Shoplifter Characteristics

[FavreToSharpe]

Why are you so preoccupied with what store security or Lp is doing, if you honestly enter a place of business to shop you shouldn't have a problem with people watching you.

Most "healthy" customers are more than happy if someone from security is watching them, the only customers who have a problem with that are the ones who one way or another are planning to lift or have stolen something in the past.

That's typical shoplifter behavior, everytime someone from LP f&*#@ up their plans they start complaining about why they are been treated like suspects.

Maybe you fit the description of someone who is a repeated offender, or you carry a large bag, or wear out of season clothing, look at the cameras, or avoid interraction with sales staff, or suspicious body language, opening merchandise, doesn't buy anything when he visits a store, moves from hi ticket area to the bathrooms. :rolleyes:

Why would most "healty" customers be "more than happy" that security is watching them? What are the exact reasons for this? Please tell me, because I don't buy this. Actually, I don't know too many "healthy" customers who wouldn't take offense to someone assuming that they fit the "profile" of a shoplifter - especially if these customers have NEVER stolen anything. It's tantamount to police officers pulling over "suspicious" vehicles - assuming that the cars' occupants are "shady" or have been involved in criminal behavior - when the cars' occupants are actually law-abiding doctors, or innocent kids of wealthy parents. Did you hear of this recent incident, involving the son of a former MLB baseball player? (Apparently I'm not allowed to post links - but if you're so inclined, Google "Robbie Tolan" - or watch this month's edition of HBO's "Real Sports". It will break your heart, if you have one.) Can you say that these kids and their parents were "more than happy" to have a police officer wrongly suspect that they had stolen a car, and follow them onto their own property?

Haven't you heard of the legions of stories about enraged innocent citizens being offended by a cop who pulled them over for no reason, or Arabs subjected to extra scrutiny because they are suspected of being terrorists? No one likes to feel as though they can't be trusted, or be subjected to extra scrutiny because of inaccurate assumptions that downgrade their character.

I know of other innocent shoppers who are offended by this - who have snapped at employees following them, etc. They're everywhere. I have had conversations with these people.

I think LP departments delude themselves into thinking that innocent shoppers wouldn't have a problem with being watched/followed - because they don't want to acknowledge the unfair "darkside" of what they're doing. You're operating in denial mode. I can see how it would make it easier for you to do your jobs if you pretend that you aren't offending innocent shoppers.

And, even taking the LP/"I suspect you are a thief" equation out of it - I think many people are uncomfortable with strangers watching them, period. Haven't you ever been caught looking at someone (off the job) - and when the person discovered that you were looking at him/her, he/she gave you a funny, irritated look? Haven't you ever gotten a little ticked off when someone is watching you and wondered, "Why is this jerk looking at me?" or, "Why does he/she seem to be following my every move?"

Sure, I can see how frustrated shoplifters would complain - but don't make the mistake of thinking that everyone who complains - or even most people who complain - are frustrated shoplifters. That is an egregious, self-serving mistake.

Don't try to subtly accuse me of being a shoplifter. Let me make this clear again: I'VE NEVER SHOPLIFTED, AND HAVE NEVER ENTERTAINED ANY INTENTIONS OF SHOPLIFTING. Actually, I would think that innocent shoppers such as myself who are getting targeted would be the angriest folks of all - because of the frustration of being a law-abiding citizen, only to be treated otherwise. Besides, there is often a limit to how angry you can get when you know in your heart that you're guilty. For example - if O.J. Simpson were truly innocent - I think he would have shown a lot more anger at the "injustice" that was being inflicted on him. I just didn't see the level of anger and intensity from him that I thought I should have seen, if he were innocent. If I were on trial for a murder that I had nothing to do with - having to spend my days and nights in jail - you bet that I would be one angry, indignant person - and I would communicate my anger and innocence very intensely.

If I had a guilty conscience, or have shoplifted before - I don't think I would go out of my way to increase my profile with store management (there have been several times when I've complained to store management).

[FavreToSharpe]

Maybe you fit the description of someone who is a repeated offender, or you carry a large bag, or wear out of season clothing, look at the cameras, or avoid interraction with sales staff, or suspicious body language, opening merchandise, doesn't buy anything when he visits a store, moves from hi ticket area to the bathrooms. :rolleyes:

Of these "clues" you mentioned - I can most assuredly rule out "wear out of season clothing", "opening merchandise" (expect for rare occassions when I want to find out more about what the product looks like). And IF I have ever moved from a "high-ticket area" to a bathroom - it was because I had to use the bathroom (only once in a blue moon do I have to interrupt my shopping with a trip to a bathroom. And when I do have to answer the call of nature, I usually do it either when I'm first entering a store, or as I'm leaving.). I can also pretty much completely rule out "look at the cameras" - if I ever look at the cameras, it's purely by accident. I don't even know where they are - I'm not even looking for them. (I have discussed my innocent "fascination" with store mirrors and CCTV monitors in a previous post. As you may have read, I've suppressed my natural inclination to look at these devices.)

This leaves the following:

"You fit the description of a repeat offender" - if I do fit the description of a repeat offender, I am totally unaware of this. If I am some notorious offender's doppelganger - this thief is hitting Kroger, Ingles, Whole Foods, another local "natural foods" market I like to frequent, Walmart Supercenter, and pretty much every other establishment I enter. This thief gets around, and has coincidentally shopped at all of the stores I've shopped at.

"Carry a large bag" - hmmm, "large" is a relative term. I am a woman, so I always carry a purse. But relative to the very large purses that are in fashion these days - my purse is modestly-sized. But I have often liked to carry purses that are large enough to leave some extra room for, say, carrying a 16oz. or 20oz. water bottle - or carrying some snacks. I used to always leave my purse unzipped, too - simply because of "laziness". I didn't want to bother with unzipping the purse whenever I needed to get anything out of it. But - in an effort to reduce my suspiciousness as much as possible - I've started making sure that my purse is zipped shut whenever I enter a store. And, as I'm grocery shopping, I've always carried my purse on my shoulder - I've never put the purse in the "child's seat" of the buggy (just my natural preference). I don't know if carrying my purse this way reduces suspiciousness or not. (It doesn't seem to.)

Since I do so little shopping these days (aside from grocery/toiletry shopping) - I'm rarely in a position where I'm carrying a large shopping bag into a store. A purse is the only "bag" I have.

"Doesn't buy anything when she visits the store" - wow, so if you go into a store and don't see the item(s) you specifically came into the store to buy, or you see nothing you desire to buy - you're a suspect? It is not often that I go into clothing stores these days (i.e. Marshall's, Macy's) - but when I do, I often leave empty-handed; because there was nothing there that moved me enough to make a purchase, or the store just didn't have what I was looking for. But I buy something nearly every time I go into a grocery store - and my buying a buggy full of items often doesn't prevent me from being suspected. Heck - I could be in the middle of paying for $60 worth of groceries, and I still notice certain signs that I'm being watched/suspected. I'm thinking, "Here I am about to pay you $60 of my hard-earned money, and you still think I'm shoplifting???" "Here I am exiting the store with $60 worth of rung-up groceries, and you still feel the need to give me the 'once-over'?" :confused: It is quite insulting.

So it seems - whether you leave a store empty-handed, or pay a lot of money for a cart full of items - you're going to be suspected either way.

(To be continued...)

[suzanne1020U.S.]

Here's a give-away...they walk out of the store heavier than when they walked in. :cool:

[Lawson]

Exposing the undercovers inside a store is usually a common booster tactic when they want to distract security while their buddies "clean out" another part of the place.

If they are undercover, how am I to know the difference between them being LP and someone who is following me around waiting for a chance to do me harm?

Answer, I dont.

If I am able to tell they are following me around and watching me (and they happen to be LP and not a would-be attacker), then they arent doing a very good job of that of a plainclothes LPO, they might as well have a uniformed guard blazing around the store if they're going to be obvious about it.

[Group9]

If they are undercover, how am I to know the difference between them being LP and someone who is following me around waiting for a chance to do me harm?

Answer, I dont.

If I am able to tell they are following me around and watching me (and they happen to be LP and not a would-be attacker), then they arent doing a very good job of that of a plainclothes LPO, they might as well have a uniformed guard blazing around the store if they're going to be obvious about it.

This reminds me of the wiretaps where we hear drug dealers talking in detail about people following them, when there is no one following them. I always wonder how many people they go up to during a day, and scare the bejesus out of by asking them why they are following them?

[highwayman]

Of these "clues" you mentioned - I can most assuredly rule out "wear out of season clothing", "opening merchandise" (expect for rare occassions when I want to find out more about what the product looks like). And IF I have ever moved from a "high-ticket area" to a bathroom - it was because I had to use the bathroom (only once in a blue moon do I have to interrupt my shopping with a trip to a bathroom. And when I do have to answer the call of nature, I usually do it either when I'm first entering a store, or as I'm leaving.). I can also pretty much completely rule out "look at the cameras" - if I ever look at the cameras, it's purely by accident. I don't even know where they are - I'm not even looking for them. (I have discussed my innocent "fascination" with store mirrors and CCTV monitors in a previous post. As you may have read, I've suppressed my natural inclination to look at these devices.)

This leaves the following:

"You fit the description of a repeat offender" - if I do fit the description of a repeat offender, I am totally unaware of this. If I am some notorious offender's doppelganger - this thief is hitting Kroger, Ingles, Whole Foods, another local "natural foods" market I like to frequent, Walmart Supercenter, and pretty much every other establishment I enter. This thief gets around, and has coincidentally shopped at all of the stores I've shopped at.

"Carry a large bag" - hmmm, "large" is a relative term. I am a woman, so I always carry a purse. But relative to the very large purses that are in fashion these days - my purse is modestly-sized. But I have often liked to carry purses that are large enough to leave some extra room for, say, carrying a 16oz. or 20oz. water bottle - or carrying some snacks. I used to always leave my purse unzipped, too - simply because of "laziness". I didn't want to bother with unzipping the purse whenever I needed to get anything out of it. But - in an effort to reduce my suspiciousness as much as possible - I've started making sure that my purse is zipped shut whenever I enter a store. And, as I'm grocery shopping, I've always carried my purse on my shoulder - I've never put the purse in the "child's seat" of the buggy (just my natural preference). I don't know if carrying my purse this way reduces suspiciousness or not. (It doesn't seem to.)

Since I do so little shopping these days (aside from grocery/toiletry shopping) - I'm rarely in a position where I'm carrying a large shopping bag into a store. A purse is the only "bag" I have.

"Doesn't buy anything when she visits the store" - wow, so if you go into a store and don't see the item(s) you specifically came into the store to buy, or you see nothing you desire to buy - you're a suspect? It is not often that I go into clothing stores these days (i.e. Marshall's, Macy's) - but when I do, I often leave empty-handed; because there was nothing there that moved me enough to make a purchase, or the store just didn't have what I was looking for. But I buy something nearly every time I go into a grocery store - and my buying a buggy full of items often doesn't prevent me from being suspected. Heck - I could be in the middle of paying for $60 worth of groceries, and I still notice certain signs that I'm being watched/suspected. I'm thinking, "Here I am about to pay you $60 of my hard-earned money, and you still think I'm shoplifting???" "Here I am exiting the store with $60 worth of rung-up groceries, and you still feel the need to give me the 'once-over'?" :confused: It is quite insulting.

So it seems - whether you leave a store empty-handed, or pay a lot of money for a cart full of items - you're going to be suspected either way.

(To be continued...)

Out of season clothing:

If you walk into a place in a 90 degree weather wearing a raincoat down to your knees I can guarantee you will be watched in pretty much all major chain dept stores.
Target and Macy's is the perfect example for that.

Large bag / purse:

Again, you will be watched especially if the bag is large, zipper open and you keep digging in it frequently.

Doesn't buy anything :

Well, this is common sense, how many times are you going into a place and walk out without buying anything, once maybe three times, if that was me the next time I would call ahead of time and have them check and see if the item is available.
People usually go into stores to buy stuff, right?

Repeat offender:

Most stores these days have digital motion detection cameras who record the aisle activity directly into a hardrive when motion is detected.
LP can punch up any camera, time, date, aisle and bring up on the screen that particular item that was taken from the shelf by someone or just review the activity.

Next time naturally they will be watching for the same person and his clothing signature, body language etc.
So, if you happen to fit that person's description LP will watch you.

This just how organized LP work is these days, if you care enough you can visit one Target store and ask for their LP procedures or to see their camera room, they won't let you but imagine a large room with about 15-20 monitors all hooked up to a multiplexer which is hooked up to a computer recording every inch of the store where there is motion.

They cannot watch all the stealing that goes on in the store, they can only watch 10% of that and catch 2% and they capture the whole scenario on video footage to use it for evidence when the case goes to court.

And last but not least, a recap:

Target, Macy's, Kmart Lp instantly watches: out of season clothing, baggy clothing, large bags, people who fiddle with their bags frequently, strollers, pregnant women, anyone who grabs a basket or shopping cart and zooms to hi-item areas, tampering with merchandice, switching barcodes, tampering with security tags, people who come out of the changing rooms with less items than they went in, people who look at the cameras (some LP takes snapshots of anyone who looks directly into the domes), darting from hi-ticket areas to the bathrooms, people who enter together and then split up, box stuffing, people who look around too much, people who do not appear to be shopping, people who look like they are in bad need of a fix and run to the Sudafed / Excedrin PM section to clean it up, random shelf picking.

Whatever beef you have with LP however you need to go and clear it up with them and get it over with.

[Whats_Ur_Twenty]

Question - when you make a big stop, do you have to change stores, or do you keep working in the same store? Because it seems like when you make a conspicuous stop - it makes a scene and you're "outting" yourself as LP. Regular customers might recognize you from then on.

Negative. I rarely come out of the camera until its showtime anyways. If need be I'll wear a hoodie and ball cap and put the hood up.

[mjmcg]

Wow, it didn't take much for this thread to derail off into the bushes.
I am a former correction officer for both the states of NY and VT, currently a NYS licensed armed guard. Over the years I have held many positions, some in retail. While working in an automotive parts store with no LP or surveillance system of any kind it was more or less up to us who worked the counter to keep an eye on things. An impossibility when you are busy looking up parts and ringing up sales behind a counter. However, when you see 3 young "ethnic" (and no I don't mean black either) boys walk into the store in the middle of June wearing those puffy Michelin Man winter coats you kinda have to suspect they are up to no good. Sure enough, when they walked out of the store, hands in pockets opening the door with their butts and hastily disappearing, we later that night found...guess how many (3) empty expensive custom steering wheel packages stashed behind full boxes on the shelves in the far back corner of the store.
Well, observation number one: a store with no cameras puts the most expensive ticket items in the farthest back corner of the store where nobody can see them is just plain stupid. Observation number 2: 80+ degree weather and sunny and 3 guys wearing down winter coats aren't fair game to suspect of "activity?"...yeah right.
But anyways, I now work as a private estate guard nights. I suppose I shouldn't pay any attention to the occasional vehicle that stops along the perimeter when there is no cause for anyone to stop anywhere along the road in front of the estate whatsoever. Yeah, I sure do! I guess some night I'll be accused of profiling because I investigate some vehicle pulled to the side of the road to see why they are there and it turns out to be occupied by a minority group. Maybe they have a need for me to call emergency services. Maybe they have a flat. Maybe they are dropping someone off to scale the wall / fence...how do I know which it is if I don't go check? Same applies to people in retail stores, you just don't know unless you observe. Observing is NOT accusing, it's called doing your job to keep everyone safe and prices for goods from going up because of shoplifting. Everyone should appreciate that.

[Cat_Doc]

Wow, it didn't take much for this thread to derail off into the bushes.

But it did take over a year to raise it from the dead.

We woud appreciate an introduction, mjmcg, as well as catching on to forum protocol which frowns on thread necromancy.

Thanks in advance.