Must be something in the air lately where everyone wants to be a part of this year’s World Series games in some way shape or form. At least that’s all I can come up with to explain the behaviors of our latest shoplifter. The story starts out like any other typical liquor store shoplifting situation.
We were watching a suspicious person in the liquor store the other day. He was walking around and picking up seemingly random liquor bottles. I say seemingly random because he didn’t seem too interested in what the bottle actually was. He was more interested in what our employees were up to.
He would pick up a bottle, look around, see if anyone was watching him, and then set it back down. Sometimes the employees were paying attention, and sometimes they were not. Either way, the suspect would put the bottle back on the shelf, and then go to a different aisle of the store. After several times of this, we knew that we needed to watch him and see what was going on.
The suspect finally made his way to the back of the store. He started pushing a few of the display tables closer together, narrowing the gap between them. He went back to the main sales floor aisles and stated to slowly pull down one liquor bottle after another. He would ferret the bottle back into the space he created in the back of the store and then go back for another bottle.
After he had built up enough of a cache, the suspect went back behind the tables. We thought that he might try to conceal several of the bottles and walk out without paying for them. What he actually did was try to open the bottles up, because he was just going to drink from them inside the store.
We routinely use the Alpha Security EASy Bottle for our Bottle Locks to prevent theft and in- store consumption of the liquor. Because of these locks, the suspect was having a hard time opening the bottles. He tried prying the locks off, banging on them, twisting and turning. Obviously nothing was working out for him, and he was starting to get agitated. We decided it was time for us to step in.
We made our approach and calmly explained whom we were and that it was best if the gentleman quietly left the store. Instead of picking himself off the floor and leaving, the man picked up two of the liquor bottles. That’s when he became even more agitated and started swinging the bottles like baseball bats at us. We quickly stepped back to avoid being hit.
We called the police and let them handle the situation from there. While we never expected it to come down to a physical altercation, we later found out some of this man’s background. After the police made their apprehension, they let us know that this was one of their “regulars”. This man had a long history of drug and alcohol related problems. He was badly in need of a drink, which is why our bottle locks aggravated him so much.
Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase EASy Bottle bottle locks by Alpha Security and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.
For more information on Alpha Security, Bottle Lock, Bottle locks, Bottle Security, EASy Bottle or Liquor Bottle Security and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Must be something in the air lately where everyone wants to be a part of this year’s World Series games in some way shape or form. At least that’s all I can come up with to explain the behaviors of our latest shoplifter. The story starts out like any other typical liquor store shoplifting situation.
We were watching a suspicious person in the liquor store the other day. He was walking around and picking up seemingly random liquor bottles. I say seemingly random because he didn’t seem too interested in what the bottle actually was. He was more interested in what our employees were up to.
He would pick up a bottle, look around, see if anyone was watching him, and then set it back down. Sometimes the employees were paying attention, and sometimes they were not. Either way, the suspect would put the bottle back on the shelf, and then go to a different aisle of the store. After several times of this, we knew that we needed to watch him and see what was going on.
The suspect finally made his way to the back of the store. He started pushing a few of the display tables closer together, narrowing the gap between them. He went back to the main sales floor aisles and started to slowly pull down one liquor bottle after another. He would ferret the bottle back into the space he created in the back of the store and then go back for another bottle.
After he had built up enough of a cache, the suspect went back behind the tables. We thought that he might try to conceal several of the bottles and walk out without paying for them. What he actually did was try to open the bottles up, because he was just going to drink from them inside the store.
We routinely use the Alpha Security EASy Bottle for our Bottle Locks to prevent theft and in- store consumption of the liquor. Because of these locks, the suspect was having a hard time opening the bottles. He tried prying the locks off, banging on them, twisting and turning. Obviously nothing was working out for him, and he was starting to get agitated. We decided it was time for us to step in.
We made our approach and calmly explained whom we were and that it was best if the gentleman quietly left the store. Instead of picking himself off the floor and leaving, the man picked up two of the liquor bottles. That’s when he became even more agitated and started swinging the bottles like baseball bats at us. We quickly stepped back to avoid being hit.
We called the police and let them handle the situation from there. While we never expected it to come down to a physical altercation, we later found out some of this man’s background. After the police made their apprehension, they let us know that this was one of their “regulars”. This man had a long history of drug and alcohol related problems. He was badly in need of a drink, which is why our bottle locks aggravated him so much.
Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase EASy Bottle bottle locks by Alpha Security and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.
For more information on Alpha Security, Bottle Lock, Bottle locks, Bottle Security, EASy Bottle or Liquor Bottle Security and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
The holidays are upon us, and it’s the busiest time of year for loss prevention. It’s that time of year when some employees get that stealing feeling. It is inevitable that your losses due to employee theft are going to increase, but you don’t have to sit back and let it happen. If you take steps to conduct proactive investigations, you may be able to limit the amount of loss you will suffer.
In my experience, most internal theft and dishonesty cases happen in the last few months of the year. There are several reasons for employee theft activity to increase during this time. Some of the reasons for this are: increased employee financial burden, new seasonal employees and reduced overall supervision.
One cause of an increase in employee theft is the simple fact that, it’s the holidays. Everyone has more stress and financial burden during the holidays. For example, if you have an employee that has to somehow come up with extra money to buy gifts for their family and they are short on cash, they may find themselves tempted by the register full of cash or merchandise on your shelves. When people hit hard times, they do things that they would not normally do. It could be someone you think that would never steal from the company.
Another reason is that many businesses hire seasonal employees to help out with the added workload during the holidays. Hiring seasonal workers is good for having the extra help around when you need it most, and sometimes you might find people that you may want to keep on the payroll after the holidays. The downside is that they are not the normal trusted workers that you are used to dealing with on a regular basis. Unfortunately, a large portion internal theft and workplace accidents that occur during the holidays are caused by seasonal workers.
Finally, less supervision and more confusion creates greater opportunity for theft. With the increase in customer traffic and sales, comes the increase in employee theft. Sometimes managers don’t have as much time as they would normally have to supervise their employees. This creates the opportunity for employees to cause a loss without their boss looking over their shoulder every few minutes. The confusion causes some workers to bend the rules as well, and not follow procedures that are in place to protect the company’s assets.
For instance, if a cashier is normally required to have someone accompany them when they turn in the cash from their register, the increased store traffic may create a need for the extra person to help out elsewhere. Although this should never happen, it is common for workers to feel overwhelmed and unsure what to do in high pressure situations, therefore making bad decisions in the process.
The best way to combat this is to keep everyone on your team on task, and establish guidelines as to what they should be completing. Also, all employees should know that the company policies are in place for a reason, and no deviations will be tolerated due to the store being busier than normal. This will keep your team active, thus reducing confusion and decreasing the chance of internal theft opportunities.
For more information contact us: (Employee Theft) or call 1.770.426.0547
The holidays are upon us, and it’s the busiest time of year for loss prevention. It’s that time of year when some employees get that stealing feeling. It is inevitable that your losses due to employee theft are going to increase, but you don’t have to sit back and let it happen. If you take steps to conduct proactive investigations, you may be able to limit the amount of loss you will suffer.
In my experience, most internal theft and dishonesty cases happen in the last few months of the year. There are several reasons for employee theft activity to increase during this time. Some of the reasons for this are: increased employee financial burden, new seasonal employees and reduced overall supervision.
One cause of an increase in employee theft is the simple fact that, it’s the holidays. Everyone has more stress and financial burden during the holidays. For example, if you have an employee that has to somehow come up with extra money to buy gifts for their family and they are short on cash, they may find themselves tempted by the register full of cash or merchandise on your shelves. When people hit hard times, they do things that they would not normally do. It could be someone you think that would never steal from the company.
Another reason is that many businesses hire seasonal employees to help out with the added workload during the holidays. Hiring seasonal workers is good for having the extra help around when you need it most, and sometimes you might find people that you may want to keep on the payroll after the holidays. The downside is that they are not the normal trusted workers that you are used to dealing with on a regular basis. Unfortunately, a large portion internal theft and workplace accidents that occur during the holidays are caused by seasonal workers.
Finally, less supervision and more confusion creates greater opportunity for theft. With the increase in customer traffic and sales, comes the increase in employee theft. Sometimes managers don’t have as much time as they would normally have to supervise their employees. This creates the opportunity for employees to cause a loss without their boss looking over their shoulder every few minutes. The confusion causes some workers to bend the rules as well, and not follow procedures that are in place to protect the company’s assets.
For instance, if a cashier is normally required to have someone accompany them when they turn in the cash from their register, the increased store traffic may create a need for the extra person to help out elsewhere. Although this should never happen, it is common for workers to feel overwhelmed and unsure what to do in high pressure situations, therefore making bad decisions in the process.
The best way to combat this is to keep everyone on your team on task, and establish guidelines as to what they should be completing. Also, all employees should know that the company policies are in place for a reason, and no deviations will be tolerated due to the store being busier than normal. This will keep your team active, thus reducing confusion and decreasing the chance of internal theft opportunities.
For more information contact us: Employee Theft or call 1.770.426.0547
Shoplifting is a daily occurrence in most stores, and it’s almost impossible to catch every thief that walks through your door. One way to increase your chances of catching the bad guys is teaching your team what to look for, and be aware of their surroundings while they are working. Even if you are lucky enough to have loss prevention personnel in your store, it helps to have the rest of your team keeping their eyes open for any suspicious activity. Employees should understand that it is everyone’s job to do whatever they can to stop shoplifting from occurring at your store.
There have been many times that employees I worked with should have noticed some of the shoplifters I later apprehended. Let your team know how shoplifting affects the business, and why it is important that they stay aware of customer activity in their departments. Some employees don’t understand just how much of a loss shoplifters can cause, and some just don’t care. The goal is to try to get them excited about helping out the store. For a small business, retail theft prevention could be critical to your success. You have to think of every way possible to keep costs down, and profits climbing. Shoplifters could put a huge dent in the profit that belongs in your pocket.
I remember a shoplifting case years ago, when I watched a guy pick up about ten DVDs and go around the wall into a different department. I watched as he placed all of the DVDs on a shelf behind some other merchandise. He did this a couple of times and then left the store empty handed. This is something I had seen in the past, and it’s called staging. Staging is when someone sets up merchandise to come back and get it later.
I had one of my co-workers keep an eye on the doors to see if he came back into the store. We didn’t have to wait very long, because he came back about 30 minutes later. This time, he was carrying an empty duffel bag. Of course, he went straight to the area where he left the DVDs. Once he was in the aisle, he put the bag on the shelf and started walking around other aisles in the area to see if anyone was around. He then grabbed the DVDs, concealed them into the duffel bag, and then headed out the exit doors.
Fortunately, I was watching this all unfold while covertly following him around the store. I stopped him when he exited with the bag and was able to retrieve the DVDs for the store. Once again, the awareness needed to stop shoplifting was not present. During this entire incident, the shoplifter walked by several employees, who had no idea of what was happening. Also, not one of them greeted or asked him if he needed assistance finding anything.
Employees should make contact with every customer that comes into the store. This is a strong tool in regard to retail theft prevention, and it will go a long way with helping to stop shoplifting. The last thing a shoplifter wants is for employees to notice them and ask them if they need help. They want to be left alone so they can commit their theft undetected.
For more information contact us: (Stop Shoplifting) or call 1.770.426.0547
Shoplifting is a daily occurrence in most stores, and it’s almost impossible to catch every thief that walks through your door. One way to increase your chances of catching the bad guys is teaching your team what to look for, and be aware of their surroundings while they are working. Even if you are lucky enough to have loss prevention personnel in your store, it helps to have the rest of your team keeping their eyes open for any suspicious activity. Employees should understand that it is everyone’s job to do whatever they can to stop shoplifting from occurring at your store.
There have been many times that employees I worked with should have noticed some of the shoplifters I later apprehended. Let your team know how shoplifting affects the business, and why it is important that they stay aware of customer activity in their departments. Some employees don’t understand just how much of a loss shoplifters can cause, and some just don’t care. The goal is to try to get them excited about helping out the store. For a small business, retail theft prevention could be critical to your success. You have to think of every way possible to keep costs down, and profits climbing. Shoplifters could put a huge dent in the profit that belongs in your pocket.
I remember a shoplifting case years ago, when I watched a guy pick up about ten DVDs and go around the wall into a different department. I watched as he placed all of the DVDs on a shelf behind some other merchandise. He did this a couple of times and then left the store empty handed. This is something I had seen in the past, and it’s called staging. Staging is when someone sets up merchandise to come back and get it later.
I had one of my co-workers keep an eye on the doors to see if he came back into the store. We didn’t have to wait very long, because he came back about 30 minutes later. This time, he was carrying an empty duffel bag. Of course, he went straight to the area where he left the DVDs. Once he was in the aisle, he put the bag on the shelf and started walking around other aisles in the area to see if anyone was around. He then grabbed the DVDs, concealed them into the duffel bag, and then headed out the exit doors.
Fortunately, I was watching this all unfold while covertly following him around the store. I stopped him when he exited with the bag and was able to retrieve the DVDs for the store. Once again, the awareness needed to stop shoplifting was not present. During this entire incident, the shoplifter walked by several employees, who had no idea of what was happening. Also, not one of them greeted or asked him if he needed assistance finding anything.
Employees should make contact with every customer that comes into the store. This is a strong tool in regard to retail theft prevention, and it will go a long way with helping to stop shoplifting. The last thing a shoplifter wants is for employees to notice them and ask them if they need help. They want to be left alone so they can commit their theft undetected.
For more information contact us: Stop Shoplifting or call 1.770.426.0547
Most stores have a logbook of all packages sent using a traceable mail service. The most common reason for a store to send out a traceable package is when merchandise is returned to a vendor due to damage, recall, or other vendor initiated buy back. Having a tracking system on these packages insures that the stores know where their merchandise is in transit, and there is a third party accountable for the package’s arrival. Upon arrival at the vendor’s destination, the vendor will take accountability of the merchandise and give the store back its appropriate credits.
For stores that do a larger quantity of packages sent to multiple vendors, there is an increased chance that an employee will use this mailing system to send out stolen merchandise to their own house or to a friend or family’s address. Stores that do not send out packages frequently are not at as much risk. The reason being it is much more obvious if a tracking number has been used when a store only uses one or two a month. Compared to a store that uses tens or maybe even a hundred package sends in a month, an extra package can be slipped into a pile with much less risk of obvious detection.
Here is how an employee can take advantage of a logbook to help facilitate their employee theft. Any time an employee is trying to steal merchandise from their store, they must find a way to get it out of the building. Some employees try to conceal the merchandise in a bag or purse and walk it right out the front door. Others will conceal the product in another purchase, much like a shoplifter’s box stuff method. Some decide that the path of least resistance is through the back door.
When an employee has access to the logbook, they have access to the peel and stick labels provided by the mail carrier, that gives the store their tracking number for the package. Since these log books are designed to be billed only when a number is used, the store will receive a group bill for all of the numbers used during that month.
An employee who mails out their own package does not have to worry about individual shipping charges, and can slip a package in with the regular outgoing packages.
There are two ways to self-audit this process to reduce the risk of employee theft. The first is to spot check packages and corresponding paper work on a daily or weekly basis. This provides a fear that employees who are trying to send their own package can potentially be caught at any point due to an unexpected audit.
The second way is to audit the actual logbook. In the logbook, the “send to” address should be notated. If one is left off, that should send up a red flag that that package needs to be investigated further. If the package is being sent to a residential address, an investigation should be conducted. If the address is an employee’s home address, the employee most definitely needs to have an employee theft investigation opened on them.
By shipping a package of stolen merchandise directly to the employee’s home address, the employee can easily bypass EAS alarms, bag checks, and having to physically carry the product out of the store. If no one audits the logbooks to find out where packages are being mailed to, employees can easily create multiple thefts without being detected.
For more information on employee theft, employee theft investigation or internal theft contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase CCTV Systems that can help you stop Employee Theft and Internal Theft problems and help with your Employee Theft Investigation.
Most stores have a logbook of all packages sent using a traceable mail service. The most common reason for a store to send out a traceable package is when merchandise is returned to a vendor due to damage, recall, or other vendor initiated buy back. Having a tracking system on these packages insures that the stores know where their merchandise is in transit, and there is a third party accountable for the package’s arrival. Upon arrival at the vendor’s destination, the vendor will take accountability of the merchandise and give the store back its appropriate credits.
For stores that do a larger quantity of packages sent to multiple vendors, there is an increased chance that an employee will use this mailing system to send out stolen merchandise to their own house or to a friend or family’s address. Stores that do not send out packages frequently are not at as much risk. The reason being it is much more obvious if a tracking number has been used when a store only uses one or two a month. Compared to a store that uses tens or maybe even a hundred packages sends in a month, an extra package can be slipped into a pile with much less risk of obvious detection.
Here is how an employee can take advantage of a logbook to help facilitate their employee theft. Any time an employee is trying to steal merchandise from their store, they must find a way to get it out of the building. Some employees try to conceal the merchandise in a bag or purse and walk it right out the front door. Others will conceal the product in another purchase, much like a shoplifter’s box stuff method. Some decide that the path of least resistance is through the back door.
When an employee has access to the logbook, they have access to the peel and stick labels provided by the mail carrier, that gives the store their tracking number for the package. Since these log books are designed to be billed only when a number is used, the store will receive a group bill for all of the numbers used during that month.
An employee who mails out their own package does not have to worry about individual shipping charges, and can slip a package in with the regular outgoing packages.
There are two ways to self-audit this process to reduce the risk of employee theft. The first is to spot check packages and corresponding paper work on a daily or weekly basis. This provides a fear that employees who are trying to send their own package can potentially be caught at any point due to an unexpected audit.
The second way is to audit the actual logbook. In the logbook, the “send to” address should be notated. If one is left off, that should send up a red flag that that package needs to be investigated further. If the package is being sent to a residential address, an investigation should be conducted. If the address is an employee’s home address, the employee most definitely needs to have an employee theft investigation opened on them.
By shipping a package of stolen merchandise directly to the employee’s home address, the employee can easily bypass EAS alarms, bag checks, and having to physically carry the product out of the store. If no one audits the logbooks to find out where packages are being mailed to, employees can easily create multiple thefts without being detected.
For more information on employee theft, employee theft investigation or internal theft contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase CCTV Systems that can help you stop Employee Theft and Internal Theft problems and help with your Employee Theft Investigation.
It is an unfortunate circumstance that retail stores of all shapes and sizes must deal with the task of securing their assets from thieves who would desire to take their hard-earned work and merchandise from them. Luckily, there are a couple of important tenets of how to prevent shoplifting that will help save your bottom line, and keep that margin as wide as possible. These two fundamental principles are: first, merchandise protection and second, employee awareness. Combining these two goals will decrease the amount of shrink due to shoplifting in a very meaningful and valuable way.
Merchandise protection is probably the single most important way to prevent theft. By this I mean physically protecting merchandise with various forms of security devices and checkpoint tags. From small retail stores, to large big-box companies, protecting the merchandise in the store is the first and most important line of defense and it takes care of several things.
First, it acts as a terrific deterrent. Most commonly, shoplifters are the types of criminals who will do anything to avoid being noticed or discovered. The shoplifters have the ability to “shop around” for the easiest target location. More often than not, if they determine that all of your merchandise is adequately protected, they will move on to another store.
Secondly, they often times will damage any merchandise from which they are removed improperly. Now, this may at first sound like a bad thing but it will make the shoplifter think twice about trying to defeat the device, and send them on their way. In the cases of alarming cables or spider-wrap devices, even if they do not damage the merchandise while being removed, they will make it very obvious to everyone around that someone is attempting to steal. This will scare off just about any shoplifter.
When employee awareness is added into the mix, you have a recipe for a great, foundational theft prevention system. It is important to train your associates on what behaviors are abnormal from shoppers. There are various telling behaviors, known as red flags or alert signals, that can tip off store associates that something isn’t right.
These behaviors can be anything from carrying a large, empty purse or bag to looking around suspiciously, as if they are watching out for employees or other customers. These two examples might be considered ‘soft’ alert signals – they indicate that this shopper may not be a normal shopper, but they may also still be legitimate. But looking up at the ceiling for cameras or selecting merchandise without any concern for the price or style are what might be considered ‘hard’ alert behaviors – they are very indicative of someone’s intention to steal. Combine soft alert behaviors with hard alert behaviors and you have a pretty safe bet that someone is intending to steal.
I can recall countless times where, as a loss prevention detective, I was able to identify an individual attempting to shoplift solely based upon the fact that they were attempting to remove merchandise security devices. I was able to prevent shoplifting and recover the merchandise because the shoplifter had to get through the security device.
When your store’s merchandise is secured with protective devices, and your employees are trained to recognize odd behavior, your store is well insulated from theft. It is likely that shoplifters desperate enough to attempt to defeat the security devices will be noticed by store employees and, when confronted or even just provided with great customer service, will leave without any merchandise.
For more information contact us: Prevent Shoplifting or call 1.770.426.0547
It is an unfortunate circumstance that retail stores of all shapes and sizes must deal with the task of securing their assets from thieves who would desire to take their hard-earned work and merchandise from them. Luckily, there are a couple of important tenets of how to prevent shoplifting that will help save your bottom line, and keep that margin as wide as possible. These two fundamental principles are: first, merchandise protection and second, employee awareness. Combining these two goals will decrease the amount of shrink due to shoplifting in a very meaningful and valuable way.
Merchandise protection is probably the single most important way to prevent theft. By this I mean physically protecting merchandise with various forms of security devices and checkpoint tags. From small retail stores, to large big-box companies, protecting the merchandise in the store is the first and most important line of defense and it takes care of several things.
First, it acts as a terrific deterrent. Most commonly, shoplifters are the types of criminals who will do anything to avoid being noticed or discovered. The shoplifters have the ability to “shop around” for the easiest target location. More often than not, if they determine that all of your merchandise is adequately protected, they will move on to another store.
Secondly, they often times will damage any merchandise from which they are removed improperly. Now, this may at first sound like a bad thing but it will make the shoplifter think twice about trying to defeat the device, and send them on their way. In the cases of alarming cables or spider-wrap devices, even if they do not damage the merchandise while being removed, they will make it very obvious to everyone around that someone is attempting to steal. This will scare off just about any shoplifter.
When employee awareness is added into the mix, you have a recipe for a great, foundational theft prevention system. It is important to train your associates on what behaviors are abnormal from shoppers. There are various telling behaviors, known as red flags or alert signals, that can tip off store associates that something isn’t right.
These behaviors can be anything from carrying a large, empty purse or bag to looking around suspiciously, as if they are watching out for employees or other customers. These two examples might be considered ‘soft’ alert signals – they indicate that this shopper may not be a normal shopper, but they may also still be legitimate. But looking up at the ceiling for cameras or selecting merchandise without any concern for the price or style are what might be considered ‘hard’ alert behaviors – they are very indicative of someone’s intention to steal. Combine soft alert behaviors with hard alert behaviors and you have a pretty safe bet that someone is intending to steal.
I can recall countless times where, as a loss prevention detective, I was able to identify an individual attempting to shoplift solely based upon the fact that they were attempting to remove merchandise security devices. I was able to prevent shoplifting and recover the merchandise because the shoplifter had to get through the security device.
When your store’s merchandise is secured with protective devices, and your employees are trained to recognize odd behavior, your store is well insulated from theft. It is likely that shoplifters desperate enough to attempt to defeat the security devices will be noticed by store employees and, when confronted or even just provided with great customer service, will leave without any merchandise.
For more information contact us at Prevent Shoplifting or call 1.770.426.0547
