Checkpoint Labels-4 WC Blog 412
Retail Theft Prevention – 3
Double Trouble For Employees Trying To Bypass Retail Theft Prevention Devices Part 1
Dishonest employees are not always the smartest bunch of people. They get caught stealing from their employer, go to jail, get a criminal record and then return to the same criminal lifestyle. As much as I dislike shoplifters, I really despise employees who steal from their employer. I had my share of dishonest employees that I caught during my tenure as a Loss Prevention Manager and I don’t mind sharing that I had a lot of satisfaction in catching them stealing then prosecuting them. The only thing that would have been better would have been to catch them a second time but that isn’t likely. The next best thing is if you can almost catch them again. I had not just one but two incidents that were similar to that scenario and quite satisfying. In the first situation the employee had been a cashier, he and several other employees were passing and under ringing merchandise to each other. Since they were passing merchandise through the point of sale (not scanning them over the bar code reader) they were still able to detune any Checkpoint labels that were on merchandise used for retail theft prevention.
Checkpoint labels are electronic article surveillance soft tags that can be applied to many different surfaces. They can be placed on plastic or cardboard hang tags. Labels may also be placed on cardboard boxes and plastic shrink wraps often found on CD’s, video games and DVD’s. Labels have also grown to include specialized versions for cosmetics, shoes and meats. How do they work? The tags send out a radio frequency wave and if the wave is picked up by Checkpoint electronic article surveillance pedestal an alarm is activated. A pedestal alarm is very loud and is combined with flashing LED lights. These alerts let employees know that someone is attempting to steal and they respond to the alert and determine what the criminal is trying to sneak out the doors. Another advantage of using Checkpoint labels is that they can be concealed in merchandise such as purses, wallets, jacket pockets and under meat soaker pads if a retailer is concerned that a thief would try to remove the tags or what they are attached to. Knowing merchandise is protected but being unable to see the labels, makes the labels an ideal retail theft prevention tool. Shoplifters don’t want to have to hunt to find a tag or label, they want to grab merchandise and get out of the store without concern for an alarm sounding.
So my dishonest employee and friends were committing all of this theft and fraud and nullifying the retail theft prevention devices in the process. I eventually gathered enough evidence on all of them to conduct separate dishonest employee interviews and put them in jail. A few months later my wife and I were walking through a local mall and when we entered one of the clothing stores. I looked at the register stand and what to my wondering eyes did appear? My little thief friend looking like a deer staring at the headlights of an oncoming car. I couldn’t believe he was working retail again so I assumed they had not done a background check on him. I could only assume he was up to his old tricks again if he was in a retail shop. I looked at him and shook my head without saying a word. He left the counter, did not reappear and I never saw him in there again. No, I didn’t catch him again but I got close enough to scare him from ripping off that store.
In part two, I will talk about another employee theft case that almost turned into a double whammy. Employee theft cases can be more costly because employees have access to the tools that can remove or deactivate Checkpoint labels. By being careful in your hiring practices you can avoid the problems that they create, like lost profits. By being observant of employees you can prevent these thefts before they become too big.
Checkpoint labels are important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
Dishonest employees are not always the smartest bunch of people. They get caught stealing from their employer, go to jail, get a criminal record and then return to the same criminal lifestyle. As much as I dislike shoplifters, I really despise employees who steal from their employer. I had my share of dishonest employees that I caught during my tenure as a Loss Prevention Manager and I don’t mind sharing that I had a lot of satisfaction in catching them stealing then prosecuting them. The only thing that would have been better would have been to catch them a second time but that isn’t likely. The next best thing is if you can almost catch them again. I had not just one but two incidents that were similar to that scenario and quite satisfying. In the first situation the employee had been a cashier, he and several other employees were passing and under ringing merchandise to each other. Since they were passing merchandise through the point of sale (not scanning them over the bar code reader) they were still able to detune any Checkpoint labels that were on merchandise used for retail theft prevention.
Checkpoint labels are electronic article surveillance soft tags that can be applied to many different surfaces. They can be placed on plastic or cardboard hang tags. Labels may also be placed on cardboard boxes and plastic shrink wraps often found on CD’s, video games and DVD’s. Labels have also grown to include specialized versions for cosmetics, shoes and meats. How do they work? The tags send out a radio frequency wave and if the wave is picked up by Checkpoint electronic article surveillance pedestal an alarm is activated. A pedestal alarm is very loud and is combined with flashing LED lights. These alerts let employees know that someone is attempting to steal and they respond to the alert and determine what the criminal is trying to sneak out the doors. Another advantage of using Checkpoint labels is that they can be concealed in merchandise such as purses, wallets, jacket pockets and under meat soaker pads if a retailer is concerned that a thief would try to remove the tags or what they are attached to. Knowing merchandise is protected but being unable to see the labels, makes the labels an ideal retail theft prevention tool. Shoplifters don’t want to have to hunt to find a tag or label, they want to grab merchandise and get out of the store without concern for an alarm sounding.
So my dishonest employee and friends were committing all of this theft and fraud and nullifying the retail theft prevention devices in the process. I eventually gathered enough evidence on all of them to conduct separate dishonest employee interviews and put them in jail. A few months later my wife and I were walking through a local mall and when we entered one of the clothing stores. I looked at the register stand and what to my wondering eyes did appear? My little thief friend looking like a deer staring at the headlights of an oncoming car. I couldn’t believe he was working retail again so I assumed they had not done a background check on him. I could only assume he was up to his old tricks again if he was in a retail shop. I looked at him and shook my head without saying a word. He left the counter, did not reappear and I never saw him in there again. No, I didn’t catch him again but I got close enough to scare him from ripping off that store.
In part two, I will talk about another employee theft case that almost turned into a double whammy. Employee theft cases can be more costly because employees have access to the tools that can remove or deactivate Checkpoint labels. By being careful in your hiring practices you can avoid the problems that they create, like lost profits. By being observant of employees you can prevent these thefts before they become too big.
Checkpoint labels are important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
