NCJ Number
176753
Journal
Security Management Volume: 42 Issue: 12 Dated: December 1998 Pages: 63-66-68
Date Published
1998
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Management at a large retail store markedly reduced losses from shoplifting and employee theft both by improving security to prevent employee theft and shoplifting and by minimizing processing and paperwork errors.
Abstract
Losses from illegal actions by two cashiers as well as from other sources led store management in 1997 to recognize the need for radical action. Management decided to restructure the security department from the top down. The first step was to replace all three security supervisors by giving them the opportunity to transfer at the same pay level and seniority to specified retail departments that were experiencing considerable losses. The author was hired as the new security manager to restructure the security department. Management dismissed dishonest and inefficient employees and took steps to ensure that the remaining staff felt involved in waste control. The store management team also concluded that the reactive security philosophy had to change. Changes included careful employee screening, increased security audits for all operations, increased training time for new security agents, preemptive actions against shoplifters, and a different approach to assessing security. These changes have improved loss controls, increased employee respect for the security function, and changed the organization's security approach from a reactive one to a preemptive one.