Transcript Shoplifting and Theft prevention

Decorah Police Officer
Dave Smutzler
(That roughly translates
to 1 in 11 people)
•Add
to store’s security expenses
•Increase consumer costs
•Cost communities lost dollars in sales
taxes
•Hurts children and families
•Overburden the police and the courts
On a side note; Men and women
shoplift about equally as often
About 25 percent of shoplifters
are kids.
75 percent are adults.
This number is dependent
upon the store type and
items chosen
73% of adults and 72% of juvenile
offenders say that they did not plan to
steal in advance.
 89%
of kids say they know kids who
shoplift.

66% say they hand out with those kids.
 Shoplifters
say that they are caught once
in every 48 times that they steal.
 They are turned over to police 50% of
the time.
 3% of shoplifters are categorized as
“professional”.
 Steal

solely for resale or profit as a business.
Drug addicts included (they steal to feed their
habit).
 Hardened
professionals that steal as a
lifestyle
Responsible for 10% of the total dollar loss.
 They
steal, not out
of a criminal
intent, financial
need or greed but
as a response to
social and personal
pressures in their
life.
 Steal
because of
the excitement
generated from
“getting away with
it”. Produces a
chemical reaction
resulting in a
“rush” or “high”.
 Many
shoplifters
explain that this
“high” is their
“reward” rather
than the
merchandise
itself.
 Drug
addicts, who
have become
addicted to
shoplifting,
describe the
shoplifting as
equally addicting
as drugs.
Habitual
shoplifters steal
an average of 1.6
times per week.
What can we do?
Signs of shoplifting
 Nervousness.
 Avoiding
eye contact.
 Wandering about the store without
purchasing anything.
 Keeps watching you (constantly looking at
you)
 Stays in an area of the store that is hard for
you to see them.
 Leaves the store and returns to your
business repeatedly in a short period of
time.
Simple Measures to discourage a shoplifter.
 Stay
alert at all times.
 Be friendly and polite to all customers.
 Ask customers if they need help (lets
possible shoplifters know they are
being watched)
 Keep your business neat, clean and
orderly.
 Know where shoplifting is most likely
to occur in your business.
Confuse and distract you.
Shoplifters may work in
teams. One will create a
disturbance (complain
loudly, staging a faint,
knocking over merchandise)
in order to draw attention
away from the shoplifter.
 Elevate
the cashier’s platform.
 Install mirrors that allow cashiers and sales
people to see over and around displays.
 Post signs warning against shoplifting.
 Encourage checking parcels on entry.
 Require receipts for merchandise returns for
cash.

Take an inventory of returned merchandise
against receipts on a regular basis to catch false
returns.
 Make
shoplifters feel as if they are being
watched.
Display strategies
 Keep
display racks away from
entrances and exits. (discourages the
“hit and run” thieves)
 Keep small and expensive items out of
reach or locked in display cases.

Have sales people show only one item at a
time from these cases.
 Arrange
merchandise neatly to make it
easier to detect missing items.
 Take daily or weekly inventories of
expensive items.
Fitting room security
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Keep fitting room doors locked when not in use.
Install “café doors” so that staff members can
monitor fitting room use.
Limit the number of items allowed to be taken into
the dressing room.
Post a sign that directs customers to see a sales
person before taking items into a fitting room.
Use a return rack for unwanted items.
Post signs in fitting rooms warning against shoplifting.
Issue color coded tags to indicate the number of
items taken into the fitting room.
Educate employees
Watch customers for:
 Loose or baggy clothing.
 Clothing inappropriate for weather.
 Large bags, strollers, packages that
could easily be used to conceal
merchandise.
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Check lower rack of
shopping carts.
Watch for switched tags.
Look inside items that can
be used as shoplifting
containers (toolboxes,
wastebaskets, coat
sleeves).
Check for factory seals on
boxed items (look inside
boxes not sealed).
Be familiar with store
prices (Prevents price
switching).
Staple receipts to the
outside of packages.
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Discourage socializing on
the sales floor (a group of
employees in one area
usually means inadequate
coverage elsewhere).
Schedule hours so that an
adequate number of sales
people are working at all
times. (common place for
shoplifters to strike when
you are busy).
Keep employees alert by
holding periodic review
sessions on store
shoplifting policies.
 Do
they need to
have left the
premises?
 Do
they need to
have passed the
checkout area?
They have to be in the act of leaving
the store, or as close to it as you feel
comfortable with. We need to prove
that they intended on leaving without
paying.
“I was going
to pay for
it!”
If you have a shoplifting suspect:
 Approach
the person and ask “Can I
help you?” or “Can I ring that up for
you?”
 If you suspect they have lifted and
concealed something, keep them in
your sight and notify a manager or
security personnel immediately.
Neither available, request the assistance of
another worker.
 Plan a “buddy system” for your own safety.

•Never
try to physically stop a
shoplifter.
•Never lock the door to keep the
offender from leaving.
•Never chase them out of your
business.
•Remain at least an arms length
away from the offender.
•If you feel frightened or uneasy, do
not continue to confront the
offender.
•Leave yourself an avenue of
escape.
•Call the police (382-3667 Decorah
Police) 9-1-1 in emergency.
Listen to
your gut
instinct
•We
need good witnesses.
Have employees write out a
good detailed statement.
•
Court often long ways down
the road.
•We need to get the dollar amount
of the theft.
•
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Determines charging level.
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Photograph item.
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Maintain item for court
purposes.
Thank you