Shop lifters

[Concetta Parsons]

Hello all,
I just happened to read a news which was quite shocking. A female stole food from grocery and when she tried to escape, she got confronted by a security guard. She killed the security guard and a bystander and fled away. But she got arrested and now she's in custody. Shop lifter are very common here but now they've started killing innocent people in order to escape. I personally feel that the security services should be strengthened even more and more security guards should be appointed in shops. I happened to read an article which gave few great tips to prevent shoplifting http://optimumsecurity.ca/uncategori...ss-prevention/ . It had some valid suggestions to prevent such activities. Anyway we should be very careful wherever we go, because we cannot predict what may happen at the very next moment.

[PhantomX0990]

Honestly, I'm gonna put my two cents in on loss prevention.

Fudge loss prevention with a ten-foot pole.

Now, in the near-decade I've been doing security, I'd done a few loss prevention gigs, most were for a few days at a time. but one was for a stretch of two months while I was in-between main accounts. I was a sort of floating assistant manager. Trained as a level 3 officer, but most of the time was working as a level 2.

it was the most miserable, pointless position in the world.

See, the store had been robbed by gunpoint - twice. They wanted that extra step in security, so they wanted a uniformed level 2 guard posted. My job? Deterrence. That was it. I stood at the entrance, overnight, in a near-empty grocery store, doing literally nothing but look interested when people walked in. It was the most degrading position I've worked at, ever. The people that worked at the store loved me, they still message me on facebook calling me their favorite guard and telling me how much they miss me. That's great, but I fluffing hated that gig with a passion.

Even when there was something to do, I couldn't do anything about it. The loss prevention rules they set up for me prevented me from actually doing any real loss prevention. I had no access to cameras or to the security room. In two months I trespassed four people, one homeless dude that was drunk as ****, and a group of dumb-ass somali teenagers that decided to steal a ton of stuff and throw eggs at staff... and me. The ones I chased down, three got trespassed.

In order for me to charge them for shoplifting, I had to see them take the item, not lose eye-contact with the person/item, they had to bypass a form of payment AND leave property. And of course I couldn't leave property, so I better damn well get photos for a BOLO and contact the police with their plates. And I couldn't be caught 'profiling' or following suspicious people because safe spaces because I was in uniform and they might think it harassment. That store lost thousands of dollars a week because the laws against shoplifting are bull**** and do nothing to protect the store. You could walk out of the store with a cart full of groceries, and if they don't get your plate, you're good.

I HATED that gig.

Part of it was when I was in the earlier evening hours, with lots of customers. I'd be happy and smiling and greeting people, only to get greeted in turn with sneers because people in that area hate cops and they think I'm profiling them and thinking they're out to steal stuff.

[mctacticool]

I'm with Pantomx0990 on this one, uniformed loss prevention is absolutely pointless and mindblowingly boring, and seriously how can the stores expect loss prevention to be done uniformed, shoplifters can see you coming from a mile away... However uniformed backup to a plain-clothes loss prevention officer is a whole different animal and can make a big difference...

As for a shoplifter killing a guard, that has to be an extreme event for the civilised world and luckily even threats made against security are a rarity here. I can see it happen in some third world country...

Do you have any info on how they where killed ?? Shot, stabbed, something else ??

[PhantomX0990]

I'm with Pantomx0990 on this one, uniformed loss prevention is absolutely pointless and mindblowingly boring, and seriously how can the stores expect loss prevention to be done uniformed, shoplifters can see you coming from a mile away... However uniformed backup to a plain-clothes loss prevention officer is a whole different animal and can make a big difference...

Yeah, thing is they didn't have plain clothes on the overnights, only during the day. The few times we worked together were the few times I was actually able to do my job there. :\

[topsecurity]

Shop lifter always an annoying person. To get prevention from shop lifting we use CCTV Cams and sensors. But don't know how they manage to lift things in these kind of security.

[Curtis Baillie]

Shoplifters....no one should be apprehending shoplifters unless they are specifically trained to do so. There is an industry wide accepted best practice on the detention of shoplifters.

[Squid]

Hello all,
I just happened to read a news which was quite shocking. A female stole food from grocery and when she tried to escape, she got confronted by a security guard. She killed the security guard and a bystander and fled away. But she got arrested and now she's in

gotta link to this story?


"Fudge loss prevention with a ten-foot pole."

For one thing, it requires you to actually pay active attention. For low security pay I'm good for keeping a causal eye out while doing lite studying, etc but not for anything too demanding.

For same pay it ain't near worth it to get up close and personal with actual criminals, the OP's story shows. Plus, you gotta a chance of needing to go to court. Just after HS I remember hearing about a classmate who'd busted a shoplifter at a record store. She was just some 19yr old doing typical low level shoplifting BUT it turns out she had a rich uncle or trust fund willing to spend unlimited money on her legal defense, which means the arresting clerk was now in the sights of big gun lawyers, trying to say he was trying to rape or kidnap her.

[Ingio Montoya]

There was a recent incident in Colorado Springs in which two chollos shop lifted a Sears. The store staff saw them and locked the doors to prevent them from leaving. They shot holes in the doors and ran.

this HTML class. Value is http://www.krdo.com/

[PhantomX0990]

"Fudge loss prevention with a ten-foot pole."

For one thing, it requires you to actually pay active attention. For low security pay I'm good for keeping a causal eye out while doing lite studying, etc but not for anything too demanding.

For same pay it ain't near worth it to get up close and personal with actual criminals, the OP's story shows. Plus, you gotta a chance of needing to go to court. Just after HS I remember hearing about a classmate who'd busted a shoplifter at a record store. She was just some 19yr old doing typical low level shoplifting BUT it turns out she had a rich uncle or trust fund willing to spend unlimited money on her legal defense, which means the arresting clerk was now in the sights of big gun lawyers, trying to say he was trying to rape or kidnap her.

Yeah, at the time I was in-between accounts and making about six bucks more than the average guard there since I was still making my LT rate. I mean, I was able to pay attention easily, but the rules limited what I could do SO MUCH as a uniformed officer. Two days doing the job and I had already asked for a transfer out.

I loved the welfare scammers. The people that would completely rip off WIC or with food stamps.

[zm88]

The job certainly has its dangers at times. I've been in the industry for 10 going on 11 years now, and at my current LP job since 2013. I work for a retailer that's still hands on, and I can tell you I never got bored there. It's all about location. Working as a uniformed guard on the overnights I doubt the company expected apprehensions or any type of stats. I worked a similar role for USSA back in 2011 and hated it as well. Working as a detective, investigator or whatever companies may use to describe plainclothes LP is a lot different than being a visual deterrent and can be a great job as well as a ton of fun with the right employer.

The anoubt of brawls, fights, needles, knives and the gun I had pulled on me are constant reminders of how lucky I am that I'm still here alive, as well as with no long term injuries. The industry is changing, a lot of younger thieves now that seem more desperate than when I started.

[PhantomX0990]

The job certainly has its dangers at times. I've been in the industry for 10 going on 11 years now, and at my current LP job since 2013. I work for a retailer that's still hands on, and I can tell you I never got bored there. It's all about location. Working as a uniformed guard on the overnights I doubt the company expected apprehensions or any type of stats. I worked a similar role for USSA back in 2011 and hated it as well. Working as a detective, investigator or whatever companies may use to describe plainclothes LP is a lot different than being a visual deterrent and can be a great job as well as a ton of fun with the right employer.

The anoubt of brawls, fights, needles, knives and the gun I had pulled on me are constant reminders of how lucky I am that I'm still here alive, as well as with no long term injuries. The industry is changing, a lot of younger thieves now that seem more desperate than when I started.

You see, I was expecting it to be so much more busy where i was at. Instead, I just stood there like a Wal-Mart Greeter. Hated it. Thought it was going to bit more exciting, the store was right next to downtown and in a bad area.

[zm88]

You see, I was expecting it to be so much more busy where i was at. Instead, I just stood there like a Wal-Mart Greeter. Hated it. Thought it was going to bit more exciting, the store was right next to downtown and in a bad area.

We average about 4-500 stops a year where I am. I supervise 6 detectives and then an additional 15 or so uniformed guards as well, large volume store. Overnights when I worked them at a different store were always dead. Small bursts thruout the night of people coming in but not the type of activity you might see during the day. The uniformed side of this job can be exceptionally boring, working cases and investigating internals is the fun part.

[Nauticus]

Contrary to the suggestions earlier in this thread, uniformed retail guards aren't pointless. They're just one component of a corporate security/loss prevention strategy. Other components could include plainclothed LPs, CCTV, EAS systems, point of sale systems, cash handling procedures, etc. The goal of the loss prevention strategy, in general, is to minimize loss through theft (internally, externally, and through supply chain), reduce administrative errors, and mitigate other security risk. The goal of each component may differ (in cases where LP staff have an arrest "quota"), but they all actively work toward the same end result.

Years ago when I started my original security company, we owned the retail security niche. We've since moved out of that industry and have started specializing in other areas, but there is value in uniformed retail security. It's a boring job, but as we know that any physical security plan is comprised of the four pillars deter, detect, delay and respond, and uniformed guards dominate the first.

[lord of the keys]

I used to work as a loss prevention officer. I loved it. Uniformed retail security is boring and frustrating. The crazy thing was i worked at lp and was apprehending people. I also worked at the same time for an uniformed contract company wher i filled in at retail account and was paid more to stand there as visual deterence and both stores were owned by the same parent company.

[Curtis Baillie]

I used to work as a loss prevention officer. I loved it. Uniformed retail security is boring and frustrating. The crazy thing was i worked at lp and was apprehending people. I also worked at the same time for an uniformed contract company wher i filled in at retail account and was paid more to stand there as visual deterence and both stores were owned by the same parent company.

It is common for two retailers owned by the same parent company to have opposite LP policies and different salary structures.