CCTV In Retail Theft Deterrence

Many retailers have a false sense of security when installing CCTV to deter retail theft. A CCTV system is a powerful tool, but like other tools in the war against theft it has limitations. Many retailers come to believe that once they have installed a CCTV system that their retail theft will drop and they do not have to do anything further. That belief may actually cost them more money.

Here’s how. CCTV systems are passive in nature. They record 24/7 but normally they are not actively watched. Certainly a small business owner may have a monitor in their office and glance at it throughout the day. But unless something is brought to their attention that is the extent of it. You may even have a monitor that a cashier can see. But really how much time does that cashier spend observing? Probably very little, especially after the newness has worn off.

So what is the solution? First you must set your expectations correctly. CCTV can be used to deter, stop and catch several types of retail theft including: employee theft, shoplifting and vendor fraud. Keeping in mind that CCTV is a PASIVE system you must remember that everyone else knows this also including employees, shoplifters and vendors. They know that you are not actively watching and that in most cases it is used to look back at an incident. They know that you do not have the payroll budget to actively watch. They will also test this to see if you are watching.

I will present the solutions to each of these in the tomorrow’s blog.

More info?  retail theft or call 1.770.426.0547