Shoplifter's pursuer out of a job

[Curtis Baillie]

Was Walmart correct?

FloridaToday.com
Written by: Scott Gunnerson

TITUSVILLE — A Walmart assistant manager who jumped into the bed of a pickup truck making off with cases of stolen beer no longer works at the Titusville retail outlet.


A call to the store confirmed that Michael Dawson no longer is employed by Walmart, but neither local managers nor corporate headquarters would say more about the matter. Dawson could not be reached for comment.

Read more....

[zm88]

Not a fan of MMQ but jumping into the bed of a SL pick up seems excessive to me.

[ContractSec Level III]

Was Walmart correct?

FloridaToday.com
Written by: Scott Gunnerson

TITUSVILLE — A Walmart assistant manager who jumped into the bed of a pickup truck making off with cases of stolen beer no longer works at the Titusville retail outlet.


A call to the store confirmed that Michael Dawson no longer is employed by Walmart, but neither local managers nor corporate headquarters would say more about the matter. Dawson could not be reached for comment.

Read more....

Well it appears you have already concluded that Wal-Mart was correct.
“That is strictly against Walmart’s policy,” said Curtis Baillie, a Pennsylvania-based retail security consultant with more than 40 years of law enforcement and security-management experience."

[Soper]

Stupid acts result in punishment. He's lucky he's just fired, not dead.

[capurato]

He should be terminated. No theft is worth that.

[Curtis Baillie]

Well it appears you have already concluded that Wal-Mart was correct.
“That is strictly against Walmart’s policy,” said Curtis Baillie, a Pennsylvania-based retail security consultant with more than 40 years of law enforcement and security-management experience."

Baised with the information presented to me at the time....yes, I came to the conclusion that the Manager violated Walmart's policy.

[combatcoastie]

Being moderately familiar with Walmart's asset protection policies as recently as 2010, I absolutely support the company's decision to terminate the employee. Any asset protection specialist would have been terminated for doing the same thing, so an assistant manager- whom is not even authorized to detain a shoplifter in the first place, would most certainly be fired for taking that action. I support a mixed approach to dealing with shoplifting. I am not a staunch advocate of physical apprehension, as I believe in many cases, it costs more to apprehend than it would be saving/recouping, but I also believe that retailers should have shoplifter apprehension in their toolbelt when dealing with certain types of retail crime or specific and prolific offenders. If there are any loss prevention employees reading this that think that there is nothing wrong with an employee jumping into the bed of a vehicle making off with cases of stolen beer- please find a different line of work. I'm sure you're a good person with good intentions, but you will eventually get you or someone else very seriously hurt.

All that being said, I just have one question: what exactly was he hoping to accomplish by jumping in the bed of the truck... what was the end-game?

[Curtis Baillie]

That was one of my thoughts...what was he going to do with the truck now that he caught it? There are more that 4 pages of links on this on Google. Some stories had more info on this than others. Including the truck stopping twice during his wild ride and him refusing to get out of the bed.

This guy had passed, "with flying colors" three Walmart safety test that included loss prevention. Darn right he was fired.

[SecTrainer]

That was one of my thoughts...what was he going to do with the truck now that he caught it? There are more that 4 pages of links on this on Google. Some stories had more info on this than others. Including the truck stopping twice during his wild ride and him refusing to get out of the bed.

This guy had passed, "with flying colors" three Walmart safety test that included loss prevention. Darn right he was fired.

I probably wouldn't have done what this guy did even when I was a cop - at least, not over a few cases of beer.

Get the tag, memorize as much as you can about the vehicle and the individual(s) involved and report the crime. Being it's Walmart, you've probably got the whole thing on video too.

Very poor judgment regardless of what Walmart's policies might be.

[ContractSec Level III]

Biased with the information presented to me at the time....yes, I came to the conclusion that the Manager violated Walmart's policy.

Yeah i just wanted the people who didnt read the full article to know your opinion.

[Soper]

And a valid opinion it is.

What's your point?

[capurato]

Walmart managers can make apprehensions. They are one of the few companies that allow this.

I am going to a company that allows managers to make apprehensions. It will be a different ball game.

This manager acted reckless and he had a defiant attitude based off the reports I read. It's walmart. They would have sold enough merchandise in one hour to cover that loss. Recover the merchandise, call the cops do something.

Anyone think that now he is fired he is a No show for the court case?

[zm88]

Wouldn't be surprised if he's a no show.

Im still trying to wrap my mind around the policy of managers making apps. Are we talking of store GMs and asst store managers or department managers? The thought of any of the department managers at my store making an app scares the crap out of me (thank god they cant)