WEST CHAPEL, Fla. Aug 9 2013—Shoplifters are smart. They work very hard at their craft, says Mark R. Doyle, president of Jack L. Hayes International, a loss prevention/shrinkage-control consulting firm.
That’s one reason the firm’s 25th annual Retail Theft Survey of 23 large retailers (18,900 stores), which focuses on apprehension of shoplifters and dollars recovered, found “everything up this year,” Doyle said.
“It just keeps increasing year over year. At some point you’d think [it would go down], as good as we are at loss prevention—and the loss prevention people are very good in this industry—it’s just amazing how many we keep catching when we really focus on prevention,” he said.
The survey reported a 7.3 percent increase in shoplifter and employee theft apprehensions and an increase of 18.07 percent in dollars recovered from those apprehensions over last year. Apprehensions in 2012 were 1,145,688; recoveries in the same year were valued at $189,601,438.
It should be noted, Doyle said in the report, that the survey participants “actively practice the concept of true loss prevention. The apprehension of thieves is a secondary step in their shrinkage control/prevention programs.”
“They are all big retailers with loss prevention staffs within their stores, yet they’re still making all these apprehensions,” he told Security Director News.
And that’s because thieves are smart, he said.
“People think thieves are people who can’t get a real job, but, no, these people have real jobs, and their job is stealing from us. They work very hard to circumvent any systems and controls that we put in place.”
The Hayes survey does not ask retailers where they think their shrink is coming from “because that’s just an estimate,” he said. “It just asks for facts, the numbers are what they are, it’s no one’s opinion.” The survey does, however, ask retailers why they think thefts are on the rise. “And almost all of them said organized retail crime is growing and getting more complex,” he said.
So-called “booster bags,” which are designed so that electronic security devices attached to merchandise won’t be detected,” are a part of the ORC problem.
“Hopefully, EAS [electric article surveillance] companies will detect these bags, but these thieves, they do their homework. That just tells you how much money they’re making,” he said.
His advice? It’s twofold. First, while there’s no question technology helps and is a useful deterrent, he said, the fact is that most retail thieves need privacy to commit their crimes. Stores have cut back on customer service; there are fewer associates on the floor. “If you said, well, you can put in another camera or you could tag some more merchandise, I’d say put more people on the sales floor. Technology is not the same deterrent as me standing right next to you.
Second, retailers should prosecute each apprehended shoplifter. Oftentimes, Doyle said, retailers get frustrated because they’ll call the police and no one will come. The criminal justice system is overburdened, he said. “They don’t want to deal with shoplifting until it becomes real big dollars.”
But prosecuting shoplifters sends an important message, he said. “You’re not going to rehabilitate them, but you’re saying, ‘Look, it’s harder to steal from our store, so go somewhere else.’ ”
That’s not the best answer, Doyle said, but, “We just don’t have the support across the states that we truly need.”
For more from Hayes International on boosted products, look here.
Source-SDN
That’s one reason the firm’s 25th annual Retail Theft Survey of 23 large retailers (18,900 stores), which focuses on apprehension of shoplifters and dollars recovered, found “everything up this year,” Doyle said.
“It just keeps increasing year over year. At some point you’d think [it would go down], as good as we are at loss prevention—and the loss prevention people are very good in this industry—it’s just amazing how many we keep catching when we really focus on prevention,” he said.
The survey reported a 7.3 percent increase in shoplifter and employee theft apprehensions and an increase of 18.07 percent in dollars recovered from those apprehensions over last year. Apprehensions in 2012 were 1,145,688; recoveries in the same year were valued at $189,601,438.
It should be noted, Doyle said in the report, that the survey participants “actively practice the concept of true loss prevention. The apprehension of thieves is a secondary step in their shrinkage control/prevention programs.”
“They are all big retailers with loss prevention staffs within their stores, yet they’re still making all these apprehensions,” he told Security Director News.
And that’s because thieves are smart, he said.
“People think thieves are people who can’t get a real job, but, no, these people have real jobs, and their job is stealing from us. They work very hard to circumvent any systems and controls that we put in place.”
The Hayes survey does not ask retailers where they think their shrink is coming from “because that’s just an estimate,” he said. “It just asks for facts, the numbers are what they are, it’s no one’s opinion.” The survey does, however, ask retailers why they think thefts are on the rise. “And almost all of them said organized retail crime is growing and getting more complex,” he said.
So-called “booster bags,” which are designed so that electronic security devices attached to merchandise won’t be detected,” are a part of the ORC problem.
“Hopefully, EAS [electric article surveillance] companies will detect these bags, but these thieves, they do their homework. That just tells you how much money they’re making,” he said.
His advice? It’s twofold. First, while there’s no question technology helps and is a useful deterrent, he said, the fact is that most retail thieves need privacy to commit their crimes. Stores have cut back on customer service; there are fewer associates on the floor. “If you said, well, you can put in another camera or you could tag some more merchandise, I’d say put more people on the sales floor. Technology is not the same deterrent as me standing right next to you.
Second, retailers should prosecute each apprehended shoplifter. Oftentimes, Doyle said, retailers get frustrated because they’ll call the police and no one will come. The criminal justice system is overburdened, he said. “They don’t want to deal with shoplifting until it becomes real big dollars.”
But prosecuting shoplifters sends an important message, he said. “You’re not going to rehabilitate them, but you’re saying, ‘Look, it’s harder to steal from our store, so go somewhere else.’ ”
That’s not the best answer, Doyle said, but, “We just don’t have the support across the states that we truly need.”
For more from Hayes International on boosted products, look here.
Source-SDN