, Radosevich added.


Armed Kingsport shoplifter assaults employees, flees police

An attempt to swipe $72 in Walmart merchandise escalated to felony charges, according to Kingsport police, as the suspect pulled a knife on store employees and was Tasered by a responding officer, then briefly escaped across a parking lot after being handcuffed.
At approximately 6:20 p.m. Wednesday, police were alerted to the incident at 2500 W. Stone Drive. It was reported a shoplifter had been detained by loss prevention officers but was resisting.

While en route, officers were told that the suspect had brandished a knife and fled the store, running toward the adjacent Lowe’s. A Kingsport Police Department incident report states an officer spotted the described suspect crossing Deneen Lane. When the officer exited his patrol car and ordered the man to stop, he allegedly began “running faster.”

The suspect, later identified as Joseph B. Hall, 25, reportedly ignored additional commands during the ensuing foot pursuit, prompting the officer to deploy a Taser. It immediately halted Hall’s flight, with a second officer then attempting to bring him into custody.

Hall allegedly resisted by “violently kicking” and holding his arms beneath his body. At that point police observed a knife in his pocket, with concerns that he would attempt to stab police prompting a second deployment from a Taser.


Gabriel Brothers Protects Prices by Standing Up to Shoplifting with CAP 

SALT LAKE CITY – Sept. 30, 2014 – Loss prevention cloud technology company Turning Point Justice and the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention (NASP) today announced that Gabriel Brothers (Gabe’s), fashion retailer and first choice destination for savvy shoppers, has adopted the CAP for Shoplifting crime accountability program. A collaborative retail theft solution created by TPJ and NASP, CAP is based upon the principle that cooperation between retailers, law enforcement and the justice system saves time and money for everyone while improving offender accountability and reducing recidivism.

“Shoplifting prevention is essential to keeping prices low for customers, and CAP provides an innovative approach to holding more offenders accountable for retail theft,” said Mark Stovich, Gabriel Brothers Inc. Director of Asset Protection. “Gabe’s customers know they can count on us for great prices, and with CAP, we can meet those expectations while helping our communities fight shoplifting and support positive values.”


Identifying Time Card Theft- Loss Prevention Seminars

Cash theft or inventory theft are not the only ways an employee can steal from you. Any unauthorized use or gain of company assets- including payroll is considered a form of employee theft. 
Attending loss prevention seminars that cover a variety of theft situations can help you understand and identify some of the seemingly lesser methods of employee theft. One of the methods covered in the loss prevention seminars is time card theft.
Because it is easier for an employee to justify a slide in their favor of the hours worked than it is to justify stealing cash for that same amount of money, time card theft is an often overlooked but equally as detrimental form of theft. Time card theft usually starts out pretty small- a few minutes here and there. If left unchecked, employees can start to wheedle multiple hours out of you before you begin to notice.
Loss prevention training can help you to not only see when time card theft is happening, but what to do about it, and ultimately how to avoid it from happening again. Stores that consistently over in their budgeted hours every week should take a closer look to see if they are being affected by time card theft. Even a few extra hours each week can add up to big losses throughout the course of a year.
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.

Cash theft or inventory theft are not the only ways an employee can steal from you. Any unauthorized use or gain of company assets- including payroll is considered a form of employee theft.

Attending loss prevention seminars that cover a variety of theft situations can help you understand and identify some of the seemingly lesser methods of employee theft. One of the methods covered in the loss prevention seminars is time card theft.

Because it is easier for an employee to justify a slide in their favor of the hours worked than it is to justify stealing cash for that same amount of money, time card theft is an often overlooked but equally as detrimental form of theft. Time card theft usually starts out pretty small- a few minutes here and there. If left unchecked, employees can start to wheedle multiple hours out of you before you begin to notice.

Loss prevention training can help you to not only see when time card theft is happening, but what to do about it, and ultimately how to avoid it from happening again. Stores that consistently over in their budgeted hours every week should take a closer look to see if they are being affected by time card theft. Even a few extra hours each week can add up to big losses throughout the course of a year.

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.

 

Development Of Assets- Loss Prevention Training

Investment groups are becoming notorious for buying up retailers and small businesses with one clear intention- creating unmatched profits and massive payouts for the top-level executives, as well as for the investment firm.
One of the main changes these investment firms will make is in staffing and payroll reductions. They reduce the employee hours and benefits to about as minimum as what they can get away with. Depending upon which side of the coin you are on, this is either a completely brilliant or completely inane business strategy. The deciding factor falls within what you want the longevity of your business to be.
For the companies being sold to investment firms, many will not be around in five to ten years. They will be sold, or may go under completely after all of the assets have been striped of any redeeming value. The longevity of the company is not important, the short-term profits are.
For companies who are looking for longevity, treating employees as assets to be nurtured and developed is essential. The more training employees have, they more they will feel in control, and valued. They are more willing to go the extra mile for the business, and want to further their own growth and development as an employee.
Employee development can take the form of computer based learning, seminars, workshops, and one on one development.
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.

Investment groups are becoming notorious for buying up retailers and small businesses with one clear intention- creating unmatched profits and massive payouts for the top-level executives, as well as for the investment firm.

One of the main changes these investment firms will make is in staffing and payroll reductions. They reduce the employee hours and benefits to about as minimum as what they can get away with. Depending upon which side of the coin you are on, this is either a completely brilliant or completely inane business strategy. The deciding factor falls within what you want the longevity of your business to be.

For the companies being sold to investment firms, many will not be around in five to ten years. They will be sold, or may go under completely after all of the assets have been striped of any redeeming value. The longevity of the company is not important, the short-term profits are.

For companies who are looking for longevity, treating employees as assets to be nurtured and developed is essential. The more training employees have, they more they will feel in control, and valued. They are more willing to go the extra mile for the business, and want to further their own growth and development as an employee.

Employee development can take the form of computer based learning, seminars, workshops, and one on one development.

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 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.

Employee Theft

theft (2)The figures for employee theft are staggering. According to a report by the ACFE the loss for fraud in a typical organization is 5% of its revenues. That amount corresponds to losses of more than $3.5 trillion worldwide.

Employee theft is an ever growing social and economical issue that is affecting everyone. The retail industry alone losses are in the billions of dollars every year. Employee theft can be done by employees with seniority or low level employees that find an opportunity to commit the crime. More than three quarters of employee theft is done by employees with no previous record, or that have not been charged with a theft related incident before. To read more about employee theft, follow the links below.


Former Barnes & Noble employee accused of stealing $46,000 in merchandise from Mandeville store

A former Barnes & Noble employee was recently arrested for allegedly stealing about $46,000 in merchandise from the store over a three-year period, Mandeville Police reported Tuesday (Sept. 30). Tomas Santamaria, 32, is accused of selling more than 700 stolen items, mostly DVD’s and novels, on eBay and funneling the proceeds into his bank account, police said.

Santamaria, of 19246 Antenor St. in Mandeville, was booked Sept. 23 with money laundering, computer fraud and theft.

An investigation began July 31 of this year after the bookstore on U.S. 190 reported a suspected employee theft, the police department said in a news release. Detectives determined Santamaria stole about $46,000 in merchandise between September 2011 and July of this year, the release said.


Retail employee accused of stealing cash over time

A retail store employee was arrested Tuesday and accused of stealing thousands of dollars from her register over a period of several weeks.

Alexis W. Causey, 22, of 507 Church St., West Monroe, faces one count of theft.

An arrest report said Monroe Police were sent to Target at 4103 Pecanland Mall Drive in reference to employee theft. Once there, an officer spoke with an employee who said Causey took $2,000 from her register from the first part of September through Monday.

After being questioned, Causey reportedly said she took the money. Causey reportedly said she would remove the cash from her register and place it in a trash can. At the end of her shift, she would remove the money before emptying the can.


A&P Employee From Ossining Charged In Theft Of Meat From Store

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. — An Ossining man was charged with grand larceny on Tuesday after he was accused of stealing goods from his employer, according to State Police from the Cortlandt barracks.

Gregory Rodriguez, 46, was accused of stealing $1,200 worth of meat from the Cortlandt A&P  where he worked, by hiding the meat on himself before attempting to leave, police said.

Rodriguez was arraigned before the Town of Cortlandt Court and remanded to the Westchester County Jail without bail. He is scheduled to appear in court again on Friday, Oct. 3, police said.


Should They Stay, Or Should They Go?

shoplifting5When you or your employees apprehend a shoplifter, you will need to make one of two choices as to what to do with them. You can either recover your merchandise and let the shoplifter go about their way, or you can take the shoplifter back to an office or other neutral location within your store. Both have their advantages, and both have potentially negative outcomes if not conducted properly.

The easiest thing to do is to retrieve your merchandise from the shoplifter and let them go. No muss, no fuss, and no lengthy apprehension process to deal with. You will need to document the incident and keep the report in a secured location. You need to document the time and date, the description of the suspect, what merchandise (include item numbers or UPC codes) was taken and recovered. Any video of the incident should be retained, and a photo of the merchandise should be taken also. Notate what happened to the merchandise- is it being kept as evidence, or was it returned to the sales floor after being photographed.

Don’t underestimate that a shoplifter will try and come back and sue your store for false detention and liable. They may assume that because you did not prosecute that you did not have enough evidence, which is why you let them go. Even if they were to loose the case (because you had everything well documented) you can still fight with your store’s reputation if the media gets involved, or simply the time and money it will cost you to fight the charges.

Of course this is assuming that the shoplifter stopped and willingly handed over the stolen merchandise they were carrying. If the shoplifter runs, fights, or is problematic, it might not be easy to recover your merchandise. Similarly, if the merchandise is hidden within a bag, or on the shoplifter’s body somewhere, you cannot go searching for it to get it back- especially if the shoplifter is denying having stolen anything.

If you do bring a shoplifter back to your office, you should do so with purpose. Do you need to recover product in a bag? The shoplifter will still need to hand it over to you; you may not search their personal belongings. If the suspect has hidden merchandise on their person, you may not make them disrobe to retrieve your merchandise. That is something that absolutely should be left for law enforcement to do.

Once back in the office, your witness should be taking notes as to what is being said, and what transpires. The shoplifter’s ID should be obtained and photocopied (as proof of who was stopped). You may question the suspect to find out why they are taking product from you and what were they going to do with it later. This is particularly important if you are experiencing multiple losses of the same products. Keep in mind that they may not talk to you, and they are not required to talk to you. You may not force them or coerce them into confessions or into giving up more information.

Your company should have a set policy on who is prosecuted and who is not (also why not). Commonly, elderly, young children or minors, and mentally disabled are not prosecuted. Generally it is because these categories of people do not have the mental capacity to distinguish right from wrong. Prosecutions and referrals to law enforcement should have standardization to them. This way, employees won’t need to make a personal judgment call on who is prosecuted and who is not.

Finally, keep you back office area, or where ever you will bring shoplifters to, clean. There should not be anything large or heavy (staplers, three hole punches, scissors) that can be turned into a weapon. This area should also be relatively remote. It should not be an area where customers and other employees can walk by. The suspect has a right to their privacy during the apprehension. They should not feel like they are out on display.


Training Your Witness

shoplifting7When apprehending a shoplifter, you need to make sure that all employees are aware of what their roles are and what they are responsible for doing. You should use job positions as a basis for who is responsible for what. For example, you might determine that only managers are allowed to make shoplifting apprehensions. You might qualify any employee who has gone through loss prevention training can make shoplifting apprehensions. Determine your skill level and staffing requirements to determine what makes the most sense for your stores.

The next step is training employees to be a witness during a shoplifting apprehension. Most loss prevention training revolves around identifying and detaining a shoplifter. Having a witness and defining what that witness can and cannot do is often overlooked. Unfortunately, it is very easy for a witness, who is not properly trained, to do more damage during the actual apprehension than they provide a benefit.

Even when an employee is only a witness, they are still acting in an official capacity as a representative of your company. If these employees were to make comments of take actions that are illegal or improper, the company can still be held liable for those actions. As a result, any employee who will potentially be called upon to act as a witness should be thoroughly trained prior to their involvement in any shoplifting detentions.

A witness is anyone who will assist a trained employee that making a shoplifting apprehension. The witness really needs to be another store employee. Using a customer as a witness is not advisable. Customers might take it upon themselves to exert undue force, or to make derogatory comments. A customer, no matter how well meaning their intentions may be, does not understand what their legal limitations are during the situation, and the store will still be held liable for any of their actions.

A witness should have a basic understanding of what a shoplifting apprehension is, and why it is happening. They do not need to be intimately aware of the actual sequence of events. They do need to understand they are there to provide an eyewitness to the detention and any questioning that may follow.

The witness should also provide a balance for the shoplifter. If a female is being apprehended, there needs to be a female employee involved in the apprehension. This can either be the employee who is detaining the suspect, or the witness. Same rules apply if the suspect is a male. To avoid a possible (warranted or not) sexual assault or harassment suit there always needs to be an employee present that is of the same gender as the shoplifting suspect.

Ideally, the same witnesses needs to be present from the time of detention to the time the shoplifter is either released on their own, or into the custody of law enforcement. Since the witness might be required to give a statement to the events, it is easier if only one person is there from start to finish. Having a replacement during the middle might provide unnecessary confusion as to who saw which part of the apprehension, and did some pertinent information get missed during the switch from one witness to the other.

Once the employees have made their initial approach for the detention, and have brought the shoplifter back to the office or room to do the interview, the witness needs to be in charge of documenting the incident. They should start by documenting what time the approach was made, what time the suspect entered the office and what has been said up to this point. Specifically, the suspect’s comments upon the initial approach should be quoted accurately. Did they deny it? Did they admit to stealing? What happened next? Was there a chase or a physical altercation? Did the suspect come back peacefully?

Any statements made or given need to be notated. The final disposition of the suspect and the evidence needs to be made. If law enforcement was called the time the call was placed, and the time they arrived should be documented. Above all else, the witness needs to realize they are there to assist and not to interfere with the investigation and apprehension of the shoplifting suspect.


 

 

Ownership and Understanding- Loss Prevention Training

Employee training methods are constantly changing and evolving. The purpose of employee training however remains the same: to promote employee ownership and understanding. Specifically to loss prevention training, employees who have a deeper understanding are more likely to take ownership of these processes and actively reduce shrinkage in your stores.
Loss prevention training takes many forms. Some of them are self-monitored, such as computer based learning programs, or handbook reviews. Some loss prevention training comes directly from supervisors in the store. These kinds of trainings center around store specific policies and procedures designed to minimize risk and exposure. Others are aimed toward store operations and how to handle day-to-day tasks and assignments.
Lastly, loss prevention seminars can take place. They might be geared towards the entire store, or it might be for all of the management staff for a multi location company. Either way, the end result is still to train your employees so they have a more through understanding of how certain actions affect a store’s shrink and profit lines.
It is also a way for employees to understand what to look for and why thieves act the way they do- which is a deterrent in and of itself for employee theft. The end result is that employees who are knowledgeable are more likely to react to situations they are comfortable with a positive result.
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.

Employee training methods are constantly changing and evolving. The purpose of employee training however remains the same: to promote employee ownership and understanding. Specifically to loss prevention training, employees who have a deeper understanding are more likely to take ownership of these processes and actively reduce shrinkage in your stores.

Loss prevention training takes many forms. Some of them are self-monitored, such as computer based learning programs, or handbook reviews. Some loss prevention training comes directly from supervisors in the store. These kinds of trainings center around store specific policies and procedures designed to minimize risk and exposure. Others are aimed toward store operations and how to handle day-to-day tasks and assignments.

Lastly, loss prevention seminars can take place. They might be geared towards the entire store, or it might be for all of the management staff for a multi location company. Either way, the end result is still to train your employees so they have a more through understanding of how certain actions affect a store’s shrink and profit lines.

It is also a way for employees to understand what to look for and why thieves act the way they do- which is a deterrent in and of itself for employee theft. The end result is that employees who are knowledgeable are more likely to react to situations they are comfortable with a positive result.

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.