Although we wish our LP careers were perfect we all have moments when we just get beat.
Today was one of those days for me.
I was alone in my office and dealing with half a dozen other problems when it happened. While listening to the droning monotone of a liability investigator on the other end of the office phone I kept myself busy by scanning through cameras on the CCTV monitor closest to me. At the fifteen minute mark of my conversation I noticed a man who looked completely out of place in the store’s children’s clothing department. Given his appearance and his unnaturally stuffed shopping bag through which I could see security tags on clothes, my attention shifted from dealing with the accident aftermath to observing the man much more closely.
Less than sixty seconds later I hung up on the liability investigator.
The man had selected three pairs of children’s jeans and a child’s printed sweatshirt and rapidly moved away from the department towards the nearby housewares area. As soon as I paged for a store manager to dial my office extension the man took off down to the first floor in a jog. I radioed mall security with his description and called local law enforcement as I ran out my office and could hear the Checkpoint tags set off the clothing alarm as the man crossed the threshold into the mall and went into a full sprint. Other LP units in the mall had eyes on him even as he started ripping clothing security tags off the stolen merchandise as he ran, but somehow he not only made it to his vehicle, he also managed to elude police and avoid being identified.
Even with obvious clothing security in place, it only took a two minute grab and dash job to undo it all. Though security tags on clothes are effective they can in some cases be defeated. The only way to truly be diligent in our duties as LP professionals is to use all of the tools in our arsenal including CCTV and Checkpoint tags but even then we are sometimes defeated.
Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Checkpoint Tags, a Clothing Alarm, Clothing Security or Clothing Security Tags to put Security Tags on Clothes and an Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.
For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547
