Best Practice Review

[Curtis Baillie]

The time is approaching for the review of the security industry's (loss prevention/asset protection) Best Practice - Detaining Shoplifting Suspects. Best Practices must be reviewed, re-certified and, if needed, updated every 5 years.

I will be on the Committee that will be reviewing the Best Practice for the International Association of Professional Consultants (IAPSC). I would like SIW members to have input as to their thoughts and insight as you are in the field apprehending shoplifters.

I'm acutely aware that there are many different individual company policies and procedures out there, and I'm not looking for a protracted back and forth discussion, just what you may think should be added or deleted and the reason(s) why you think the change(s) should occur. Please do not identify the company you work for.

Please refer to the above link to review the current Best Practice.

PM me if you wish or email me at [email protected] - I appreciate your input.

[ironh19]

I think back to one of my LP jobs, we had to have a manager present at the time of the detainment. To me it made things that much harder, because a manager wasn't always available to stand at the door. You know what would be really nice, passing some laws that protect LP officers, and give us a little more leeway when making a detainment based on probable cause.

[vedard]

Is there anything about anti-theft on bus?

I read the practice of anti-shoplifter. It is very nice and Comprehensive. Well, burglar happen on bus, station etc. some crowded public place as well. Is there any rules to detect it?

[SecTrainer]

The time is approaching for the review of the security industry's (loss prevention/asset protection) Best Practice - Detaining Shoplifting Suspects. Best Practices must be reviewed, re-certified and, if needed, updated every 5 years.

I will be on the Committee that will be reviewing the Best Practice for the International Association of Professional Consultants (IAPSC). I would like SIW members to have input as to their thoughts and insight as you are in the field apprehending shoplifters.

I'm acutely aware that there are many different individual company policies and procedures out there, and I'm not looking for a protracted back and forth discussion, just what you may think should be added or deleted and the reason(s) why you think the change(s) should occur. Please do not identify the company you work for.

Please refer to the above link to review the current Best Practice.

PM me if you wish or email me at [email protected] - I appreciate your input.

I would like to see some recognition of the fact that when a suspected shoplifter begins to fight with LP personnel on being detained, the nature of the crime changes from simple theft to theft with battery. In fact, the crime actually changes to one of at least attempted strong-arm robbery - defined as a taking by force without the use of a weapon - or armed robbery if the suspect produces a weapon. IAPSC should be making this case to district attorneys across the country, and to lawmakers to strengthen the laws such that no one has a right to resist detention by means of committing battery upon LP personnel while in the lawful performance of their duties.

If I stop you for shoplifting and you produce a knife, we're talking ADW if you have stolen nothing, and armed robbery if you have.

These are both at least class C felonies in every state in the union, and to my mind all of the solicitous concern about "injuring the poor shoplifter" that the Best Practices literally reeks of becomes nonsensical, in my view. Surely the permissible actions of LP personnel even by "Best Practice" standards should at least be equal to those of any other citizen resisting such a crime.

Best Practices fails miserably in dealing effectively with the reality that a simple shoplift detention can be escalated all the way to felony crimes by an assaultive shoplifter, and when that happens common sense demands that a different set of rules must apply. A general failure to recognize this fact throughout the retail industry is one of the reasons so may LP personnel are injured in the course of duty. It also bears some responsibility in an untold number of highly questionable agent dismissals and disciplinary actions.

The retail industry wants to have its cake and eat it too. The industry knows full well that in order to prevent loss it is necessary to put LP people in harm's way, but they really don't want to come down to brass tacks with ALL that this implies, or to give LP personnel the proper scope of action that is demanded in order to deal with such situations effectively. As a consequence, in many cases the LP agent commencing a shoplifting stop is never sure which he should fear most - the shoplifter or the general lack of support from management that he will experience if the stop should go south on him.