The item- in fact all of the loss caused by shoplifting- is far less than it’s worth putting employees in that position. That shoplifter could have had a gun, or a carton knife or screwdriver or some other kind of weapon, and sent OP into the hospital, racking up the medical bills. there is a reason most retailers policy is “Don’t [do exactly what OP did]”
And that’s assuming the guy attacks an employee. Imagine the expense if a patron gets knifed with a rusty, AIDS-infected shank. or shot.
for most retailers, the only people that are supposed to engage (and, yes, that includes positioning yourself as a “deterence”) are Loss Prevention teams. and even then, they’re probably just going to let it go rather than risk a confrontation with shoppers near by. They’re going to call the cops and let them take the liability.
Frankly I’ve not met someone who’s worked in retail in the last 15 years who’s said they had a different policy. Even a cart full of shit is cheaper to pay for than the potential lawsuits from an employee getting hurt from trying to intervene.
Beyond that though, please don’t put your life at risk for your employers merchandise. It is not yours. Your store carries insurance for a reason. Your life is not worth any of that shit.
Beyond that though, please don’t put your life at risk for your employers merchandise. It is not yours. Your store carries insurance for a reason. Your life is not worth any of that shit.
absolutely. Especially because, it’s not (written) company policy… they can and absolutely will try to say it’s your fault and weasel out of the expenses.
Ish on the deter by being there. I can’t speak for all companies but the major one I work for would have you act as just a visible deterance by just standing there. The grabbing the cable and stuff would be what would be “to far”
Deterrence happens before somebody decides to do something.
It certainly doesn’t happen as the dude is walking out with a case of whatever it was. Moving to block somebody’s path is generally considered an escalation; and that’s exactly how the shoplifter saw the action.
“maintaining a presence” to “deter criminal activity” only works if they’ve not already decided to conduct that criminal activity.
Moving to block somebody’s path
That I would agree with on being an escalation.
I have seen a lot of times by just there being a few people around giving the we know and we can see you can make someone ditch all the stuff and (some times) cuss out everyone as they leave.
I will admit that I would not advise the technique when it looks like someone is going to be very bold and just walk out with items “clearly” stealing (the cable on it still) and the OP story kinda shows why
Then again anytime I am around a shoplifter doing something like that being very aware of how they are moving or doing is important. Ill do my job but fuck getting hurt for the stuff, nothing in any store is worth it.
I worked (briefly) as an unarmed security guard many years ago. It was company policy to never, never, ever touch a person unless we felt our life was in danger. We were there to document only. Security is just a less reliable camera with a mouth.
I’m a manager for contract security, and yeah, the mantra for unarmed guards is “Document and Report”. But also, the rule of the day is constructive cowardice.
even the guards equiped with firearms… that firearm is mostly there because their position is deemed to be that hazardous, if that makes sense.
Well, without knowing, your explanation (at least to me) is not a “why this happened so it’s more understandable” but a description of the problem. Whatever the “policy” of the business, a “heat of the moment” action or one slip-up should never be allowed to lead to a cancellation in my decidedly German union member mind. Especially not after years of employment.
This could have lead to some citation or training or something, but not a cancellation.
If businesses lack those.laws, companies are never required to really train their ppl, because they can just hire and fire, expecting the knowledge they want to already be there.
They violated company policy. probably.
The item- in fact all of the loss caused by shoplifting- is far less than it’s worth putting employees in that position. That shoplifter could have had a gun, or a carton knife or screwdriver or some other kind of weapon, and sent OP into the hospital, racking up the medical bills. there is a reason most retailers policy is “Don’t [do exactly what OP did]”
And that’s assuming the guy attacks an employee. Imagine the expense if a patron gets knifed with a rusty, AIDS-infected shank. or shot.
for most retailers, the only people that are supposed to engage (and, yes, that includes positioning yourself as a “deterence”) are Loss Prevention teams. and even then, they’re probably just going to let it go rather than risk a confrontation with shoppers near by. They’re going to call the cops and let them take the liability.
Frankly I’ve not met someone who’s worked in retail in the last 15 years who’s said they had a different policy. Even a cart full of shit is cheaper to pay for than the potential lawsuits from an employee getting hurt from trying to intervene.
Beyond that though, please don’t put your life at risk for your employers merchandise. It is not yours. Your store carries insurance for a reason. Your life is not worth any of that shit.
absolutely. Especially because, it’s not (written) company policy… they can and absolutely will try to say it’s your fault and weasel out of the expenses.
Ish on the deter by being there. I can’t speak for all companies but the major one I work for would have you act as just a visible deterance by just standing there. The grabbing the cable and stuff would be what would be “to far”
Deterrence happens before somebody decides to do something.
It certainly doesn’t happen as the dude is walking out with a case of whatever it was. Moving to block somebody’s path is generally considered an escalation; and that’s exactly how the shoplifter saw the action.
“maintaining a presence” to “deter criminal activity” only works if they’ve not already decided to conduct that criminal activity.
I have seen a lot of times by just there being a few people around giving the we know and we can see you can make someone ditch all the stuff and (some times) cuss out everyone as they leave.
I will admit that I would not advise the technique when it looks like someone is going to be very bold and just walk out with items “clearly” stealing (the cable on it still) and the OP story kinda shows why
Then again anytime I am around a shoplifter doing something like that being very aware of how they are moving or doing is important. Ill do my job but fuck getting hurt for the stuff, nothing in any store is worth it.
I worked (briefly) as an unarmed security guard many years ago. It was company policy to never, never, ever touch a person unless we felt our life was in danger. We were there to document only. Security is just a less reliable camera with a mouth.
I’m a manager for contract security, and yeah, the mantra for unarmed guards is “Document and Report”. But also, the rule of the day is constructive cowardice.
even the guards equiped with firearms… that firearm is mostly there because their position is deemed to be that hazardous, if that makes sense.
Well, without knowing, your explanation (at least to me) is not a “why this happened so it’s more understandable” but a description of the problem. Whatever the “policy” of the business, a “heat of the moment” action or one slip-up should never be allowed to lead to a cancellation in my decidedly German union member mind. Especially not after years of employment.
This could have lead to some citation or training or something, but not a cancellation.
If businesses lack those.laws, companies are never required to really train their ppl, because they can just hire and fire, expecting the knowledge they want to already be there.