Alpha Spider Wrap

Is Racial Profiling Benefiting Your Store?

May 6, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

According to the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention men, women, and juveniles shoplift equally. The gender, nor race is more prominent than the other, yet many minorities are targeted and harassed when shopping at a retail store because of their race. Shoplifting is a crime, and the retail industry loses billions a dollars yearly due to shoplifting and employee theft, but targeting minorities because of their race is a financial detriment to many retail stores.

For more about this and other topics, follow the links below.

Thieves raising a glass to LCBO policy

TORONTO – Thieves walk into an LCBO, grab a shopping bag and fill it.

Often the bottles are in the $40 to $80 range — Bacardi, Smirnoff, Grey Goose and other popular brands — and they’re swiped daily by the dozens.

Shoplifters confidently make their way to the exit, not even approaching the check-out.

Within seconds, they’ve made their getaway.

And they know LCBO employees can’t do anything to stop them.

According to the LCBO’s theft policy, workers shall not attempt to detain or arrest thieves. They’re suppose to alert police or security personnel.

“It’s very clear they know there’s a loophole,” said a Toronto-area LCBO employee, who agreed to be interviewed on the condition of anonymity.

Sobeys ordered to pay $21,000 in racial profiling case of Halifax-area woman

The human rights board decided in Andrella David’s favour this fall, and announced a remedy Friday.

A Halifax-area woman who was racially profiled while shopping at a Sobeys store will receive more than $21,000 from the company.

Marion Hill, chair of the independent human rights board of inquiry into Andrella David’s case against Sobeys Group Inc., issued a decision on remedy late Thursday.

“Consumer racial profiling is a significant issue in Nova Scotia most often targeting African Nova Scotians and members of the First Nations communities,” Christine Hanson, director of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission said in a release Friday.

“I’m pleased to see that Ms. David’s experience has brought awareness to the issue, and the commission looks forward to working with retailers in the coming months to help prevent similar occurrences.”

Last October, Hill concluded in her original decision that David of Upper Hammonds Plains had been discriminated against on the basis on her African Nova Scotian race and/or perception of income, when an assistant manager at the Sobeys accused her of shoplifting multiple times in 2009 and said they had her on surveillance tape.

8 nabbed after cops intercept multi-state credit card fraud rings

Gloucester Township Police were conducting proactive retail patrol on three separate incidents leading to the arrest of eight people and the recovery of a stolen handgun.Authorities said they were able to interrupt two multi-state credit card rings and prevent thousands of dollars in retail theft and fraud following three separate investigations.

Police were conducting surveillance at the Gloucester Premium Outlets April 26 as a result of ongoing retail theft.

While investigating, police saw four males attempting to use multiple credit and gift cards to purchase high-end merchandise.

Several transactions were denied and after approaching the men, one tried to hide the credit and gift cards in mulch landscaping outside of the store, according to police.

The four men were later found in possession of more than $6,000 worth of merchandise that police believe was fraudulently purchased in different stores.

Detectives seized multiple stolen credit and gift cards, a laptop and encrypted USB drive that was used to load stolen credit card account numbers onto the cards.

Preventing Shoplifting Today

April 28, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

The reasons associated with shoplifting and employee theft are many. Shoplifting is now considered one of the most widespread crimes in the United States, and according to the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention (NASP) there are about 550,000 shoplifting incidents daily. The billions of dollars lost to shoplifting and employee theft robs not only the store, but the consumer and the communities where they are located. Security measures to prevent shoplifting still seem to fall short, and retailers across the nation invest heavily in the most up to date security systems for their store. For more about this and other topics, follow the links below.

Loss Prevention Strategies in a New Age of Natural Selection

There are times when each of us must challenge our convictions and embrace change.

We live in a time of great change. We work in an industry where our ability to adjust to the needs of the customer and the dynamics of a global market sculpt the landscape of retail. We serve in a profession that demands that our loss prevention strategies adapt and adjust to business strategies, our retail partners, and the many elements that can impact company profitability. This isn’t exactly breaking news. We know this. We preach this. We embrace these principles as a critical aspect of what we do. Why then, are there those that are so resistant to certain types of change?

Why do some applaud advancements in technology, but fail to take advantage of the technology that’s available right at their fingertips? Why do some advocate the value of training and education, but fail to support an industry certification program? Why do some lecture their teams on the power of information, and then not take simple steps to stay informed? How is it that we can see the train coming and stand on the tracks rather than jumping on board?

The First Line of Defense

Retailers look to make exterior customer spaces safer

The combination of shootings — by terrorists or otherwise — and other workplace violence has put the retail industry on edge. Stores, restaurants and shopping centers struggle with strategies to protect employees and customers inside their locations, as well as in the parking area outside.

There are few patterns as to how and why the violence takes place where it does, and scant data to support any particular hypothesis. Such violence doesn’t occur on a daily basis, and is just infrequent enough that occurrences generate news alerts on social media and local radio, video lead-ins for the nightly news and headlines in daily newspapers.

Already in the first three months of this year, the industry has seen such incidents as a fast-food employee accused of killing his manager in the restaurant’s parking lot in a Kansas City suburb; a discount store manager in Mobile, Ala., who police say was shot to death by a man he lived with; a 23-year-old clerk at a Norfolk, Va., convenience store shot in the chest during a robbery; and an attempted robbery at a cash loan store in Irving, Tex., that turned into a hostage situation when the armed robber grabbed a female employee to use as a shield as he attempted to get to his car for a getaway. The robber/kidnapper was shot and killed by a responding police officer.

Ten Cheap and Easy Shoplifting Prevention Tips

We’ve put together ten tips that you can use as a business owner to reduce theft and shoplifting at your business. Most thieves shoplift on an average of 1.5 times a week; with nearly $25 million worth of merchandise stolen every day. The following is a list of proactive steps you can take to reduce your losses due to shoplifting.

1. Prevention is your best protection. A business that announces they don’t tolerate theft will often be passed over in favor of a more “friendly” store. Signage and cameras (real or realistic-looking fakes) discourage many would-be shoplifters. Postacrime (www.postacrime.com) has a variety of effective signage and prevention tools. Decals on windows, fitting room mirrors and display fixtures will let the criminals know you’re watching them closely. Many police departments post advice and precautions on preventing retail theft; the Salem, Oregon police department (http://www.cityofsalem.net./export/departments/police/tips_for_preventing_shoplifting.htm) offers very practical information on protecting your business.

2. Trained employees are your best weapon against shoplifting. Just the act of greeting a patron or offering help lets a shoplifter know that he/she is being watched and the employees are attentive. Employees should watch for inappropriately baggy clothing, lingering in corners and unusual attention to traffic and employees. Occasionally a shoplifter will have a partner to create a distraction such as an argument or fainting; employees should designate one or more to react in such a situation while the others continue to work.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, EAS Devices, employee background checks, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, Loss Prevention Training, prevent shrinkage, Retail Anti Theft Devices, shoplifting, surveillance

Get More Out Of Your Burglar Alarm System

April 28, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Is your burglar alarm giving you all it’s got? Technology keeps updating but there is one area you may not be thinking about getting more from your dollar: your burglar alarm system.

Alarm systems can now do so much more for the retailer. First, if you are still transmitting alarm signals via your phone line, then you are very vulnerable. Phone lines are really terrible for transmitting signals. They are slow and unreliable. Your phone line goes down and your alarm is not going to communicate with anyone. Change to cellular communications and you will get the signal out. You see, alarm systems communicate on a different cellular channel than your voice “can you hear me now” channel. That channel is very strong. You may not have good voice service in your store but chances are your alarm system cellular service is great. Cellular signals are MUCH faster also. Cost? Should only add a few dollars a month to your monitoring invoice.

Heard about or been a victim of copper theft. You know, copper, the metal that your roof top or side of building air conditioner units tubing is made of. Thieves will tear up your a/c just to steal that copper to sell it. This leaves your business down until replacement and repair can be completed. Your alarm company can put a sensor on your outside a/c unit that will trip your alarm, if they try to tamper with it. Cost of the part is about $70 +/-.

Do you have valuable property at your business such as equipment, artwork….. that is never to be moved or removed from the premises? Honeywell makes a wireless sensor that is about half the size of a pack of cigarettes. This sensor attaches to that item. It can be programed different ways to notify you if the item is moved or removed. This sensor is monitored by your burglar alarm system.

Your alarm company can guide you. If they don’t have a solution or don’t understand, then you should look for another vendor who can think outside the box.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, EAS Devices, employee background checks, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, loss prevention, Loss Prevention Training, Loss Prevention Workshop, retail security and monitoring, shoplifting violence

HARDENING YOUR PERIMETER – PREVENTING A BURGLARY

April 28, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

My grandparents owned a small hardware store back in the late 1950s. Back then, when my grandpa left at 5pm, he simply locked the back door, gathered his belongings and left, locking the double glass front door behind him with nothing more than a standard lock that you’d find on any home at the time. The front of the store was nothing but glass. He had cash and at least $100k worth of merchandise on the shelves. Wouldn’t it be nice if things could go back to the way they were back then? Could you imagine if you left your store this soft nowadays? Burglaries happen, and they happen often. Over the past ten years as a Regional LP manager for my company, I’ve had it happen a total of 12 times. About once a year, or so, someone, somewhere across my region, breaks into one of my stores; or at least tries to do so. We have a lot of things that we implement to prevent this from happening, so when someone is able to breach our perimeter, it’s usually caused by human error.

Hiding in a rack

Out of the 12, six never actually tried to “break in”. They simply just stayed in the store. Closing manager task #1 is to WALK THE SALES FLOOR thoroughly before dismissing the team. Always check the hiding spots, restrooms and fitting room stalls, in addition the warehouse areas. What always struck me about these cases, is the suspect has literally nowhere to go. He’s locked into the store; and during every single case, the suspect was a trapped mouse. This of course, is due to the fire exit bars that are installed and locked once the building is no longer occupied. Most criminals think they can just grab what they want and push out of a fire exit…

Smash and grab

I’ve had two of these during my tenure. Suspect drives a vehicle through the front entrance. It never really works out in the long run though. Of these two, one made it in, but the truck was so heavily damaged, it wouldn’t move. The other didn’t get past the cement bollards in the front. I highly recommend the installation of bollards if you don’t have them. Smash and grabs are a more and more common way to burglarize small businesses. Bollards are a way to quite literally, fight back.

Walk right in

My personal 3 favorite burglaries of all times; which also led to the terminations of three separate managers. I know that closing a store has its own set of challenges and there are plenty of things that need to get done before you go home… setting the alarm and locking the door shouldn’t be the two things that you forget though. Either one, or both has happened and they have usually resulted from a scattered brained manager getting very distracted, or not doing something right on the alarm panel. One just got distracted with a personal phone call that he left the store so quickly that the front doors weren’t locked. There are criminals that check these things often. We see thieves check car door handles to see if the car is locked; well there are some that do the same to businesses.

Rappel down

If you have a skylight(s) it is important to make sure access to your roof is restricted at all times. If not, someone can get up there and steal the copper out of your AC units, or go special forces and rappel down into your store; two very funny stories that you’ll have to read in the next article.

While burglaries are a more common problem that we might think, there are several measures that you can implement to make your store less of a target for these crooks. Whether it’s installing an alarm panel, putting in a roll-down shutter down, or making sure the roof ladder isn’t left accessible and your front doors are actually locked at night. Following some pretty basic steps and using some good old fashioned common sense can help you to avoid the headache and lost money that comes from a burglary.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, EAS Devices, employee background checks, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting systems, internal Audit, Loss Prevention Seminar, Loss Prevention Seminars, Shoplifting Prevention, surveillance

A RETAILER’S WORST FEAR-STORE ROBBERY

April 28, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

It was 4:30am on a Tuesday morning. My company cell phone pierced through the quiet halls of my house. At first, I didn’t get out of bed; perhaps it was a wrong number. Silence. As I doze back off, I hear the familiar tone once again. Who could be calling me and for what reason at this hour? I let it ring. I hear the chirp of the voicemail. Before I can muster the energy to get out of bed, I hear my personal phone ringing. This one is next to me on the night stand. Something is wrong, I immediately think to myself. When I reach for my phone in the middle of the dark room, eyes still blurry, I see the caller ID. It’s a sheriff’s deputy that I’m good friends with. My heart is in my throat as I answer. “You’re morning crew was just robbed at gunpoint. Get to the store now.”

I don’t think I even gave my friend a response before leaping out of bed. I quickly get dressed and race down stairs. Those two missed phones calls were from a panicked and frantic store manager. The other from the general manager. I jump in the car and speed across town; waking the VP of Loss Prevention, the regional VP and the media relations department. All with the news that no LP manager wants to say. “Our team was just robbed. I have no info on the wellbeing of our employees. I’ll update you as soon as I gather info.”

I get to the store and see close to a dozen police units. There’s crime scene tape and the local new stations are already setting up shop. I rush to the front door and see that it’s been shattered. Later, I find that the robber fired two shots from a .45… one round came within inches of a stocker, into the door, gaining entry into the store. At this point, I don’t care about the damage, I don’t care about the money. I head straight to the staging area and am suddenly taken into an embrace by the morning manager; someone I’ve worked alongside for 10 years. She’s shaken up, but OK. So is the rest of the team. I finally have good news. I send a quick text to my boss that all employees are safe; no injuries. We lost $9k and have a broken door. All replaceable.

It was no accident that our team made it out of this ordeal safely.

Every single week, our company’s robbery policy and procedure is covered with our teams. While a robbery can happen at any time of the day or night, they are most likely going to occur early in the morning, or late at night. Training your team to react to this scenario greatly increases your chance of getting out unharmed. So we train, constantly on three very important points.

Comply – there is no need to argue with a guy with a gun. Everything in the store can be replaced. The company brings in several billions of dollars each year; the amount of cash that can physically be taken is nothing compared to your safety.
Give them whatever they want — if they want cash, give them cash. If they want the entire electronics department, let em’ have it. If they want you to open each cash register for the change, then that’s what we’re going to do in order to get them out. Do not argue, do not deny. Your job is to get them out of the store as quickly as possible and without incident. Let our cameras and law enforcement partners’ worry about trying to identify them.
Never, under any circumstance, contact the police while there is an active robbery – We never want a robbery to turn into a hostage situation. If the police show up quickly, the robbers could panic and hold the team hostage. There is also the possibility of a shoot-out with police and the potential for injury to the team. This point cannot be stressed enough. Wait until you are positive that the robber has fled the scene before making that call; because once you do, you’re going to have every free unit across the city rushing to your doors.

While I hope to never have to see one of my teams go through an ordeal such as this again, I know that there will always exist the remote possibility of it happening again; whether it’s to one of my stores, or to one of yours. If you’ve never thought about implementing a robbery policy/procedure before, I would highly suggest doing so now. The better you plan for such an act, the better your chances of coming through without injury. Remember, money and merchandise can be replaced; a team member cannot.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, EAS Devices, Employee Theft, Periodic inventory, Perpetual Inventory, POS ROI, Prevent Shoplifting, prevent shrinkage, retail security, retail security and monitoring, security, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

Get the Biggest Bang For Your Buck, Invest In Alpha Security Products

April 28, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Alpha Security – 5 WC blog 69

Prevent Shoplifting-5

Retail Anti-Theft Devices-4

Get the Biggest Bang For Your Buck, Invest In Alpha Security Products

Retail shortage is a huge problem and seems to get worse every year. According the 2015 Global Retail Theft Barometer total retail shrinkage in North America during 2014-2015 was $36.79 billion dollars. Shrinkage increase reported by respondents, who participated in both the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 surveys, went from 1.28% in 2013-2014 to 1.87% in 2014-2015. So what can a store owner do to drive down shortage? Let me preface this by letting you know I have roughly 20 years of loss prevention experience and over 25 total years of retail experience. Regardless of the size of your store, there are steps that any retailer can take to improve shortage results and, in the process improve profits. It may surprise some readers that I am not going to say customer service is at the top of my list. While customer service is important and it is a deterrent to prevent shoplifting and it does a great deal to improve sales, it does not have the same impact that a security system has when it includes retail anti-theft devices such as Alpha Security products.

Here is what I mean. Customer service deters shoplifting. That’s wonderful and I am the first to insist that a business MUST establish a culture of customer service excellence. The payoff is going to be a returning customer base, word of mouth promotion, increased sales and this also leads to a happier staff. I could go on about the benefits of customer service but that will be another time. The problem I see is that it only truly impacts one facet of shrinkage. A security system built around retail anti-theft devices and closed circuit television will not only prevent shoplifting, but it deters employee theft and vendor theft as well. The only area of retail shrinkage it does not impact is administrative loss, such as vendor billing errors, keying errors on receipts, mis-scanning product, etc. A well designed system makes all thieves aware that theft is not going to be tolerated from the moment they walk in the door of a retailer. Alpha security products include hard tags to protect clothing and accessories, hardware and electronics. Alpha Spider Wrap allows the display of electronics products and accessibility to the customer. Alpha Keepers prevent the theft of a multitude of products from health and beauty items to DVDs and videogames. These retail anti-theft devices have visual deterrence value because thieves, whether shoplifters or employees recognize the challenge they will have if they choose to try to steal merchandise that is protected. This may be trying to remove a clothing security hard tag and damaging merchandise in the process or it could be trying to cut an Alpha Spider Wrap and activating a tamper alarm. The harder it is for a criminal to get what they want, the more likely they are to leave something alone.

The other protection offered by Alpha Security devices is that they do work with an electronic article surveillance system and when passed through an EAS antenna, these products activate the alarm. A well trained staff knows how to properly respond to an alarm activation and can recover merchandise that was secured by a device. Yes, I have had vendors and employees exit a store with merchandise that was not paid for and an alarm was activated. EAS systems are not installed simply to prevent shoplifting but employee and vendor theft as well. Many of the Alpha Security products can be purchased in either a 2 alarm or 3 alarm version, the 3 alarm adding an additional layer of protection in that the third alarm is an audible alarm built in the device itself. In case someone exits with a 3 alarm device they set off the EAS antenna alarm and if they get to a certain point the internal alarm actually built in the unit activates (the third alarm is the tamper alarm).

Customer Service is a great way to prevent shoplifting and all associates should be trained on it and expected to deliver. It will prevent a significant amount of shoplifting theft, but not all of it. It also has negligible effect on internal theft and vendor theft. Retail anti-theft devices can deter and prevent shoplifting, vendor theft and employee theft. Invest in Alpha Security products and know that you will start to see immediate return on investment with the impact on all areas of retail theft.

For more information on Alpha Security, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 2 Alarm, 3 Alarm, Alpha Spider Wrap, Prevent Shoplifting, Spider Wrap

Is Your Loss Prevention Team Ready?

April 20, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Employee theft, shoplifting, and administrative mistakes are the three major sources of retail shrinkage in the United States. Shoplifting according to the National Association for Shoplifting prevention, is done by millions of people and is costing the country billions of dollar’s worth of merchandise that is being stolen. The millions of dollars spent by these retail stores to prevent shoplifting, is minor considering the billions of dollars lost by employee theft and shoplifting. Among other preventive measures your retail store is taking, is a well trained prevention team included? For more about this topic, follow the links below.

Bar the Door

Anti-theft glass makes storefronts less vulnerable to break-ins

With all the talk about the very real need to protect the security of customer information and an enterprise’s data, it can be easy to forget the reality of in-person threats to a retail establishment. Theft and other forms of shrinkage are no small matter — in 2014, retailers reported average shrinkage of 1.4 percent, according to the most recent National Retail Federation/University of Florida National Retail Security Survey. That equates to $44 billion.

Shoplifting and organized retail crime represented 38 percent of inventory shrinkage for the 100 retailers that participated in the survey; in 2014 the average dollar loss was $318 per shoplifting incident. Criminals gain access in any number of ways; some brazenly walk in during operating hours while others break in while the store is closed.

A gas station/convenience store owner in Daytona Beach, Fla., experienced a number of storefront break-ins that involved criminals smashing the glass of the front door.

How to implement smarter employee theft detection

No retail business wants to believe that they might be subject to theft from their own employees. Unfortunately, it is a very real problem. It might be stealing items on their person, or exploiting employee discount privileges to significantly reduce the price – either way, employee theft can account for as much as 28 per cent of unexplained inventory loss globally, according to the recent Global Theft Barometer Report.

In order to prevent it, it is first important for employers to be aware why employees might feel the temptation to steal – from financial pressures in their personal lives, to general disgruntlement with their employers. But irrespective of the emotional reason that causes employees to consider stealing, it all boils down to something very simple: they think they can get away with it.

Deterring employee theft

A deterrence, of course, breaks the urge to do so. Whilst establishing predetermined consequences of theft will of course work to an extent, implementing a sophisticated detection system is arguably the most effective deterrent. Prevention is the best form of protection when it comes to retail shrinkage.

Coaching Lessons for Managing Your Loss Prevention Team

Loss prevention managers should know that the strength and quality of their teams can be directly proportional to the results achieved by team efforts.

Some of the most rewarding experiences in my work life have involved building teams. It has always been my opinion that the strength and quality of your team is directly proportional to the results.

With responsibility for loss prevention, new store development, and service operations, my primary function at work is leading teams of individuals to success. After 20+ years of retail experience, I thought I understood loss prevention team leadership. But in raising and coaching my son, I learned some things that have changed the way I view my teams at work.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, Background checks, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, loss prevention, Loss Prevention Seminar, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, surveillance

Preventing Shoplifting In Your Business

April 13, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Many people steal because they need the rush of the theft. Some steal because they have a mental illness, and many others steal out of necessity. The reasons of why they steal are many and varied, but the fact is that retailers big and small and consumers like you and I have to pay for the theft. Retailers make you pay a bigger price for the things you buy to counteract the money they are loosing with the shoplifting. The fact is that as a society, everybody looses. What kind of protection can you have as a store owner to prevent shoplifting in your store? Are all systems equally effective? If you have questions about loss prevention systems and what are the best ones for your business, contact us and we will be happy to talk to you.

To read more about this topics, follow the links below.

Kids used as distraction for stealing

By Victoria White

Shoplifting continues to be problematic for retailers with some people even using their children to get away with stealing goods.

Retailers said a group of adults and children went into optometrist stores in the Napier CBD last week, with adults taking items while the children were used to distract staff.

The stores realised the connection when stolen goods from one store were left at the next one hit.

At Specsavers Optometrists the group got away with three pairs of glasses.

Co-owner Mark Blades said there had been “a bit of theft of late”.

“It happens all day everyday,” he said, “it’s nothing new to me, I’ve been in retail for a long time.

“It’s unfortunate but it happens in all societies.”

Another retailer, who did not want the name of her store reported, said the group had taken $500 worth of goods from her shop.

“It was a gang of four adults and four children,” she said. “They used distracting tactics … the four kids were running around the shop and the adults were taking things, one was trying to get behind the counter.

“It was four adults using their young kids as part of the crime which is really sad.”

Staff were able to get the group’s car registration number, and identify the people for police.

ECSO starts neighborhood watch for businesses

Having alarms, locks and security grates are a good way to protect a business, but there are other ways to increase security.

One of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office’s suggestions is involving friends and neighbors.

The ECSO has launched a free crime-prevention program for local entrepreneurs called the Business Watch. The concept is simple. It’s like a neighborhood watch, only for businesses.

Lynnea McCray of the Sheriff’s Office’s Community Services Unit said that the goal of the program is to facilitate better communication between businesses and the Sheriff’s Office, as well as share information that can help prevent and solve crimes.

“A lot of times in a neighborhood, you don’t know your neighbor but you should,” McCray should. “It’s the same with businesses. They should definitely look out for each other.”

Through the program, the Sheriff’s Office plans to create contact lists of businesses based on types and regions. So if a store owner notices someone passing counterfeit bills or shoplifting, they can quickly send out an email the Sheriff’s Office will use to notify investigators and the employers’ peers.

Police ID Walmart worker killed by shoplifting suspect; gunman on the loose

Authorities have identified the Walmart worker who they say was shot and killed by a suspected shoplifter outside of Atlanta.

Lilburn police Capt. Thomas Bardugon tells news outlets that 25-year-old Jaseramie Dion “JD” Ferguson was shot Sunday night when he and another guard approached a man who was attempting to steal three televisions from the Lilburn store.

Police released a photo of the suspect from surveillance video. They say the man fled in a red or dark red four-door sedan, leaving the TVs behind.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Ferguson was a married father of three and had worked at the store seven months when he was shot.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is assisting in the probe.

Filed Under: Shoplifting Prevention Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-thefts devices, EAS Devices, Employee Theft, Georgia Alarms systems, Georgia shoplifting prevention, Georgia shoplifting systems, Loss Prevention Training, POS ROI, Prevent Shoplifting, racial profiling, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security, retail security and monitoring, security, security devices, shoplifting, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

Are You Confused ?

April 12, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Are you confused about how to stop shoplifters? Many Retailers are. Often I hear something like “I have a CCTV camera system to stop shoplifters”. The reality is that shoplifters couldn’t care less. Cameras are a very tiny deterrent to a shoplifter. They know you do not have the time or payroll dollars to actively watch. And it is easy enough to create a diversion or simply take your merchandise and move to another location in your store that does not have camera coverage.

Keep in mind that Loss Prevention Systems also sells and installs cameras. So I have quite a bit of experience with this subject. Cameras are great tools but they have their limits. They are great for employee theft prevention and investigation, robbery prevention, burglary prevention and so on. But cameras are NOT proactive (passive)in the case of shoplifting. The shoplifter will be long gone by the time you figure out what is going on if at all.

However, a Checkpoint EAS system is PROACTIVE. It is working 24/7 even when you or your staff are not paying attention. Checkpoint Systems labels and hard tags are applied to your merchandise and if the thief tries to steal you products the Checkpoint System at the doors goes into alarm. We can even send an instant message to your cell phone or other mobile device at that time.

A Checkpoint System never takes a day off, is never sick, doesn’t want a pay raise, and doesn’t want a $15/hour minimum wage. Don’t you wish your staffing was that simple?

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alpha 2 Alarm, Alpha 3 Alarm, Alpha High Theft Solutions, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Security, Alpha Spider Wrap, Anti-shoplifting training, anti-theft devices, anti-theft tags, anti-thefts devices, EAS Devices, Georgia shoplifting systems, Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, Loss Prevention Workshop, Periodic inventory, Retail Anti Theft Devices, retail security and monitoring, Shoplifting Prevention, shoplifting statistics, shoplifting violence, surveillance

NON-TRADITIONAL USES FOR EAS DEVICES

April 12, 2016 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

EAS is great isn’t it? For the most part, if someone is stealing product “X,” you slap on a quick tag or label and you see a pretty substantial reduction in shrink (for the most part.… Live in the real world). As my LP career has progressed over the years, I’ve seen EAS change drastically. I’ve also seen what retailers apply EAS tags to change as well. Often times, I scratch my head in disbelief at the ideas that come out sometimes and others, I pull my hair out because we could have been more proactive with tag placement. I’ve also seen some fantastic ideas from my store teams on some not so standard tagging procedures.

I had a store a few years ago that were consistently losing their register keys. We later learned that an employee was stealing them and was coming into the store during busy times and just helping themselves to cash in the unattended registers. It took a few months and over $7,500 to put the pieces together before we had an idea of what was happening. That’s a very expensive lesson to learn; especially when there is quite literally, a $0.5 solution.

All of our register keys have a small hole in the top, so they can be hooked to a lanyard for the cashier supervisor to carry around. After our theft incident, we used a pencil tag through that hole to make it less appealing to try and steal the key. Granted, the thief could take it to the service desk and remove the EAS device, but that requires a few more steps that most are not willing to take. As a matter of fact, since taking this one proactive measure, we’ve never had to replace a “lost” register key. For us, it seems to be a great way to maintain a solid key control procedure.

After using some EAS tags on these keys, it really got me thinking about what else is a potential risk in our stores that we don’t secure, but should. The list is virtually endless if you think about it. The next big item that we began securing with EAS hard tags was our handheld units (Symbols/Telxons). A few of our stores fell victim to an eBay thief a few years back, in part due to the ease of removing them from ours store. Since running an Alpha tag with a lanyard through them, we hadn’t lost a single one to theft.

We also have a lot of in-store use only type items (think step-ladders, folding carts, dollies…). As part of our risk mitigation efforts, we utilize EAS tags on all of these items. While they often have to be used outside of the store; the idea that when they do go out, our greeter becomes aware that they are going outside and can better keep track of our in store equipment. You wouldn’t believe how many times someone has stolen a hand truck, or pallet jack from me…

The bottom line is that EAS can be used to protect much more than just your inventory. There are dozens of items inside your four walls that cost you money that dishonest people would just love to take. Why go out and spend any more money that you have to in order to protect your supplies when the answer is already in your store? I’m all about leveraging available resources to accomplish your goals and this is just another item in a skilled LP manager’s tool belt.

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