Shoplifting and LP personnel

[CommonGoal]

To Police Officer's

How do you feel about the Asset Protection/Loss Prevention Officers you come in contact with?

Do any of you have good relationships with these LPO in your community?

Do you feel they provide a service that helps the community?

The reason I ask is in my City I have a great working relationship with my Police Officers. They help me and I help them. Is this like this in other Cities?

Also, what do most of you do when you respond to shoplifting calls? Do you most of the time let them sign or do you take them to jail. (Depending on the circumstances)


Just interested in what is going on out there in my field.

Thanks

[1042 Trooper]

I spent 9 years in retail law enforcement before the WHP hired me. All in greater L.A. Started as an undercover agent and winded up as Security Director for Montgomery Ward and then later, an internal fraud investigator for a grocery chain called Ralphs.

Good, needed work. I probably made more physical arrests (20-30 a month) than most uniformed cops for self-discpovered / witnessed crimes.

You should be proud of what you do - good stepping store to sworn work, too.

[Tim Dees]

The LP department at Sears in Reno was, at one time, something of a farm team for the PD. I think we hired every one of their LP agents that applied for a few years.

LP people are like anyone else - there are good and bad ones. I have known mostly good ones. The bad ones forgot who they were working for and tried to be cops,l which is what my late wife (former Wal-Mart LP associate and LP regional supervisor) referred to as a "CED": Career-Ending Decision.

[CommonGoal]

Tim, I am a Asset Protection Manager for a large retailer and if anyone of my LPs stepped out of there bounds so to speak they are immediately corrected and/or terminated. So I know what you mean when you say CED.

I know that some in my field can give people the wrong idea about law enforcement. A customer sees a guy in plain clothes with a badge around his neck using excessive force on a shoplifter, that person may think the individual is a Police Officer. Then that person could have a bias opinion of other Officers. It is a fine line, you have to make sure the people who work for you remain professional at all times.

[irishlad2nv]

Tim, I am a Asset Protection Manager for a large retailer and if anyone of my LPs stepped out of there bounds so to speak they are immediately corrected and/or terminated. So I know what you mean when you say CED.

I know that some in my field can give people the wrong idea about law enforcement. A customer sees a guy in plain clothes with a badge around his neck using excessive force on a shoplifter, that person may think the individual is a Police Officer. Then that person could have a bias opinion of other Officers. It is a fine line, you have to make sure the people who work for you remain professional at all times.

That's where most LP's draw the line and mess up. I disagree with them having any type of badge, let alone using any force, unless it is to protect themselves. I worked LP before LE and our policy was, well first off, no badge, but never to put a hand on the person suspected of shoplifting. that is what the Police were for. We were issued handcuffs and were trained to use them seldom did. All you are doing is detaining the person until the police arrive. I did enjoy the work and had very good relations with the local Police and did so when I got into LE, vice versa. So I know what it is you do and I commend you for it.

[Kieth M.]

Among the best, are the guys/girls who have almost everything wrapped up neatly, and produce legible, reader-friendly reports....Home Depot, Rite-Aid are a couple...in my little corner of L.A. Unfortunately, with a shift of 10-16 (and sometimes as few as eight! ) cops to service a population of over 300,000, we don't have the luxery of time to get to know our local LP folks with any depth. I have often thought that we need to offer training or at least provide written training material to them.

Among the worst, the non-English speaking, let alone English writing, no formal training security guards in the LAPD-looking (at a distance) uniforms.

[CommonGoal]

We have a large mall in my area and in the mall is a police substation. The Officers in this substation set up monthly meetings open to all retail loss prevention. They set up guest speakers and we can all share info and pictures of the people we catch. This is a great way to set up working relationships with your local LP folks. LPs have allot of information on bad people working the area. If they have not caught them they at least have pictures of them, car details, possibly license plate. This can help LE identify career criminals. LE can also give us info on people they are looking for or scams working in the area. I would suggest that you set these meeting up in your area if you have not already.

[1042 Trooper]

That's where most LP's draw the line and mess up. I disagree with them having any type of badge, let alone using any force, unless it is to protect themselves. I worked LP before LE and our policy was, well first off, no badge, but never to put a hand on the person suspected of shoplifting. that is what the Police were for. We were issued handcuffs and were trained to use them seldom did. All you are doing is detaining the person until the police arrive. I did enjoy the work and had very good relations with the local Police and did so when I got into LE, vice versa. So I know what it is you do and I commend you for it.

Quite different in L.A. - or at least it was 25 years ago when I was involved. We were armed, placed the thieves under arrest (citizen's) right there on the sidewalk, cuffed and frisked everyone and, had the contnuation sheet ready to go when LAPD arrived.

Had real pretty badges too (I designed them!)

I guess things have changed.

[irishlad2nv]

Quite different in L.A. - or at least it was 25 years ago when I was involved. We were armed, placed the thieves under arrest (citizen's) right there on the sidewalk, cuffed and frisked everyone and, had the contnuation sheet ready to go when LAPD arrived.

Had real pretty badges too (I designed them!)

I guess things have changed.

Guess so..lol. And that was 25 yrs ago...ouch...j/k. Anyway, I know that Macy's up in NYC has their own "lock-up". Of course each Department/Chain Store is different. Wal-mart could care less and doesn't have the best camera equipment as opposed to Target (top notch) to me, but when I worked Wallyworld yrs ago, it was all walking the floors. I enjoyed it until I went into LE.

[CGIS1]

Among the best, are the guys/girls who have almost everything wrapped up neatly, and produce legible, reader-friendly reports....Home Depot, Rite-Aid are a couple...in my little corner of L.A. Unfortunately, with a shift of 10-16 (and sometimes as few as eight! ) cops to service a population of over 300,000, we don't have the luxery of time to get to know our local LP folks with any depth. I have often thought that we need to offer training or at least provide written training material to them.

Among the worst, the non-English speaking, let alone English writing, no formal training security guards in the LAPD-looking (at a distance) uniforms.

Sorry, this is breaking topic just abit, but how on earth could you possibly cover a 300k+ population with only 8 officers! The local county in which I live in has on average around 35 partols out, and we have around 300k living here.

[1042 Trooper]

Guess so..lol. And that was 25 yrs ago...ouch...j/k. Anyway, I know that Macy's up in NYC has their own "lock-up". Of course each Department/Chain Store is different. Wal-mart could care less and doesn't have the best camera equipment as opposed to Target (top notch) to me, but when I worked Wallyworld yrs ago, it was all walking the floors. I enjoyed it until I went into LE.

Cameras were still very expensive in my day so we just had a few we "hid" in mirrored ceiling tiles above cash regisister to nab employee theives.

In my day, it was the Grande Mirror mounted high on the wall and all of us (store security) living with rats and bugs and spiders, crawling around up there, sitting behind them for friggin hours on end. And yes, of course, walking the floor.

Today they have the camera bubbles all over the place and the store dicks just sit in anair conditioned office playing with the cameras. Must be nice!

Paid pretty good back then too, as opposed to now. They way I understand it, it doesn't pay as it once did.

[CommonGoal]

Cameras were still very expensive in my day so we just had a few we "hid" in mirrored ceiling tiles above cash regisister to nab employee theives.

In my day, it was the Grande Mirror mounted high on the wall and all of us (store security) living with rats and bugs and spiders, crawling around up there, sitting behind them for friggin hours on end. And yes, of course, walking the floor.

Today they have the camera bubbles all over the place and the store dicks just sit in anair conditioned office playing with the cameras. Must be nice!

Paid pretty good back then too, as opposed to now. They way I understand it, it doesn't pay as it once did.

The pay is not so bad in my area (KCMO). LP Agents and Officers starting out make between 8-13 dollars an hour. If you get into a Sup. or Manager position you can make between 30-60,000 a year depending on the Company.
But you are doing more that floor walking all the time.