Conducting A Security Self Audit

December 1, 2014 by Leave a Comment

shoplifting4Part of your internal auditing process should be a section devoted specifically to your store’s safety and security measures. Some points should be audited on a daily basis, while others can be less frequently, such as once a month. When you monitor your store’s security measures consistently, you are able to respond more quickly to any malfunctions or procedural breakdowns.

One of the easiest security features to audit on a daily basis is your EAS and security tags. These are the anti theft devices put onto your merchandise that provide a visual deterrent to potential shoplifters. Ensuring 100% compliance is not only a stronger deterrent, but also reinforces the concept of operational accuracy and a check and balance system internally. Employees who are held accountable to stringent operational standards are less likely to look for opportunities to steal from their employer.

A daily audit of EAS tags consists of a department rotation and a spot check of those items. There is no need to check every single item, unless there is a pattern of under performance in those areas. The best way to do the daily audit is to only audit 20 or so items on a given day. From there, it is easy to determine the percentage of accuracy. If out of 20 items only ten have the appropriate tagging, you have 50% compliance. You can do more or less based upon your actual needs, but a similar process will be the most time efficient, with the most accurate results.

Along the same lines is auditing the EAS alarms at your doors. These alarm activations should be reviewed by CCTV whenever possible. You need to understand why you are having alarm activations, and how your employees are responding to them. You can bet that the shoplifters coming into your store are watching for this, so don’t give them the advantage by being oblivious to what is going on in your stores.

If an EAS alarm is activated, your employees should respond to the person going out the door and offer their assistance to deactivate any tags that were missed during checkout. You should look to see if you have a specific employee who is not deactivating tags properly, causing unnecessary alarms. You should also review to see if you have the same person setting off alarms, they might be a shoplifter to watch out for. These audits can be done weekly rather than daily and still prove effective.

One area in particular to audit at 100% is alarm activations before and after your store closes. While most of the alarms are likely to be dismissed by stock/ freight movement to replenish selling shelves, you want to watch out for that one that is not. The alarm activation you are looking for is caused by an employee stealing. It is not unheard of for an employee who is stealing from their store to try and take the merchandise out after hours. Fewer people are around to notice, and the employee can take more merchandise out at a time, without arousing suspicion. If no one goes back to review these after hours alarms, the employee can go undetected for months or sometimes even years.

Any reputable alarm company, such as Checkpoint, will give you a daily and weekly listing of alarm activations. The report should include the time and the date, allowing you to cross reference with your CCTV recordings. By looking at the times, you can quickly determine which alarms are after hours. After hours alarms should be conducted as soon as the report is received. If an employee actually is stealing, it needs to be swiftly investigated and dealt with to prevent further financial losses.

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What Makes You Vulnerable? – Shoplifting

November 20, 2014 by
Shoplifting happens to the best of us. No matter how many protections we place in and around our store, shoplifting is going to happen and there is nothing we can do about it… At least that’s how some business owners seem to think.
The reality is that most shoplifting can be prevented. Some of them might be easy fixes, and some of them might require a more complex system to keep the shrink losses at bay. 
The difference between the two thought processes is in the amount of loss prevention training you have. The more training and education you have, the better your chances of reducing your overall shrink losses.
The key is in knowing what your specific store vulnerabilities are and how they happen. Maybe you have inattentive employees on the weekends. Perhaps your high theft merchandise would benefit from being placed at the front of the store where employees can watch it better. Can you use EAS and other retail anti theft devices to keep your desirable products on the sales floor for customers, but deterring theft at the same time?
Loss prevention training isn’t just about how to apprehend a shoplifter. It is about identifying your store’s vulnerable areas and finding plausible, financially sound, and effective solutions for them. 
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 happens to the best of us. No matter how many protections we place in and around our store, shoplifting is going to happen and there is nothing we can do about it… At least that’s how some business owners seem to think.

The reality is that most shoplifting can be prevented. Some of them might be easy fixes, and some of them might require a more complex system to keep the shrink losses at bay.

The difference between the two thought processes is in the amount of loss prevention training you have. The more training and education you have, the better your chances of reducing your overall shrink losses.

The key is in knowing what your specific store vulnerabilities are and how they happen. Maybe you have inattentive employees on the weekends. Perhaps your high theft merchandise would benefit from being placed at the front of the store where employees can watch it better. Can you use EAS and other retail anti theft devices to keep your desirable products on the sales floor for customers, but deterring theft at the same time?

Loss prevention training isn’t just about how to apprehend a shoplifter. It is about identifying your store’s vulnerable areas and finding plausible, financially sound, and effective solutions for them.

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.

 

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What Is Your Return Policy This Holiday Season?

November 7, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (13)Many stores around the country accept returns without a receipt. Some have date restrictions, or a credit transaction look up if you do not have the receipt, but others let you exchange or return merchandise with only an id. Wal-marts’ policy time restriction is 90 days with some exceptions with electronics, otherwise you can get a cash refund for purchases under $25 dollars or store credit for purchases of over $25. Target, office Depot, Lowes, Kohl’s and other stores do not require a receipt, although they can look up the transaction with your membership or credit card transaction. Making your policy clear on purchases this holiday season can save your business money and avoid the confusion with your employees about the return policy of the store. For more information about shoplifting, follow the links below.

Shoplifting suspect arrested after running out of gas during chase

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Snellville police nabbed a suspected serial shoplifter earlier this week after a harrowing chase through five jurisdictions that ended when the suspect ran out of gas.

Carl Ashley Thompson, 30, of Ball Ground, was taken into custody Tuesday. He faces a slew of traffic violation charges, along with three counts of felony theft by shoplifting, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, criminal trespass and for possessing drug-related objects.

No one was injured during the chase, which began when an officer tried to stop Thompson around 3:40 a.m. for speeding – going 51 mph in a 35 mph zone. The officer also noticed that the car had no license plate.

Shoplifting leads to drug discovery

COOKEVILLE — A reported shoplifting led to more trouble for one Cookeville woman.

According to a police report filed by Cookeville Police Officer Kenneth Frye, it began with a reported shoplifting around 3 p.m. Friday at Kohl’s department store on Jackson. A female was reported to have left the location without paying for some items.

Dispatch gave him a description of the vehicle and the tag, which he located traveling south on South Willow Avenue. He stopped the vehicle in the area of 851 S. Willow Ave. and came into contact with the driver, identified as Fawn Price of Top Road, Cookeville.

“During a consent search of her person, I located a black “straw” with white residue,” Frye’s report states. “Price told me that she used it to ‘snort’ Hydrocodone.”

Addicts target Wal-Mart in shoplifting scheme

INDIANAPOLIS – Feeding a heroin addiction often means addicts resort to stealing – from friends, family and businesses.

For former heroin addict Ashley Milburn, it meant a shoplifting scheme involving a group of women earning hundreds of dollars a day illicitly by scamming Wal-Mart.

Milburn, now serving time behind bars, spoke to Call 6 Investigator Rafael Sanchez about how she used to steal from the big box retailer – and how she’s sure her fellow heroin users are still going about it.

The key to the scam: Wal-Mart’s no-receipt policy for returns.

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What You Should Be Auditing

November 5, 2014 by Leave a Comment

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.

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Like An Old Friend- Loss Prevention Workshop

November 3, 2014 by
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.

 

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Identifying Time Card Theft- Loss Prevention Seminars

October 21, 2014 by
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.

 

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Development Of Assets- Loss Prevention Training

October 8, 2014 by
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.

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Ownership and Understanding- Loss Prevention Training

October 1, 2014 by
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.

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Give Away The Answers- Employee Theft

September 25, 2014 by
I was having a conversation with a peer of mine that runs his own business. He was telling me that he was not convinced that he should do employee theft training with his employees. He felt that if he did formalized loss prevention training on employee theft, he would be giving away the answers and ways for his employees to turn around and steal from him.
I had to stop and think about it for a minute. Yes. It is possible that an employee might get ideas on how to defraud his employer after going through that sort of loss prevention workshop. What my peer didn’t think about is that the employee was probably already toying with the idea of theft, or had already tested the waters in their own way.
The flip side is that when you take your team of employees to a loss prevention workshop, you are actually showing them why they should not steal. These seminars are designed to create more eyes that will be aware of what is going on at the store level.
If an employee is thinking about stealing, they know that there are more people aware of methods and red flags- making it more likely to be caught. By sending your employees to training also sends a message that you are raising awareness of all facets of your business and that employee theft will not be tolerated.
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.

I was having a conversation with a peer of mine that runs his own business. He was telling me that he was not convinced that he should do employee theft training with his employees. He felt that if he did formalized loss prevention training on employee theft, he would be giving away the answers and ways for his employees to turn around and steal from him.

I had to stop and think about it for a minute. Yes. It is possible that an employee might get ideas on how to defraud his employer after going through that sort of loss prevention workshop. What my peer didn’t think about is that the employee was probably already toying with the idea of theft, or had already tested the waters in their own way.

The flip side is that when you take your team of employees to a loss prevention workshop, you are actually showing them why they should not steal. These seminars are designed to create more eyes that will be aware of what is going on at the store level.

If an employee is thinking about stealing, they know that there are more people aware of methods and red flags- making it more likely to be caught. By sending your employees to training also sends a message that you are raising awareness of all facets of your business and that employee theft will not be tolerated.

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.

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Loss Prevention and Solutions

September 23, 2014 by Leave a Comment

shoplifting1The Holiday season does not start for some weeks yet, but if you are in the retail industry preparations for the busiest time of year begins months in advance. The retail industry loses billions a year due to shoplifting and employee theft making prevention all the more significant and solutions to decrease shrinkage pivotal in the profits and loss of a store. Read more about loss prevention by following the links below

Taking the Bite Out of Organized Retail Crime   

“Store robbers…always work in gangs of two, three, or four in number, in order that their operations may be quickly conducted… The first thing to be done upon locating in a large town or city is to select the place upon which they design to work… When they finally decide upon a store to be robbed, they are fully posted with regard to everything that pertains to the business…”

A hundred and fifteen years ago, Allan Pinkerton, America’s “first detective” and founder of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, penned those words in his book “Thirty Years a Detective: A Thorough and Comprehensive Exposé of Criminal Practice of All Grades and Classes”. In 2014, the tenth year that the National Retail Federation (NRF) conducted its Organized Retail Crime Survey, ORC has remained a staple of criminal enterprise in the United States, accounting for known losses in the neighborhood of $30 billion annually.

The Tactics of ORC

Organized Retail Crime (ORC) has been the bane of retailers for years and was first addressed by merchants in the late 1980s. Since then, ORC has grown into a yearly multi-billion dollar business that not only injures the retailer, but also the consumer, who has to pay higher prices. There is another loss — the one to communities in the form of lost tax revenue, which has a direct effect on state and local governments and school budgets causing a direct impact on the quality of life.

Since the early days, when ORC was first recognized, retailers have taken great steps to combat the crime. The most important step was the education of lawmakers who have passed laws across the nation combating Organized Retail Crime. Many of today’s retail trade organizations such as the National Retail Federation (NRF), the Food Marking Institute (FMI), Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), along with many other organizations have taken up the fight.

BearCom Informs Retailers on How to Use Two-Way Radios for Loss Prevention

BearCom, a nationwide provider of wireless communications equipment and solutions, offered suggestions on how two-way radios can help reduce loss during the busy holiday shopping season and all year round.

Loss, also called shrink, consists of shoplifting, employee or supply fraud, organized retail crime and administrative errors. According to Marianne Wilson at Chain Storage Age, “Growing shrink concerns have put loss prevention high on the agenda of retailers.”

“More than $100 billion worth of merchandise is stolen from retailers every year. That’s about 1.5 percent of retail sales, just in the United States,” said Hugh Johnston, Product & Purchasing Manager at BearCom. “The most effective way to prevent loss is to have a vigilant and visible staff in constant communication.”

Johnston gives some suggestions for basic shrink prevention that are especially important during the hectic holiday retail season:

Inconspicuous communications – When an employee needs to contact a manager or security personnel, they should do it in a way that doesn’t bring attention to the situation. Two-way radios with earpiece accessories enable quiet and discreet communication.

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