Prevent shoplifting – 3 WC Blog 771
Sensormatic Safers – 4
Organized Retail Crime Can Be Subdued With Sensormatic Safers
Here are a few items that can be protected against shoplifting if a store uses Sensormatic Safers to protect them:
• Razors
• Deodorant
• Teeth Whitening Strips
What makes these items so special? They are among the top items targeted by Organized Retail Crime groups according to the National Retail Federation 2018 Organized Retail Crime Survey (pg. 6). This is significant and should be a concern to every retail owner. The report states that, “ORC costs retailers $777,877 per $1 billion in sales – an all-time survey high” (pg. 3). Now for those who are not familiar with Organized Retail Crime (ORC) groups I will tell you that these are not your opportunist or amateur shoplifters. These are professional organizations that steal merchandise in order to resell it through any number of sources. The merchandise may be sold through the internet, out of a warehouse or through a legitimate appearing corner retail store. There are also times when merchandise is returned to a store and a gift card is given for the refund. Those gift cards are then sold for cash, some to pawn shops and others online. The activity of these groups makes it extremely important that stores are using Sensormatic Safers to prevent shoplifting.
So, besides the reselling of the merchandise and the dollar amounts being taken you might be wondering why these shoplifters are any more destructive to stores than any other shoplifter. If a regular shoplifter is caught you have eliminated that player from preying on your store especially if you ask for a trespass notice. The ORC groups work much differently. They often have tiers or levels from the lowest workers sometimes called mules to an organization leader. The leader may even have several assistants who hire the mules or workers who do the actual work or stealing. Catching one of these mules does not necessarily eliminate the problem because the ORC does not rely on one person to do their stealing. Mules may not even know who it is who hired them. These people may be hired with the promise of drugs or some cash (usually somewhere around 25 cents on the dollar) to steal merchandise. The person recruiting the shoplifter will frequently remain anonymous to their mule. The recruiter is going to follow through on their agreed payment so he can use them again in the future. The shoplifter is willing to take the risk for instant gratification, be it drugs or cash. You can see where it is in the interest of the thief to avoid merchandise protected with devices that prevent shoplifting. The recruiter doesn’t care where the merchandise is taken from as long as they get what is on their “shopping list”. Should a mule be caught, even if they have the shopping list they won’t have much information to give to the police about who they are working for. The recruiter loses one worker for a while but they have other people lined up ready to work for them. Multiple recruiters mean multiple workers and so it takes a lot more effort to cut the head off of the organization.
The folks at Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. (LPSI) know how these theft rings work. They know the most popular items ORC groups will steal and LPSI has the training and tools that can keep clients safe from these predators. Do you need to protect razors and razor blades? LPSI has Sensormatic Safers. DO you need to protect fragrances? They have flexible Safers? How about designer jeans, they are very popular with Organized Retail Crime gangs. LPSI has Sensormatic hard tags to prevent shoplifting. If you don’t have an electronic article surveillance system or maybe you need an upgrade to keep up with the latest criminal innovations, LPSI has Sensormatic towers for you. Criminal groups are always trying to get one-step ahead of retailers but LPSI offers solutions that can thwart their efforts.
Organized Retail Crime groups are out for razors, deodorant, whitening strips and other merchandise that could easily be protected with the use of Sensormatic Safers and electronic article surveillance towers. Because they are professional shoplifters they offer special challenges to retailers but LPSI offers the solutions store owners need to defeat them. Don’t risk becoming a victim to ORC shoplifting rings, contact LPSI today to find out how to get started today.
For more information about Sensormatic Safers contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
Here are a few items that can be protected against shoplifting if a store uses Sensormatic Safers to protect them:
• Razors
• Deodorant
• Teeth Whitening Strips
What makes these items so special? They are among the top items targeted by Organized Retail Crime groups according to the National Retail Federation 2018 Organized Retail Crime Survey (pg. 6). This is significant and should be a concern to every retail owner. The report states that, “ORC costs retailers $777,877 per $1 billion in sales – an all-time survey high” (pg. 3). Now for those who are not familiar with Organized Retail Crime (ORC) groups I will tell you that these are not your opportunist or amateur shoplifters. These are professional organizations that steal merchandise in order to resell it through any number of sources. The merchandise may be sold through the internet, out of a warehouse or through a legitimate appearing corner retail store. There are also times when merchandise is returned to a store and a gift card is given for the refund. Those gift cards are then sold for cash, some to pawn shops and others online. The activity of these groups makes it extremely important that stores are using Sensormatic Safers to prevent shoplifting.
So, besides the reselling of the merchandise and the dollar amounts being taken you might be wondering why these shoplifters are any more destructive to stores than any other shoplifter. If a regular shoplifter is caught you have eliminated that player from preying on your store especially if you ask for a trespass notice. The ORC groups work much differently. They often have tiers or levels from the lowest workers sometimes called mules to an organization leader. The leader may even have several assistants who hire the mules or workers who do the actual work or stealing. Catching one of these mules does not necessarily eliminate the problem because the ORC does not rely on one person to do their stealing. Mules may not even know who it is who hired them. These people may be hired with the promise of drugs or some cash (usually somewhere around 25 cents on the dollar) to steal merchandise. The person recruiting the shoplifter will frequently remain anonymous to their mule. The recruiter is going to follow through on their agreed payment so he can use them again in the future. The shoplifter is willing to take the risk for instant gratification, be it drugs or cash. You can see where it is in the interest of the thief to avoid merchandise protected with devices that prevent shoplifting. The recruiter doesn’t care where the merchandise is taken from as long as they get what is on their “shopping list”. Should a mule be caught, even if they have the shopping list they won’t have much information to give to the police about who they are working for. The recruiter loses one worker for a while but they have other people lined up ready to work for them. Multiple recruiters mean multiple workers and so it takes a lot more effort to cut the head off of the organization.
The folks at Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. (LPSI) know how these theft rings work. They know the most popular items ORC groups will steal and LPSI has the training and tools that can keep clients safe from these predators. Do you need to protect razors and razor blades? LPSI has Sensormatic Safers. DO you need to protect fragrances? They have flexible Safers? How about designer jeans, they are very popular with Organized Retail Crime gangs. LPSI has Sensormatic hard tags to prevent shoplifting. If you don’t have an electronic article surveillance system or maybe you need an upgrade to keep up with the latest criminal innovations, LPSI has Sensormatic towers for you. Criminal groups are always trying to get one-step ahead of retailers but LPSI offers solutions that can thwart their efforts.
Organized Retail Crime groups are out for razors, deodorant, whitening strips and other merchandise that could easily be protected with the use of Sensormatic Safers and electronic article surveillance towers. Because they are professional shoplifters they offer special challenges to retailers but LPSI offers the solutions store owners need to defeat them. Don’t risk becoming a victim to ORC shoplifting rings, contact LPSI today to find out how to get started today.
For more information about Sensormatic Safers contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
Sensormatic tags – 3 WC Blog 769
Clothing Security – 3
Are You Contributing To Dangerous Crimes When You Don’t Use Sensormatic Tags? Part 1
This may not seem fair to some of you but I am going on one of my rants about the need for retailers to use Sensormatic tags on clothes. The target of this tirade is aimed at least in part to the retail shop owners who refuse to use anti-theft devices on all of their clothing. I’m angry because I read another story about another moronic shoplifter who decided to steal and attempted to get away from police leading them on a high speed chase. The chases are bad enough but when these criminals then cause accidents, injuries to others or damage the property of others I get really angry. And if anyone out there wants to argue that police shouldn’t be engaging in pursuits your argument in falling on deaf ears. The idea that Law Enforcement should just disengage if a criminal decides to try to get away is ridiculous. Would you feel the same way if someone broke into your home, stole valuables and police officers saw the suspect’s vehicle but chose not to chase them because when they turned on their lights the crook sped up? You would be livid. I digress. In a report on wlbt.com, February 8, 2019 by Morgan Howard and David Kenney, “Richland police arrest woman suspected of shoplifting after high speed chase into Jackson” the story says a woman had been spotted stealing two televisions from Walmart. Police attempted to stop her and she led them on a high speed chase and she ended up going off the road, driving through a yard and “crashing just inches from a house.” “So what does this have to do with clothing security?” you ask, “these were televisions”. Well it turned out televisions were not the only thing this criminal had in her vehicle the police also recovered a pair of jeans.
Would the use of Sensormatic tags have stopped this criminal suspect from stealing jeans and would that have had any bearing on the theft of televisions? I am going to say there is a strong likelihood that the incident would not have happened if Sensormatic tags had been used on all merchandise. I am specifically directing my remarks to the jeans because if they came from Walmart as did the televisions I know from my own shopping experience they do not tag their jeans. They DO use anti-theft devices on some televisions but I have personally prevented a shoplifting in one of their stores when a thief was going to try to roll out a television that did not have any protective device. From my years in Retail Loss Prevention I will say that in the vast majority of cases when my team or I caught shoplifters the merchandise had no clothing security tags or other type of security label. If someone did try to walk out with tagged product the electronic article surveillance alarm sounded and a supervisor or trained cashier responded and recovered the merchandise through a receipt check. When stores use tags and labels on all of their merchandise shoplifters shift their attention to stores that don’t use electronic article surveillance equipment.
“Okay, so you showed me one case of a shoplifter fleeing and wrecking their car but no one was injured, what’s the big deal?” Glad I could ask for you. It isn’t an isolated case, I have had shoplifters run from me, jump into their car and slam it into reverse and back all the way out of the parking lot to avoid me seeing their license plate. I have seen shoplifters nearly run into other cars. But if my personal experiences are not evidence enough, let me give you one more news report from keyt.com, “Sheriff Deputy injured as shoplifter flees scene”, May 15, 2018 by Ryder Christ. The story relates that a shoplifter who was trying to flee from police jumped out of his moving car and the vehicle hit “a Sheriff’s deputy on a motorcycle.” The officer was injured due to the recklessness of the thief but fortunately was able to be treated at the scene of the incident. Shoplifters can be extremely dangerous. Whether it is intentional or through stupidity they often put others at risk.
Store owners and managers, if you are not using clothing security and other anti-theft tools to stop this activity from taking place you are contributing to the problem. Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. can get you started in the right direction to put an end to this dangerous activity and make your store more profitable in the process. In Part 2 we will look at more dangerous shoplifting incidents and discuss what Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. can do to help you stop them from taking place in your buildings.
Get more information on Sensormatic Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
This may not seem fair to some of you but I am going on one of my rants about the need for retailers to use Sensormatic tags on clothes. The target of this tirade is aimed at least in part to the retail shop owners who refuse to use anti-theft devices on all of their clothing. I’m angry because I read another story about another moronic shoplifter who decided to steal and attempted to get away from police leading them on a high speed chase. The chases are bad enough but when these criminals then cause accidents, injuries to others or damage the property of others I get really angry. And if anyone out there wants to argue that police shouldn’t be engaging in pursuits your argument in falling on deaf ears. The idea that Law Enforcement should just disengage if a criminal decides to try to get away is ridiculous. Would you feel the same way if someone broke into your home, stole valuables and police officers saw the suspect’s vehicle but chose not to chase them because when they turned on their lights the crook sped up? You would be livid. I digress. In a report on wlbt.com, February 8, 2019 by Morgan Howard and David Kenney, “Richland police arrest woman suspected of shoplifting after high speed chase into Jackson” the story says a woman had been spotted stealing two televisions from Walmart. Police attempted to stop her and she led them on a high speed chase and she ended up going off the road, driving through a yard and “crashing just inches from a house.” “So what does this have to do with clothing security?” you ask, “these were televisions”. Well it turned out televisions were not the only thing this criminal had in her vehicle the police also recovered a pair of jeans.
Would the use of Sensormatic tags have stopped this criminal suspect from stealing jeans and would that have had any bearing on the theft of televisions? I am going to say there is a strong likelihood that the incident would not have happened if Sensormatic tags had been used on all merchandise. I am specifically directing my remarks to the jeans because if they came from Walmart as did the televisions I know from my own shopping experience they do not tag their jeans. They DO use anti-theft devices on some televisions but I have personally prevented a shoplifting in one of their stores when a thief was going to try to roll out a television that did not have any protective device. From my years in Retail Loss Prevention I will say that in the vast majority of cases when my team or I caught shoplifters the merchandise had no clothing security tags or other type of security label. If someone did try to walk out with tagged product the electronic article surveillance alarm sounded and a supervisor or trained cashier responded and recovered the merchandise through a receipt check. When stores use tags and labels on all of their merchandise shoplifters shift their attention to stores that don’t use electronic article surveillance equipment.
“Okay, so you showed me one case of a shoplifter fleeing and wrecking their car but no one was injured, what’s the big deal?” Glad I could ask for you. It isn’t an isolated case, I have had shoplifters run from me, jump into their car and slam it into reverse and back all the way out of the parking lot to avoid me seeing their license plate. I have seen shoplifters nearly run into other cars. But if my personal experiences are not evidence enough, let me give you one more news report from keyt.com, “Sheriff Deputy injured as shoplifter flees scene”, May 15, 2018 by Ryder Christ. The story relates that a shoplifter who was trying to flee from police jumped out of his moving car and the vehicle hit “a Sheriff’s deputy on a motorcycle.” The officer was injured due to the recklessness of the thief but fortunately was able to be treated at the scene of the incident. Shoplifters can be extremely dangerous. Whether it is intentional or through stupidity they often put others at risk.
Store owners and managers, if you are not using clothing security and other anti-theft tools to stop this activity from taking place you are contributing to the problem. Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. can get you started in the right direction to put an end to this dangerous activity and make your store more profitable in the process. In Part 2 we will look at more dangerous shoplifting incidents and discuss what Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. can do to help you stop them from taking place in your buildings.
Get more information on Sensormatic Tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Employee Background Checks – 3 WC Blog 757
Pre-employment Screening – 4
Employee Background Checks Are A Buffer To Employee Theft
Employee background checks are much like the safety features in a car. This occurred to me the other day after I had stopped to render assistance at the scene of a head on collision. A car had crossed the median and plowed into the front of a car that had been travelling in the opposite direction. By the look of the accident scene the incident had taken place just moments before I drove up. I pulled over, got out and began checking on the victims. Two other passersby got out to assist as well. The victim who had been hit was in pain but had only minor visible cuts on his person. I did notice his airbag had deployed. As I looked at the amount of damage I can only believe the airbag and other safety features prevented more severe injuries or even death to driver I was helping. Pre-employment screening is like a safety feature in a car. You don’t necessarily realize how important it is until something takes place that makes you realize what could have happened without them.
A retail business is susceptible to internal theft and that can do significant damage to a business. When I was a Loss Prevention Manager I closed out at least 100 employee theft cases but the majority of those resulted in less the $1,000 worth of known or admitted theft per incident. In most situations I identified the theft fairly early on from the start of the employee’s start date. I would attribute this to the fact our company could afford to have Loss Prevention Managers and Associates in our stores. I will also say that Pre-employment screening and drug screening played a big part in keeping these numbers as low as they were. The screenings are like the unseen safety features of a car. Have them in place and they will protect you from serious damage should something go wrong. Notice that safety features don’t necessarily prevent accidents from happening but they do minimize damage to the occupants of a vehicle should one occur.
Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. (LPSI) is one company that can conduct comprehensive employee background checks on potential future hires for you. They have a wide range of research options an employer can request before a new person hired onto a team. Most people think of criminal background checks when they think of pre-employment screenings but there are more things that can be covered. Some of the things LPSI can dig into are driving records in case the applicant will be driving a company-owned vehicle. They can verify educational information if the employer requires a specific level of education. Sometimes people with checkered pasts move around frequently to try to hide their activity. LPSI can look into that information and validate prior addresses. There may be hidden dangers lurking in a job candidate’s past and LPSI provides the safety mechanism to help keep your business safe.
Let’s not overlook the hidden dangers of hiring someone who uses illegal drugs and seeks a job in a retail store. Side note; I am also including marijuana in this category. Though it may be ‘legal’ in some states, it is not legal as far as the federal government is concerned. I am also of the personal opinion that it can still cause liability issues for a retailer as much as an employee intoxicated by alcohol can be for a store owner. These applicants may choose to steal to support their habit. They may cause accidents or injure themselves while working costing employers significant amounts of money in lost work time, payment for damages or injuries and potentially lawsuits. Screening applicants before allowing them to start work may slow the hiring process a bit but the benefits to the employer are immeasurable.
I hope that the airbags in your car will never have to deploy. However should an accident take place these hidden safety features may save you from severe injury or death. In a similar manner employee background checks and drug screening can proactively keep your business safe even if you don’t see them in action. You try to hire the right people with applicant screening questions and interviews and pre-employment screening adds another level of safety. The chances of hiring a dishonest worker are significantly reduced when you have them in place. It is also important to know that should one bad character get past your screening LPSI can also do dishonest employee investigations to get you back on track again quickly limiting your injury from losses the associate may cause.
For more information on employee background checks contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Employee background checks are much like the safety features in a car. This occurred to me the other day after I had stopped to render assistance at the scene of a head on collision. A car had crossed the median and plowed into the front of a car that had been travelling in the opposite direction. By the look of the accident scene the incident had taken place just moments before I drove up. I pulled over, got out and began checking on the victims. Two other passersby got out to assist as well. The victim who had been hit was in pain but had only minor visible cuts on his person. I did notice his airbag had deployed. As I looked at the amount of damage I can only believe the airbag and other safety features prevented more severe injuries or even death to driver I was helping. Pre-employment screening is like a safety feature in a car. You don’t necessarily realize how important it is until something takes place that makes you realize what could have happened without them.
A retail business is susceptible to internal theft and that can do significant damage to a business. When I was a Loss Prevention Manager I closed out at least 100 employee theft cases but the majority of those resulted in less the $1,000 worth of known or admitted theft per incident. In most situations I identified the theft fairly early on from the start of the employee’s start date. I would attribute this to the fact our company could afford to have Loss Prevention Managers and Associates in our stores. I will also say that Pre-employment screening and drug screening played a big part in keeping these numbers as low as they were. The screenings are like the unseen safety features of a car. Have them in place and they will protect you from serious damage should something go wrong. Notice that safety features don’t necessarily prevent accidents from happening but they do minimize damage to the occupants of a vehicle should one occur.
Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. (LPSI) is one company that can conduct comprehensive employee background checks on potential future hires for you. They have a wide range of research options an employer can request before a new person hired onto a team. Most people think of criminal background checks when they think of pre-employment screenings but there are more things that can be covered. Some of the things LPSI can dig into are driving records in case the applicant will be driving a company-owned vehicle. They can verify educational information if the employer requires a specific level of education. Sometimes people with checkered pasts move around frequently to try to hide their activity. LPSI can look into that information and validate prior addresses. There may be hidden dangers lurking in a job candidate’s past and LPSI provides the safety mechanism to help keep your business safe.
Let’s not overlook the hidden dangers of hiring someone who uses illegal drugs and seeks a job in a retail store. Side note; I am also including marijuana in this category. Though it may be ‘legal’ in some states, it is not legal as far as the federal government is concerned. I am also of the personal opinion that it can still cause liability issues for a retailer as much as an employee intoxicated by alcohol can be for a store owner. These applicants may choose to steal to support their habit. They may cause accidents or injure themselves while working costing employers significant amounts of money in lost work time, payment for damages or injuries and potentially lawsuits. Screening applicants before allowing them to start work may slow the hiring process a bit but the benefits to the employer are immeasurable.
I hope that the airbags in your car will never have to deploy. However should an accident take place these hidden safety features may save you from severe injury or death. In a similar manner employee background checks and drug screening can proactively keep your business safe even if you don’t see them in action. You try to hire the right people with applicant screening questions and interviews and pre-employment screening adds another level of safety. The chances of hiring a dishonest worker are significantly reduced when you have them in place. It is also important to know that should one bad character get past your screening LPSI can also do dishonest employee investigations to get you back on track again quickly limiting your injury from losses the associate may cause.
For more information on employee background checks contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
