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| Punching Bag Bitch, cry and whine your way into oblivion. |
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Jan 12, 05
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Loss prevention, what the fuck?
So I'm on my way home from another great day at the office, taking the skytrain, reading my book and not paying much attention to the people around me.
Suddenly, I look up and I see this guy get on, he's wearing HANDCUFFS. This definitely got my attention. He's shoved in by two guys in ordinary clothes. Hmm, looks like some kind of store security. They're questioning this guy. "how old are you?" "31" (sad. sad state for this guy to be in at 31.) Then their questioning shifts to interrogation style, with the skytrain as its audience and they're berating this guy. Wow, it's so fucking worth it over a discman that looks like it's probably worth 40 dollars. Like this seriously seems wrong to me. I was so mad I was about to ask the guys if they had anywhere to do this but the skytrain, or if they had a budget for a car or a fucking taxi or something. I really wished I could have found out which store or company they represented, because to me this seemed really, really wrong. I know one of the guys caught my ice glare too. Seriously, what the fuck ? Is 40 dollars even worth it? 
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Jan 12, 05
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At the same time, some store security measures are so f'n loose it's almost sending out the message to shoplifters to "WELCOME, and steal!"
Sometimes i feel like policies should be harsher. Theft occurs so often but there isn't very much a store can do about it for safety and legal reasons. I've witnessed people walk right out of stores with stolen mechandise and yet because noone was there to actually witness the act of theft there was nothing anyone could do but watch them walk out of the store. Store security is most often useless. Sure it's only one 40$ item that was stolen at the time but think of how much those thefts accumulate over the years... I think that being loose with shoplifters encourages theft, and sometimes I feel they deserve the embarassment. If one is to shoplift, they're making a choice and with choices come consequences whether it be public embarassment, whatever.
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Jan 12, 05
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I know what you're saying Myra, and I totally agree that they were COMPLETELY unprofessional by using the Skytrain, but as someone who works in retail, I know WHY the stores do it.
It's not a far jump from a $40 discman to a $700 LCD monitor. Trust me...I've seen it happen, and at a location like Downtown you have to be vigilant and let the sticky fingers know that they aren't going to get away with it in your store. The guys at work have followed creeps outside and repo'd stolen $150 wireless mice from them. What you saw was just plain wrong, but so is stealing, plain and simple. I want things/need money, but you don't see ME going out and lifting shit.
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Jan 12, 05
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Yeah, I don't have any problem with dealing with people that steal shit. I worked retail for many many years and busted my share of shoplifters. What the guy did wasn't right, but the measures were EXTREMELY inappropriate.
But taking him on the skytrain and berating him in public was a little extreme and very um..ghetto? Last edited by miss.myra; Jan 12, 05 at 11:25 PM.
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Jan 12, 05
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Not sure bout the relevance of the 40$ price tag. The theft itself warrant consequence. Not sayin it serves justice or decorum 2 berate the criminal on public tansit but it is definitely a less heinous crime than stealin in my books. & perhaps the suspect was a habitual offender or there were some other extenuating circumstances involved. We shouldn’t be quick 2 judge without knowing all the facts. +I wasn’t even aware that store security had authority to put handcuffs on anybody.
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Jan 13, 05
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As you probably know Myra, I did this for a job. While berating him publicly may not have been the most appropriate of measures sometimes its one of the only measures that works. You have to be forceful and downright mean to these guys or else you get no respect from them whatsoever. If a criminal senses that you are weak in any way they will not hesitate to try and take advantage of it.
Sometimes the forcefulness comes in physical form if they don't want to co-operate. On the other hand it also comes in a mental form. If you are dealing with a repeat offender sometimes embarassing them publicly will make them think twice next time. Not necessarily from stealing in general but definitely from stealing from YOUR store. Until you become the guy who takes the lumps and beats trying to catch these guys its hard to judge from the outside looking in. Trust me. Ask the undercover LPO what it's like to deal with having needles, knives, and guns pulled on you and then ask him if he disagrees with the amount of force he has to use. I had all three of those pulled on me at various times in my LPO career as well as innumerable fist fights and confrontations and I don't regret a single action I ever had to make. :)
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Jan 13, 05
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Hey acidpt..... inhouse security isn't covered by gov't law. They can carry cuffs, pepperspray etc. and they don't have to be licenced. If you work for a company like Concord or Intercon you have to take your BSA and get licenced. Licenced guards are not allowed to carry any sort of protection whatsoever. It's really stupid if you ask me... I know I could have used a pair of cuffs or something in a few situations.
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Jan 13, 05
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Quote:
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Jan 13, 05
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Whatever happened to the good old idea of having security hold the shoplifter until the police arrive, then pressing charges?
Ugh. I've chased down my fair share of shoplifers - can someone remind my WHY I am thinking of going BACK in to retail management? - but never thought of demeaning them in public in such a horrible fashion. Like, really, wtf? I agree with you for sure, Myra.
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Jan 13, 05
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^Seriously, don't be fucking naive. They still do hold them until the police arrive.... during that time they still have to maintain control of said criminal. The situation that Myra described most likely involved a chase and confrontation.
Now you tell me that if the guy runs from you and then tries to fight with you that you won't be angry? As I said, you have to maintain a level of authority over them. Until you have done the job yourself you really have no idea what you're talking about. BTW... I'm not talking about some pre-teeny girl who steals from OTW. I'm talking about smacked out addicts who have needles and the such.... it is a very hard job. You should be glad these guys are out there doing it too
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Jan 13, 05
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it dosnt really matter how cheap the item is its still theft, and alot of retail stores operate on pretty tight profit margins, if they loose a few hundred dollars in inventory that could easily be their entire profit for the day.
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Jan 13, 05
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in communist russia...CIGGARETTE SMOKES YOU!
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Jan 15, 05
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Jan 15, 05
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If you know as much about shoplifters as you act like you do, you would know that there are organized gangs that steal from stores such as OTW - I apprehended 5 such shoplifters during my day and NONE of them were under 35 years-old, and four of the five were asian males. I have chased shoplifters through the mall, across the parking lot, across the street, down the street, etc. before they have either ditched the goods or I have chased them to the area where security was near. So, thanks for the patronizing little paragraph there, but next time don't ASSUME what others have been through. Edit: I start working at Metrotown in two weeks...something tells me it's time to break out the running shoes again...
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Jan 15, 05
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^HAHAHA... you still come across as naive as all hell to think that you can be all fucking sunshine and daisies to a guy who just got busted for theft.
Big ups for catching 5 whole shoplifters.... try 4 or 5 a shift, 5 days a week. Try moving from the protection of a mall to East Van where you've got disease toting criminals with no reason not to stab you with a needle. You know NOTHING of what it's like to be an undercover security guard and don't even pretend that you do. When you bust those organized gangs of asians as you put it.... you know why they don't give as much of a fight? They know that you can't do shit to them. Even if they get charged they can afford to either 1)Beat the charge or 2) They'll get away with a slap on the wrist. The courts don't have time to deal with theft from a bloody clothing store let alone room in their prisons to stick them in there for a minor offense. I'm not trying to cut down what YOU did but it is absolutely 100% naive to think that you don't have to be tough on these guys. I tried being the nice guy with some of them. You know what that got me? Fighting off a guy with a used needle pointed at my face.... my days of being nice were OVER. As I said before, don't judge these guys for being hard asses... if they aren't it could literally cost them their lives.
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Jan 15, 05
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^ I totally understand what you're saying, but we're talking about Myra's post here. Verbally abusing someone for shoplifting is a crime, too, you realize? If the police WANTED, although highly doubtful, they could arrest the security guards in question for assault. But I guess they've never thought about that.
My problem w/a lot of security guards is that they think they're the police. What they don't realize is that they're NOT. They shouldn't be chasing needle-toting criminals because they are not trained to deal with that type of situation, the police ARE. Which is my point. At OTW we were trained NOT to chase shoplifters, but being the type of person I am, I always chased them, but I never, ever tried to apprehend them by myself. Granted, security guards DO have more training in that sense than I did, but they are still not supposed to put themselves into harm's way. What if that person HAD stabbed you with a used needle, and you HAD contracted a disease, only to get back a couple hundred dollars worth of merchandise? Would that really have been worth it? (And for the record...4 of the 5 shoplifters I caught were repeat offenders, and each of them served jail time. :) )
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Jan 16, 05
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^Get a job for a security company and see what they have to say about that. I worked for a company called I-Corps... they had both uniformed and undercover guards. The uniformed guards were expected to stand there and be nothing more than a visual deterrent. The undercover (which was the position I held) was to visually confirm theft w/o being seen and apprehend the thief after leaving the store.
They fully expected us to get in harms way every shift. If the guy you're apprehending pulls the needle before you apprehend him it's common sense that you would let him go. I'm looking at $200 bucks of merch in the jacket of a guy holding a needle to my face... guess what, he walks away. Once you apprehend though it's a whole other story. I had needles pulled on me a couple times and both of those times were after I had apprehended the thief and brought him into the back room. One ended up running. Lucky him. The other time the guy ended up getting distracted, which led to the needle getting kicked out of his hand which then led to the most severe ass kicking that guy ever recieved or will recieve in his life time. Now don't go telling me I over-stepped my bounds.... I was protecting my own life. The fact is, every single time I had to apprehend someone I was putting myself in harms way. I had to apprehend guys twice my size... that means take them down hard. I literally got into a fight/physical confrontation 4 to 5 times a day. Even more depending on which store/area I was working. I, unlike a lot of guards I'll admit, did not think I was a police officer. I did have the right under law to physically apprehend and ARREST thieves though. I could even give them a court date and send them on their way if the situation warranted. The whole point of my rant right from the get-go was the fact that you HAVE to be tough as nails with these guys or they will immediately find a way to use your weakness on you. Those guys on skytrain were probably showing the guy that they weren't gonna take his bullshit, don't talk back, you made me chase you 6 blocks, you tried to fight me once I got you, you really made my job difficult. See where I'm getting? You deal with that kind of apprehension and tell me how friendly you are to him afterwards. Maybe you can stop by Starbucks on the way back to the store and buy him a nice hot chocolate to say 'Hey, no hard feelings mate. Just doing my job.' I wish it could have worked that way because I would have liked my job far more. I am far from a mean guy by nature. Ask anyone who knows me. I'm as friendly as they come. If I could have nicely asked criminals to come on back in the store and let me arrest you I would have. I also would have been out of a job for NEVER catching criminals. Last edited by Cdn_Brdr; Jan 16, 05 at 09:40 AM.
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Jan 16, 05
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what it really comes down to is that they are making it clear and simple that you don't steal at there store. Property crime around here is absolutely insane and if it takes interogating someone out in the public then so be it... That person will be an ass and will know not to come around that shop ever again and better yet will probably never shoplift again. You gotta take those measures now days because again property crime is insane and the criminals that do do this repeat it day after day after day. This way it stops them in there tracks and hopfully makes them think twice on what they are doing
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