Loss Prevention Workshop

Policies and Procedures: Do You Have Them in Place?

July 18, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

In the United States alone, there are over half a million shoplifting incidents everyday. The losses are in the billions and the deaths associated to shoplifting incidents are numerous. Whether you have a store policy where every shoplifter is prosecuted, or whether your store prosecutes only if the amount stolen is over a hundred dollars, the policies and procedures have to be crystal clear for every employee that works in your store.

A store employee has to be knowledgeable about the store policy concerning a shoplifting incident. Can any employee stop a shoplifter using any means necessary? Can they follow them even outside the store? Can they forcefully attempt to stop them before they leave the premises? Do they even know what to do and how to respond if they are witness to a shoplifting incident?

Training and informing your employees of the policies they must follow when working for you and your store can save lives and lawsuits. Safety should be your primary concern when dealing with shoplifters, and should be voiced to all your employees.

Training can be reinforced as a reminder of the policies the store follows regarding shoplifters during a brief hustle in the morning before customers arrive.The capital you invest in the training of your loss prevention team and other management employees can save you expensive lawsuits later on.

Employees at stores like Walmart have been involved in incidents where a shoplifter has lost his life because the employees did not follow the procedures set by the store. An employee at Home Depot has been terminated because he did not follow the strict policy set forth by the store concerning shoplifters. Who is at fault? The lawsuits because of these incidents can come to the stores from the shoplifter and the employee that was terminated. Could training have prevented these incidents? It couldn’t have hurt.

A customers cannot be afraid to come of your store because of what they might have seen when a shoplifter was detained. They have to believe that you will do the best to protect them from being harassed or from getting hurt in case a shoplifting incident occurs when they are at your store.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, EAS Devices, employee background checks, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, loss prevention, Loss Prevention Seminar, Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, Loss Prevention Workshop, Periodic inventory, prevent shrinkage, racial profiling, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting violence, surveillance

Safety And Shoplifting

July 11, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

As a retail business, shoplifting, employee theft and lawsuits come hand in hand. Preventing shoplifting and employee theft are somewhat under control by you or the management of the store, while lawsuits are-although preventable-not under strict control.

A shoplifting incident can become something of a life or death situation very quickly. Here, the rules and regulations set by the owner or management of the store and that employees must abide by become too important to ignore.

As an owner or manager of a store, safety must be your number one priority. Safety not only for your employees, but for your customers as well. An employee chasing after a shoplifter when they have left the premises is dangerous and should never be encouraged. Lawsuits and deaths lost due to chasing after a shoplifter have been numerous. The resulting death of a shoplifter have landed people in jail and in the courthouse. Safety should be your number one priority at all times.

Family of slain Chicago area Uber driver sues Walmart

CHICAGO — Relatives of a suburban Chicago Uber driver who was fatally attacked while on the job has sued Walmart, where authorities say the driver’s teenage attacker stole weapons just before the killing.

The family of Grant Nelson filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday in Cook County against the retailer and two other companies overseeing its security.

Authorities have charged 16-year-old Eliza Wasni in Nelson’s death, saying she stole a machete and knife from Walmart early on May 30 and then got into Nelson’s car and brutally attacked him.

The lawsuit claims two Walmart employees or contractors stood near the door as Wasni exited. The lawsuit alleges they were negligent because they failed to stop the teen and ask her any questions.

Guard at CVS Pharmacy chases down, kills shoplifter in Dallas, police say

A loss-prevention staffer at a CVS Pharmacy store shot and killed a suspected shoplifter after chasing down his getaway car Sunday afternoon in southeast Dallas, police say.

Police arrested 36-year-old Julio Ruvalcaba Monday on a murder charge.

Officers were dispatched to the shooting about 3 p.m. Sunday and found 31-year-old Christopher Geddes lying on the curb on the eastbound C.F. Hawn Freeway service road and Elam Road, police said.

He was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries.

Surveillance video showed Geddes shoplifting from the CVS on South Buckner Boulevard and running to a Toyota Camry in the parking lot, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Footage from several minutes later shows another person leaving the store and getting into a Chevy Camaro parked outside. CVS employees identified that person as Ruvalcaba, a loss-prevention staffer tasked with reducing shoplifting.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, Background checks, CCTV cameras, EAS Devices, employee background checks, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Workshop, Prevent Shoplifting, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

How To Hire Talented People For Your Business

July 5, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Hiring talented people for your business is going to cost you, and it should. Hiring good employees takes time and money. It is not only the salary you are going to offer when you hire an employee that is going to cost you, but the perks you offer them as well. Hiring a good employee should be a tried process that you or your company have developed. The cost associated with hiring a new employee is not something to take lightly. And for the retail industry, the difference between hiring a good employee or a bad one can have bad financial consequences from the start. Follow the links below for more about this topic.

Want To Hire Great Employees? Fix Your Broken Recruiting Process

It is sad that business leaders still complain about “talent shortages” when anyone who has applied for a job lately knows that the standard corporate or institutional recruiting process is badly broken.

It isn’t talent shortages that keep employers and willing and capable job-seekers apart. It’s the broken-down state of the recruiting process!

Leaders who are serious about hiring great people need to examine their own internal practices and fix whatever is broken.

Here is a simple checklist of common breakdowns to get them started:

Ten Broken Recruiting Practices To Fix

1. Job ads are too often written in an opaque, insulting way that doesn’t even try to sell a job-seeker on the opportunity — but instead lists endless Essential Requirements that few if any working people possess.

Can A Change In Retail Hiring Practices Help Save America’s Department Stores?

In their early days, department stores were the epitome of innovation. Towards the end of the 19th century, Marshall Field was challenging the old-fashioned notion that shopping should be conducted purely out of necessity. By emphasizing customer service (his famous motto: “give the lady what she wants”), offering luxury amenities for his clientele and turning shopping into a full-blown experience, he truly revolutionized the retail industry. At the turn of the century, his protégé Harry Selfridge brought the mentality of “the customer is always right” from Chicago to London, further revolutionizing the industry through ingenious marketing stunts and a customer-first approach at Selfridges & Co.

Just one century later, the advent of the internet has once again revolutionized the retail experience – unfortunately, not to the benefit of most brick-and-mortar retailers. These days, shoppers don’t need to visit their local department store to purchase a new pair of shoes – thanks to the internet, they’re now spoiled with options in all kinds of colors, styles and sizes. Nowadays, we can purchase virtually any style of shoe from anywhere in the world at a competitive price point, and, for the most part, still receive fairly decent customer service.

A key portion of the retail apocalypse has been going on for decades

A significant consequence of the downturn in brick-and-mortar retailing is that thousands of people are losing their jobs.

In May, there were nearly 19,000 fewer people working in department stores compared to January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, amid a record pace of store closures. This is happening because the US has built too many stores since the 1990s, and online shopping is booming.

A look back shows that retail jobs have been declining as a share of overall employment since the late 1980s.

“Employment in grocery stores, department stores, electronics stores, furniture stores, etc. has been declining as a share of total employment since 1989,” wrote Torsten Slok, the chief international economist at Deutsche Bank, in a note on Wednesday.

“Another way of saying this is that we have seen less growth in the retail sector relative to other sectors in the economy. Put differently, it is nothing new that the retail sector is underperforming, and looking at the absolute level of employment in retail it is currently close to the highest level in twenty years.”

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-thefts devices, best hiring practices, EAS Devices, employee background checks, Georgia shoplifting systems, hiring talent, internal Audit, Loss Prevention Training, Loss Prevention Workshop, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail hiring, retail security, retail security and monitoring, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting violence, surveillance

“I Can Out Sell My Theft & Inventory Shortage”….. Yeah Right

June 30, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

If you believe that you can outsell your cash or inventory losses due to theft, you probably won’t be in business for long. Or if you do survive, you are no way living up to the margins you deserve. In my 35+ years of loss prevention particularly helping medium to small retailers, I have heard this more times than I can believe.

Consider this, as an example, if you have a net 2% profit over all. In other words after taxes, rent, payroll, merchandise cost, insurance…. you clear 2 cents on the dollar. Then a $100 dollar loss will cost you $5000 (100÷.02). Yes, FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS. You will have to purchase, ship, receive, stock and sell another $5K just to BREAK EVEN on a $100 loss. I doubt even a drug dealer would make money that way.

Don’t delude yourself.

Now on the flip side. I do not advocate that you turn your store into a six sided steel box to protect yourself from shoplifting, employee theft, vendor fraud and paperwork errors. Exactly the opposite. I want you to have an open, friendly and inviting environment for your legitimate customers and employees. What you can’t be is naive to your shrinkage and loss problems.

First, realize that you must do inventories at a minimum quarterly, more often if things are seriously out of whack. Cycle counts for individual SKU’s that seem to be loss problems are also important. Do not wait until the end of a quarter or heaven forbid end of year to find out you have a problem. You have to go on offense not defense. Theft and shrink are business problems. Nothing more, nothing less. We can easily show you how to do this. You do not have a retail LP issue that has not been seen and dealt with before.

In regard to employee theft what are your hiring practices. As an LP professional that has personally conducted over 2300 investigations and interrogations of employees involved in theft, I started looking up the drain pipe to see where it is all coming from. It starts with the application and employment interviewing.

For shoplifting; Do you and your staff know really know how shoplifters act. Probably not. Shoplifters are easy to spot. You just need to know what to look for. Stopping them is incredibly easy. Again, you just need to apply the correct tools and training.

But all of this is for nothing, if your retail attitude is not straight.

Another problem is business apathy. The “oh I am so busy I do not have time”. You don’t have time to keep your profits on your bottom line and not the thief’s? Then why are you doing all this? Making a living for you, your family and employees is all what it is about.

I have had people steal from me. It doesn’t feel good and it makes me angry. I work really hard and try to work smart to provide my family’s income and the income for my employees. But the thought of simply covering it up in my own mind is unthinkable. It should be for you also.

Go on the attack. Fix your loss problems before they happen. Remember, we can help you with that. We are simply an email or phone call away.

Have a super retail day!

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-thefts devices, CCTV cameras, EAS Devices, employee background checks, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Loss Prevention Training, Loss Prevention Workshop, mobile POS loss prevention, Periodic inventory, Retail Anti Theft Devices, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

Smaller Retailers Retaining Talented Employees In An Improving Economy

June 30, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

I remember the days when I needed to fill a position on my Loss Prevention Team and we could post an advertisement and I could easily get a dozen applications or more. Some of these applicants were talented and had extensive Loss Prevention experience and some had very little work experience at all but were looking for a job. The same thing happened when our Human Resources Manager would post job ads for cashiers, flow team or just about any position in the store, people needed work and took the time to sit at our application kiosks and apply on the spot. I’m not implying it was easy to conduct all of the interviews and sometimes the pool of prospective employees did not seem very appealing but they wanted the work and we could be somewhat choosey. The upside to this was that from a disciplinary and retention perspective, if an employee was not doing the job expected of them or they had attendance issues it was easy to go through the corrective action process and correct them right out the door. We knew we had people chomping at the bit for those positions.

Another benefit for the store in a struggling economy was that good employees were fairly easy to retain. There wasn’t a lot of competition looking to hire new area or department managers. Talented employees also knew that they were probably going to get the maximum available hours and were sure of their position within the store. Going to another business had risk associated with it since there was no guarantee they would be getting the same hours or enjoy the management. While the employee may not have cared for all of the managers in our store, the managers’ styles were a known quality to the employee.

Today the economy is improving and it is getting harder to hire and retain talented staff. Many national retail chains are now starting their employees out at $9 and $10 an hour. It is difficult to compete with these kinds of wages for entry level positions and for a small retailer, the choice could be hire at the rate but the cost of doing so is a reduction in the total number of employees you can keep on your team. If you are successful at bringing on an employee at minimum wage, how do you retain the talented employee who may be drawn to greener pastures on the other side of the fence? What can the small, independent store owner do? Let us offer some tips that can help you keep the great employees you can’t afford to lose:

Show your appreciation. It may seem silly but people want to know they are pleasing their manager/boss. Your store may be too small to have an employee of the month, it doesn’t work well when you only have a small number of people working for you. That recognition loses its value fairly quickly. Buying a drink for someone from a soft drink machine or bringing in pizza or snacks is always well received. It shows you’re thinking of them.
Get to know your employees and even learn something about their family. If something happens with their family member that they are proud of, like a child graduating from high school, give them an opportunity to tell you about it. If they have a sick family member or even a pet express your sympathy, maybe even suggest they take a day or two off to care for that person or pet.
Consider buying a small gift card of $10 or $20 every once in a while to a fast food place or a movie theater. Don’t necessarily make it in conjunction with any specific activity the employee did for you or any special sale they made. Do it at randomly and maybe place it in a “thank you” card with a note letting them know you appreciate their hard work.
Speaking of “Thank You” cards, there aren’t a whole lot of things that mean more than a hand written note mailed to someone’s home expressing gratitude for the service they provide to a company.

If a monetary bonus is in the budget following a successful inventory or prior to a holiday, like a Christmas bonus, it can go a long way to employee retention. A small bonus for someone making minimum wage can make a big difference for them.

It is hard for a small retailer to compete against the big companies, especially in retaining talent. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Demonstrate loyalty and appreciation for the people who make your company successful and they will return the favor.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, Background checks, CCTV cameras, EAS Devices, employee background checks, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, internal Audit, loss prevention, Loss Prevention Seminar, Loss Prevention Training, Loss Prevention Workshop, POS ROI, retail security and monitoring, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

Alpha High Theft Solutions Blending With The Checkpoint Label

June 2, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

As many of you know Alpha High Theft Solutions was acquired by Checkpoint Systems many years ago. Checkpoint has encouraged Alpha’s brand growth and innovation. Alpha has produced the best high theft solutions, hands down in the industry. Innovations like Spider Wrap, Keepers, Bottle Locks, Cable Locks, Shark Tags, specialized hard tags literally protect billions of retail products worldwide.

As the largest nationwide Checkpoint Dealer we have watched and even helped with the research and development of some of these products.

It comes as no surprise to Loss Prevention Systems and many of you, that the Alpha High Theft Solutions name is being blended into Checkpoint High Theft Solutions. From the inside, the accounting and management functions have been the same for some time. But this has been accomplished slowly and carefully over time. The Alpha DNA is still there, stronger than ever.

When we at Loss Prevention Systems met recently with Checkpoint High Theft Solutions, we clearly saw the Alpha DNA. In fact to us it seems that it is even stronger than ever. We were shown new products, some we cannot discuss yet, as they are still in development with R&D and will be real game changers. The scientists and product specialists at Checkpoint overwhelmed us with the new items they are working on.

These are concepts that are becoming reality other companies have never even thought of. The application of science is, well, amazing. As soon as they give us the green light we will begin rolling them out to you. Maybe even a few lucky LPSI Retailers will get to test and evaluate some of these new game changers.

Checkpoint has evolved into inventory control solutions not just shoplifting electronic article surveillance solutions. When we couple that with Loss Prevention Systems actual loss prevention experience in both the shoplifting and employee theft arenas, you have a powerful partner to help you achieve the profitability you want and deserve. Our real world live training is included on every system we sell, as often as you need it, for the life of your Checkpoint System, FREE of charge.

Loss Prevention Systems includes even more. We are there to help protect you from the bad guys. Shoplifters, employee theft, robbery, burglary, pre-employment investigations, pre-employment interviewing, vendor fraud are threats to your very livelihood. We have personally dealt with all of these for large and small companies alike. A single store owner can have the same loss prevention programs that the big box stores have with Loss Prevention Systems and Checkpoint Systems High Theft solutions.

But rest assured the Alpha brand is alive and well and living in Checkpoint High Theft Solutions. It courses through everything we do and stand ready to help you with. There are exciting times ahead for retail loss prevention and security so stay tuned for more information.

And remember that if you hate shoplifters and theft as much as we at Loss Prevention Systems, please share this with your retail friends.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Alpha’s brand, Alpha’s DNA, Alpha’s growth, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, Background checks, EAS Devices, employee background checks, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, loss prevention, Loss Prevention Workshop, pre-employment investigations, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance, vendor fraud

Tips To Counter Website Advice For Potential Shoplifters

June 2, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

There seems to be an advice website or YouTube video for nearly everything these days. Want to know who to call for home repairs? Need information about a car before you buy it? Looking for someone to date? Yes, it’s all on the internet, I’ve even completed some plumbing repairs and small vehicle repairs with the aid of online videos. Unfortunately, while there is a lot of help and good information on the world wide web, there are also sites that purport to be “informational” only but the information they provide supposedly tells people how to shoplift. What I find even more irritating is that some of these theft websites allegedly are written by former Loss Prevention personnel. The information they give is sometimes too accurate and could cause problems for a retailer who isn’t informed themselves on how to prevent thieves from stealing from them.

Here is some ‘information’ that is published on the web and our advice can help you fight back against these shoplifter websites.

Website: Carry money with you, no money makes it hard to say it was spontaneous.
Loss Prevention Systems Inc. (LPSI) Advice: It makes no difference if the shoplifter has or does not have money. Treat all shoplifters the same and be consistent in prosecuting within whatever your policies say.
Website: Carry a bag but don’t place anything in it. It may get you off the hook if they can’t find anything in it.
LPSI Advice: Store Loss Prevention or Managers should never be stopping a suspect if they don’t know where the concealment took place and what was concealed. If you don’t know and didn’t see it, smother them with extensive customer service.
Website: Security does not go looking for poorly dressed people. They may pick on you out of boredom but they anticipate professional shoplifters will dress up a bit. Wear whatever you want.
LPSI Advice: Loss Prevention professionals who do the job right look for signals that may indicate someone is going to shoplift and the types of clothes worn. Are the clothes unseasonable? Is the person wearing a bulky coat when it’s warm outside? Is the person in a known high theft area? Does the person avoid customer service from employees?
Website: If you get caught don’t act tough or be a smart “arse” (sic), cry, bawl, beg them not to call the cops, that your kids will be taken by CSV (child services).
LPSI Advice: Always be consistent. Don’t play favorites and don’t do “favors”. Not applying the rules equally to everyone can actually get you into legal hot water. If there are children with the shoplifter there is nothing wrong with allowing them to call a family member or close, trusted friend to pick up the children. Often shoplifters who have no record of shoplifting have been caught before they were just released and not prosecuted. See how that works?
Website: Look for younger, or less ‘affluent’ associates who may turn a blind eye if they see you shoplifting.
LPSI Advice: Train ALL of your associates on the importance of customer service and the necessity to report all suspicious activity. Perhaps initiate a reward program for employees who can demonstrate they have prevented a theft. This may be done if they can show clothes with torn off tags or an anti-theft device that was being tampered with and the associate walked up and disrupted the thief. Maybe it’s a fitting room attendant who finds merchandise hidden that a shoplifter was going to try to take into the fitting room. Age of an employee should never be a factor.
Website: Most employees at places with EAS (electronic article surveillance) door alarms (towers) view them as an annoyance instead of as an asset. If someone does respond to an alarm they are usually only allowed to ask you if you “forgot to pay for something”. They cannot threaten to call the police. There was no evidence.
LPSI Advice: Ensure all associates are trained on appropriate EAS alarm response. Waving goodbye or saying, “It’s okay” is not appropriate. Employees should be asking politely for receipts and then looking for dates, time stamps, and verifying the items on the receipt are the items being carried out. If a discrepancy is found a manager should be called over. If nothing is found in bags or in the shopping cart, there are additional steps to take in order to determine the cause of an alarm.

Loss Prevention Systems provides training for managers and staff on preventing shoplifting. You can contact LPSI for information on how to approach an EAS/Checkpoint system alarm. These are simply a few tips on how to overcome the tips from these “informational” websites. Don’t be a victim to shoplifters. You can prevent theft, reduce your shortage and increase profits. Proper training for you and your managers can pay big dividends regardless of what criminals may read on the world wide web.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, EAS Devices, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, Loss Prevention Workshop, Periodic inventory, Prevent Shoplifting, racial profiling, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, security devices, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, surveillance

Too Small A Store For A Loss Prevention Department? Loss Prevention Systems Inc. Is The Solution To Your Dilemma

June 2, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Shortage control and theft prevention for small retailers which have no Loss Prevention Associates in the store was the topic of a recent article in an online loss prevention magazine. The points were well made and much of it was directed at stores that may have district or regional Loss Prevention Managers. But the truth is there are many small, independent retailers with no affiliation to a larger company. How do these stores cope with reducing shrink and preventing theft? It could be a tough problem but Loss Prevention Systems Inc. (LPSI)has the solutions that can keep small stores keep shortage down and profits up.

So what are the solutions for those smaller retailers and how can LPSI help?

LPSI offers business owners advice through the blog posts on its website. The blogs are written by professionals who have years of experience in retail management and retail Loss Prevention. They give helpful insights from their personal experiences and knowledge of how shortage occurs. These insights can often be applied to any retail environment from a local “Mom and Pop” shop to a big box retail store.
LPSI posts videos on YouTube. Bill Bregar, owner and President of LPSI regularly posts videos to the web site, sharing stories from his extensive Loss Prevention experiences and tying them in with tips and strategies business owners and managers can employ in their own buildings. The videos are short yet informative and interesting as Bill includes anecdotes from his time in the field.
LPSI’s Facebook account provides additional videos and information on merchandise protection tools like Checkpoint and Alpha security tags and electronic article surveillance towers.
Small business owners may not have all of the information they need on how to prevent theft from employees or from shoplifters. While they are knowledgeable on the aspects of ordering products, replenishing the stores, running point of sale terminals they may not be equipped or even aware of all the various methods that can impact shortage. LPSI offers training seminars for business owners and managers that will give them the knowledge and information they need to prevent shoplifting, dishonest employee activity, and fraud. A store may not be able to afford its own Loss Prevention department but this does not prevent them from proactively deterring or stopping thieves. LPSI has provided training both nationally and internationally to give business owners the tools that will allow them to defeat thieves even without a Loss Prevention Department.
Were you aware that hiring the wrong people to work for you can lead to internal theft and fraud, poor employee morale or worse, they could be a legal liability? LPSI offers professional background check services. They can look at an applicant’s criminal history, driving record, verify academic records, check on prior addresses, and verify employment history. Will the employee be working around children or other employees? The background check services offered by LPSI can check on sex offender registries to make sure your other employees and customers are safe and secure. Our company can make sure your hiring practices are optimizing your investment in staffing your store(s).
Consider that retail anti-theft devices and EAS pedestals can significantly deter shoplifting crime and even internal theft. You might be thinking about investing in it but you’re not sure how much you should invest or what the impact of your investment will be? LPSI offers a Free ROI Calculator on its website. There is no obligation to use it but simply entering the amount of money you are thinking about investing in Checkpoint equipment and how much your annual sales are, you can get a quick estimate of what your savings from shortage reduction would be.

Shortage reduction and theft prevention does not necessarily require a Loss Prevention Department.

By using all of the resources available through Loss Prevention Systems Inc. you can effectively reduce merchandise shortage. We can also assist you in making the right investments in merchandise protection that will best suit your store size and the type of merchandise you carry. Spend some time reviewing the LPSI website and social media posts and see if WE can be meet your Loss Prevention needs.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, Background checks, CCTV cameras, EAS Devices, employee background checks, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, Loss Prevention Seminar, Loss Prevention Training, Loss Prevention Workshop, racial profiling, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

Who Is Your Typical Shoplifter?

May 23, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

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

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

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

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

Click on the links below to read more about shoplifting.

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

Get your paws off the merchandise!

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

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

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

DES PERES, Mo. (KMOV.com) –

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

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

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

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

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

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

LOCAL DOCTOR ARRESTED FOR SHOPLIFTING

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

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

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

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

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

Loss Prevention Training Seminars

May 17, 2017 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Preventing shoplifting is by far one of the major problem for big retailers. For the small retail store, shoplifting takes on a different meaning. For those stores, shoplifting threatens their livelihood and the prosperity of their community.

Shoplifting Prevention seminars are not only beneficial for the management personnel of big retail stores, but play an important aspect for the small mom and pop stores across the country. Knowledgable employees, management, and owners can greatly reduce the shoplifting incidents by being proactive and taking preventable measures to combat shoplifting in their stores.

Some of these preventive measures are:

1. CCTV cameras that are clearly monitored by trained personnel is an asset for every store. Positioning cameras with clear view of the aisles can deter the would be shoplifter from attempting to steal merchandise. Spacious and well lit aisles can help prevent the theft, or at least make the theft more difficult to achieve.

2. Parking lots, and spaces around your store should be well lit. Thieves like to inspect the place they are robbing. Providing a well lit store can deter the shoplifter from even entering the place.

3. Do not engage in any physical confrontation with them. The shoplifting issue can escalate and become one of life and death situation. Remember that safety should be your first concern when dealing with shoplifting suspects.

4. Customer service has been known to deter shoplifting incidents in a store. If your customer service is subpar, invest in the training of your personnel.

5. Facial recognition software can help you identify known shoplifters that are in a store’s database.

Preventing shoplifting incidents in your store is a difficult job that trained personnel should be specifically trained to deal with, and should be dealt with care. There are many shoplifting incidents where there are lives lost because non-trained personnel felt they could take care of it themselves. Lives lost, jail time,and lawsuits are some of the tricky issues stores around the country are dealing with year after year.

Training your loss prevention personnel is an investment the store, and you as an owner would benefit from having.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha Security, anti-thefts devices, Background checks, CCTV cameras, CCTV equipment, Customer service and shoplifting, Employee Theft, Facial recognition software, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, Loss Prevention Seminar, Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, Loss Prevention Workshop, mobile POS loss prevention, prevent shrinkage, racial profiling, retail security and monitoring