In the months after my first apprehension, there were many many more and they happened quite frequently. Some of them I made alone, while others were made with my partner who is now one of my best friends. Most of these stops were very routine with little to no real excitement. They consisted of both juveniles and adults, but most of them were relatively low dollar amount stops. In Ohio, the felony threshold is $500 and these were all below that threshold...
Until May of 2003. I was working at the store in the middle of leave-it-to-beaver-ville. Up until this point, I had only made two stops at this store and they were both juveniles stealing trading cards. Nothing to be real proud of. For about a week, my boss and I noticed that we seemed to be getting lower and lower on our stock of baby formula. After checking the purchase records, it was determined that we were missing a significant amount. So, that evening the boss and I repositioned a camera so that we had full coverage of the baby formula aisle. The very next morning, I had just arrived for my shift at about 11:00 am. I did my routine checks and headed back to the office. At this store, the office was right next to the only store entrance. As I passed by the entrance, two people caught my eye as they were entering the store; mostly because they were entering through the exit, but also because I noticed the male was digging through the garbage can. I continued on to the office and pulled them up on camera. I hadn't been able to see what they had picked out of the garbage, but I noticed that in the top of the shopping cart they were pushing, there appeared to be several empty plastic shopping bags balled up. I followed them on camera as they headed directly to the baby formula aisle. As soon as they entered, they began clearing off the shelf. They then left the formula aisle and I was forced to hit the sales floor because there was too likely a chance I would not be able to maintain surveillance with the cameras. I headed directly to the baby formula area and with my peripheral vision, I saw them directly across from the formula in the men's department. I could very clearly observe them filling the empty shopping bags with the cans of formula. I continued to watch until all the bags were filled. There was still a large number of cans that would not fit in the bags. They simply left these in the bottom of the cart and piled the full bags on top of the loose cans. Normally, I would let them leave, apprehend them, complete my paperwork, and then contact the police. This time, however, I recognized the potential danger. I knew why people stole baby formula. 99 percent of the time, baby formula theft was drug related. It would either get sold for drug money, or it would actually be used to mix into powder cocaine or heroin to expand the stash. These two definitely looked like they had a drug problem. As soon as I observed them concealing the formula, I contacted police. Several other issues factored into my decision to contact the police immediately. First, this had been the same police department I had worked for for 3 years as a corrections officer and they all knew me very well. Second, the station was directly behind the store. I stayed on the line with the dispatcher and updated her as to what was going on. The subjects pushed the shopping cart to the front of the store. Once they were at the checkout line, the male subject selected a candy bar and a bottle of pop and entered one of the express lanes. The female continued through the lanes without stopping and exited the store. I ran out in front of her and tried to stop her. She immediately became belligerent and began waving her arms wildly while she denied any wrong doing. I turned on the speakerphone option on my cell phone and put it in my pocket so I had both hands free. I grabbed hold of the female's arms and was able to get her handcuffed behind her back. Just as I had put the second cuff on, the male came walking up and tried to pretend as though he had no idea who she was or what was going on. I knew the police were either in the parking lot, or on their way so I tried to keep him in the store for as long as possible. I told him he needed to stay put, but he continued with his denials and walked past me. In one last-ditch effort to keep him the store, I attempted to grab him with my free hand but he easily avoided contact and bolted through the door. He didn't get very far. 4 police cars were waiting in the parking lot and took him into custody at gun point. An unknown getaway driver was also arrested in the parking lot. In the car the police found 4 grams of black-tar heroin, 16 used syringes, 5 packs of new syringes, 3 crack pipes, 2 small crack rocks, 2 ounces of marijuana, one small baggie of powder cocaine, an ecstasy tablet, a 9 inch homemade shank with dried blood on it, a fully loaded magazine for a Highpoint 9mm (the cheapest gun known to man)- but no gun, approximately $1200 in other various stolen merchandise, and a partridge in a pear tree.
The total tally came to 32 cans of baby formula for just under $700. Well above the felony threshold. The female pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 4 years in state prison. The male pleaded no contest and received 6 years in state prison. He also was tried and convicted for several other crimes for which he had initially failed to appear in court. He received an additional 3 years in prison for those crimes as well. The female getaway driver had a clean criminal record and received 2 years probation for complicity and conspiracy to commit theft. Over the next few months, several other area stores inspected their stocks of baby formula and almost every one of them were missing significant amounts. In every case, the stores' video clearly showed these subjects entering the store and exiting with shopping carts containing full shopping bags, however there was no video evidence of the subjects selecting or concealing the formula so local prosecutors would not allow us to file additional charges. Still, score one for the good guys.
About a year ago, I was bored at home and did a county court records search for the male half of the formula duo. Records indicate that he was released on parole after serving 4 years of his sentences. Two months after he was released, he caught an open case for murder.
The female half has also been released but has had no new records. At least not in this area.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
My very first stop...
In early 2003 I was working as a corrections officer for a small suburb of Cleveland. During my time there, it seemed like the majority of people incarcerated in the jail were shoplifters and other petty thieves. I was constantly booking in the "best" of what Cleveland had to offer. Occasionally one of the loss prevention people would have to come back through the jail to hand the people they caught a trespass notice or a civil demand notice (I'll explain this later.) One day, I struck up a conversation with one of the guys about his job and it intrigued me. It sounded like a ton of fun. I inquired about open positions with his company and he informed me that he had a part-time position at the store around the corner. I applied, interviewed, and was hired. For a while, I was working both jobs part time. The store I worked at was in a very quiet suburb so I didn't see any action there at all. During my training, I was sent to another store in a not-so-nice area and was offered an additional 20 hours a week at that store. It promised to be much more active than what I had been used to. I accepted and quit my corrections job. The whole training process took about 2 months.
It was a quiet and cold Sunday afternoon in February and I was working alone in the not-so-nice store. There were very few customers in the store, but even if it had been busy, this "customer" would still have been rather noticeable. He was a short and young male with very unkempt hair and incredibly stained and torn sweat pants. He was wearing a very large over sized black winter coat. While working for this retailer, I had the luxury of a very nice camera system that pretty much allowed me to work a whole case from beginning to end without having to leave the office. Now, I'll take a quick moment to explain one of the common and cardinal rules of loss prevention:
"The Five Steps"
I thought long and hard before deciding to post this, but then I realized that the shoplifters know the rules better than most loss prevention (from here on referred to as "LP") people do. I'm not going into anything too specific and I'm not going to mention any specific policies relating to any single retailer. Basically, the "5 steps" are the elements that an LP person needs to establish a suspect's intent to steal. A law enforcement officer needs only probable cause. For example, if a certified law enforcement officer observes a subject conceal store merchandise into a purse, a coat, a pocket, or a shopping bag (not the "green" re-usable kind), then he can reasonably determine that the subject intends to steal the merchandise and may legally arrest the person for theft on the spot. In fact, some retailers in some states (not Ohio) do allow retail security people to detain shoplifters the moment they've concealed merchandise. I won't discuss these situations, but I digress.
Basically, an LP person must observe a subject enter the department or area empty handed or without merchandise already selected from the department (step 1). Next, LP must observe a subject select an item or items from a display and know exactly what it is that was selected (step 2). Further, LP must then observe a subject conceal the merchandise (step 3.) Concealment can mean many different things. In most cases, it will mean that the subject places the items into a purse, pocket, shopping bag, coat, etc. In some cases, there is no concealment as the subject simply pushes items out in a shopping cart. Obviously, if concealment is not an issue, then step 3 can be omitted from the process. Next, and probably most difficult and important, LP must maintain continuous and unbroken observation of the subject and the purse, coat, pocket, shopping bag, etc. in which the merchandise was concealed (step 4). This prevents LP from not seeing the subject discard the merchandise if they feel they have been detected. And finally, LP must provide the subject every possible opportunity to pay for the merchandise. Only after the subject has proceeded past all open, manned, and functional points of sale (step 5) and has not made any attempt to render payment for the merchandise, can LP initiate a confrontation of the subject for theft of merchandise. It is a myth that, legally, a person must be allowed to fully exit the store before a stop can be made. No such law exists in Ohio. In court, it will certainly eliminate the possibility for dispute if the stop is made outside the store on the sidewalk, however it is not necessary. Stops are most commonly made either at the entrance/exit, or in the threshold between two sets of doors. So that's it in a nutshell.
Back to my story...
I was sitting in the camera room and it didn't take me long to spot this guy. As soon as he walked in, he headed straight to the electronics department. He quickly selected 15 CD's seemingly at random. He made no attempt to remove them from their packaging. He didn't even attempt to remove the security sensor stickers that were on every CD. Then, in plain view of the few customers that were nearby, he shoved the entire stack of CD's down the front of his sweat pants. It was at this time that I noticed he was actually wearing two pairs of sweat pants. Shoplifters will often do this and tuck the legs of the inner pair of pants into their socks so that any merchandise placed down the pants will not fall out. He then immediately proceeded to the front of the store and out the door. I rushed out of the office to stop him with my adrenaline pumping and my heart racing a mile a minute. This was it! This was my first stop and it was going to be a good one. I didn't know if the guy would try to run or fight me but I was ready for anything he had to offer. I rush outside and was a little shocked and very much caught off guard to see the guy just sitting on the bench outside the store. "Hey! You lookin' for me man?" the thief asked. "Sir, I'm with store-" he cut me off... "Yeah man, I know who you are. Let's just go inside, it's fucking cold out here." I was stunned. I simply escorted him back inside the building and to the holding area. The merchandise was recovered, he was processed, and the police were contacted. When they got there, they asked him why he did what he did and why it seemed like he wanted to get caught. Simply stated, this 19 year old man was homeless. He had been living in his car for the last 4 days and had run out of gas to turn on the heat. He figured he'd go and steal something that he could sell easily. He wouldn't try to be deceptive or not get caught. If no one came after him, he'd be able to sell the CD's for enough cash to put some gas in his car to heat it for a few more days. If he did get caught, he'd have someplace warm to sleep and some food to eat. This was complete culture shock for me.
I was raised relatively sheltered, and over the years I would gain more life experience than most people do in a lifetime. My shock in how this young man was living was only slightly overshadowed by my disappointment that that my first stop wasn't just a bit more exciting.
It was a quiet and cold Sunday afternoon in February and I was working alone in the not-so-nice store. There were very few customers in the store, but even if it had been busy, this "customer" would still have been rather noticeable. He was a short and young male with very unkempt hair and incredibly stained and torn sweat pants. He was wearing a very large over sized black winter coat. While working for this retailer, I had the luxury of a very nice camera system that pretty much allowed me to work a whole case from beginning to end without having to leave the office. Now, I'll take a quick moment to explain one of the common and cardinal rules of loss prevention:
"The Five Steps"
I thought long and hard before deciding to post this, but then I realized that the shoplifters know the rules better than most loss prevention (from here on referred to as "LP") people do. I'm not going into anything too specific and I'm not going to mention any specific policies relating to any single retailer. Basically, the "5 steps" are the elements that an LP person needs to establish a suspect's intent to steal. A law enforcement officer needs only probable cause. For example, if a certified law enforcement officer observes a subject conceal store merchandise into a purse, a coat, a pocket, or a shopping bag (not the "green" re-usable kind), then he can reasonably determine that the subject intends to steal the merchandise and may legally arrest the person for theft on the spot. In fact, some retailers in some states (not Ohio) do allow retail security people to detain shoplifters the moment they've concealed merchandise. I won't discuss these situations, but I digress.
Basically, an LP person must observe a subject enter the department or area empty handed or without merchandise already selected from the department (step 1). Next, LP must observe a subject select an item or items from a display and know exactly what it is that was selected (step 2). Further, LP must then observe a subject conceal the merchandise (step 3.) Concealment can mean many different things. In most cases, it will mean that the subject places the items into a purse, pocket, shopping bag, coat, etc. In some cases, there is no concealment as the subject simply pushes items out in a shopping cart. Obviously, if concealment is not an issue, then step 3 can be omitted from the process. Next, and probably most difficult and important, LP must maintain continuous and unbroken observation of the subject and the purse, coat, pocket, shopping bag, etc. in which the merchandise was concealed (step 4). This prevents LP from not seeing the subject discard the merchandise if they feel they have been detected. And finally, LP must provide the subject every possible opportunity to pay for the merchandise. Only after the subject has proceeded past all open, manned, and functional points of sale (step 5) and has not made any attempt to render payment for the merchandise, can LP initiate a confrontation of the subject for theft of merchandise. It is a myth that, legally, a person must be allowed to fully exit the store before a stop can be made. No such law exists in Ohio. In court, it will certainly eliminate the possibility for dispute if the stop is made outside the store on the sidewalk, however it is not necessary. Stops are most commonly made either at the entrance/exit, or in the threshold between two sets of doors. So that's it in a nutshell.
Back to my story...
I was sitting in the camera room and it didn't take me long to spot this guy. As soon as he walked in, he headed straight to the electronics department. He quickly selected 15 CD's seemingly at random. He made no attempt to remove them from their packaging. He didn't even attempt to remove the security sensor stickers that were on every CD. Then, in plain view of the few customers that were nearby, he shoved the entire stack of CD's down the front of his sweat pants. It was at this time that I noticed he was actually wearing two pairs of sweat pants. Shoplifters will often do this and tuck the legs of the inner pair of pants into their socks so that any merchandise placed down the pants will not fall out. He then immediately proceeded to the front of the store and out the door. I rushed out of the office to stop him with my adrenaline pumping and my heart racing a mile a minute. This was it! This was my first stop and it was going to be a good one. I didn't know if the guy would try to run or fight me but I was ready for anything he had to offer. I rush outside and was a little shocked and very much caught off guard to see the guy just sitting on the bench outside the store. "Hey! You lookin' for me man?" the thief asked. "Sir, I'm with store-" he cut me off... "Yeah man, I know who you are. Let's just go inside, it's fucking cold out here." I was stunned. I simply escorted him back inside the building and to the holding area. The merchandise was recovered, he was processed, and the police were contacted. When they got there, they asked him why he did what he did and why it seemed like he wanted to get caught. Simply stated, this 19 year old man was homeless. He had been living in his car for the last 4 days and had run out of gas to turn on the heat. He figured he'd go and steal something that he could sell easily. He wouldn't try to be deceptive or not get caught. If no one came after him, he'd be able to sell the CD's for enough cash to put some gas in his car to heat it for a few more days. If he did get caught, he'd have someplace warm to sleep and some food to eat. This was complete culture shock for me.
I was raised relatively sheltered, and over the years I would gain more life experience than most people do in a lifetime. My shock in how this young man was living was only slightly overshadowed by my disappointment that that my first stop wasn't just a bit more exciting.
Introduction part 2
A recent discussion over a YouTube video got me pretty heated and I want to clear up a few more things real quick. First, I only speak from experience and my knowledge of the law as it pertains to loss prevention and private security in the state of Ohio. I do know that the vast majority of the United States have laws that echo those in Ohio, but since I have never worked in any of them, it would be irresponsible for me to speak out of school. In Ohio, as in many other states, there are "Merchant Protection statutes." These are the set of laws and ordinances under which loss prevention people operate and perform their duties. They give us our authority. Basically, they give any retailer or merchant, from the smallest convenience store to the largest billion dollar corporation, the right to protect their merchandise, their property, and their people. They allow merchants to either, by their own actions, or through the actions of someone they employ, detain someone suspected of theft or other dishonesty. In the state of Ohio, there are NO rules or laws that specifically limit or define what a merchant can or can not do in order to detain such a person. They simply say that a merchant may not use excessive or undue force to detain someone suspected of theft.
The debate that I had the other day pertained to a YouTube video of a Wal Mart asset protection officer physically detaining and handcuffing a young male suspected of shoplifting. At no time did the asset protection officer become excessive or abusive. He acted with professionalism and dignity throughout the ordeal. When he went to stop the suspect, the suspect turned and took a swing at the guy. He then turned to run but the asset protection officer restrained both of his arms, turned him towards a wall, and handcuffed him behind his back. He never tackled, struck, or shoved the suspect. One user began making comments that the Wal Mart employee had absolutely no right or authority to touch or physically detain the suspect. He began using words like "excessive force" etc. The simple fact is that this user was just flat out wrong. Whether or not a security agent has the authority to physically restrain a suspect depends more on the individual company's policies than it does state or local law. Many companies, especially the smaller specialty retailers, do have "no-touch/no-chase" policies. Larger retailers, however, such as Wal Mart, KMart, Target, etc. still allow for physical detentions and, in fact, send their people to training classes that equip them with the knowledge and skills to safely detain someone in a physical manner. To make a blanket statement that "none of these LP guys are allowed to touch someone" is simply ludicrous. I'm fairly certain that if this was the case, the large and law-suit-conscious corporations would not send their people to official training classes on how to break the law.
In the 7 years I've been doing this, I've worked an equal amount of time for companies that do and do not allow for physical contact when making an apprehension. During my entire tenure, I have only had to go "hands on" on a very few occasions. It almost always depends on your approach and how you speak to people.
I want to get all of this introduction stuff out of the way so that later on, as you're reading the stories, you're not saying to yourself "oh he's full of shit, he never would have been allowed to do that, etc."
So with all of this out of the way... now, enjoy.
The debate that I had the other day pertained to a YouTube video of a Wal Mart asset protection officer physically detaining and handcuffing a young male suspected of shoplifting. At no time did the asset protection officer become excessive or abusive. He acted with professionalism and dignity throughout the ordeal. When he went to stop the suspect, the suspect turned and took a swing at the guy. He then turned to run but the asset protection officer restrained both of his arms, turned him towards a wall, and handcuffed him behind his back. He never tackled, struck, or shoved the suspect. One user began making comments that the Wal Mart employee had absolutely no right or authority to touch or physically detain the suspect. He began using words like "excessive force" etc. The simple fact is that this user was just flat out wrong. Whether or not a security agent has the authority to physically restrain a suspect depends more on the individual company's policies than it does state or local law. Many companies, especially the smaller specialty retailers, do have "no-touch/no-chase" policies. Larger retailers, however, such as Wal Mart, KMart, Target, etc. still allow for physical detentions and, in fact, send their people to training classes that equip them with the knowledge and skills to safely detain someone in a physical manner. To make a blanket statement that "none of these LP guys are allowed to touch someone" is simply ludicrous. I'm fairly certain that if this was the case, the large and law-suit-conscious corporations would not send their people to official training classes on how to break the law.
In the 7 years I've been doing this, I've worked an equal amount of time for companies that do and do not allow for physical contact when making an apprehension. During my entire tenure, I have only had to go "hands on" on a very few occasions. It almost always depends on your approach and how you speak to people.
I want to get all of this introduction stuff out of the way so that later on, as you're reading the stories, you're not saying to yourself "oh he's full of shit, he never would have been allowed to do that, etc."
So with all of this out of the way... now, enjoy.
Introduction
Hey everyone. My name is Josh and I work in a profession that has many names. Some of these names include loss prevention, asset protection, or simply retail security. When someone hears one of these terms, the initial assumption is that someone who works in this field is a "wannabe cop" who has cowboy-like tendencies and wants nothing more than to chase and tackle petty thieves. They assume that this line of work is centered around catching shoplifters. Before I continue any further, let me clear a few things up:
This industry has many different facets and subcategories, but can be broken down into three main categories: external dishonesty, internal dishonesty, and physical security/safety. Dishonesty, whether internal or external, includes theft, fraud, deception, etc. For each of these three categories, there is an incredibly large amount of methods and techniques to minimize the damage they can cause and ultimately... "prevent loss." Loss refers to the money or merchandise a company loses due to theft, fraud, or lawsuits created by liability issues such as safety hazards.
The second myth, that all of us are cowboy adrenaline-junky cop wannabes, is just that: a myth. I will be honest, however. This myth does ring true for a small percentage of those in the field. These people have no business in this line of work, and pose more of a threat and potential liability to the retailer than the dishonest people they are employed to investigate. The truth is that the majority of us are college educated, responsible, and professional. We act with integrity in everything that we do without bias or prejudice. Those of us that chose this career did so because we recognized one simple fact about loss prevention: there is simply more money to be made in the private sector than in public service. The average salary for a regional-level loss prevention manager or investigator is at or near 6 figures. Of course, it depends on the company and the size of the region. The average profile for a regional-level LP manager is a male or female in their early to mid 30's, college educated, with approximately 6-10 years of experience. So let me put this in perspective to clear up the wannabe cop myth: at 30 years old, with a college degree, and 10 years experience, an LP professional can make up to 6 figures. In law enforcement, most departments now require a college degree. At 30 years old, you'd be hard pressed to find someone with 10 years experience. 10 years of experience with a police department in a midsized city will most likely make you a sergeant with a salary of roughly 50 to 60,000 a year. I'd be lying if I said that a lot of us did not, at one point, desire to go into law enforcement. The point I'm trying to make is that the vast majority of the colleagues and peers I've had over the years would be more than qualified and capable not only in mental and physical status, but in moral and ethical character to perform the duties of a police officer. They simply chose a different path.
I have 7 years of experience in this line of work. I've worked for 4 different retailers. I've worked in Cleveland and most of the surrounding suburbs. I've worked in Akron and most of the surrounding suburbs. Over the years, I've accumulated a lot of stories. Some have been funny, others have been terrifying. Some would make you laugh, and yet others might make you sad. Whenever I get into discussions with some of my peers about our various experiences, I'm reminded of more stories and tales that I had forgotten. That's why I'm doing this. Probably more for me than for anyone who might stumble across this and read it.
The purpose of this blog is simply to tell some of my tales and share some of the discussions I've had with people throughout my career. The first few "installments" of this blog might seem kind of random and that's simply because I can't remember the exact chronological order of when certain things occurred. Once I'm caught up and told my stories, it will continue from there as the new stories happen. Please enjoy...
Disclaimer: every name, except my own, has been changed in the telling of the stories to protect the anonymity of those involved. They may be criminals (or "alleged" criminals) but they still deserve some amount of respect.
This industry has many different facets and subcategories, but can be broken down into three main categories: external dishonesty, internal dishonesty, and physical security/safety. Dishonesty, whether internal or external, includes theft, fraud, deception, etc. For each of these three categories, there is an incredibly large amount of methods and techniques to minimize the damage they can cause and ultimately... "prevent loss." Loss refers to the money or merchandise a company loses due to theft, fraud, or lawsuits created by liability issues such as safety hazards.
The second myth, that all of us are cowboy adrenaline-junky cop wannabes, is just that: a myth. I will be honest, however. This myth does ring true for a small percentage of those in the field. These people have no business in this line of work, and pose more of a threat and potential liability to the retailer than the dishonest people they are employed to investigate. The truth is that the majority of us are college educated, responsible, and professional. We act with integrity in everything that we do without bias or prejudice. Those of us that chose this career did so because we recognized one simple fact about loss prevention: there is simply more money to be made in the private sector than in public service. The average salary for a regional-level loss prevention manager or investigator is at or near 6 figures. Of course, it depends on the company and the size of the region. The average profile for a regional-level LP manager is a male or female in their early to mid 30's, college educated, with approximately 6-10 years of experience. So let me put this in perspective to clear up the wannabe cop myth: at 30 years old, with a college degree, and 10 years experience, an LP professional can make up to 6 figures. In law enforcement, most departments now require a college degree. At 30 years old, you'd be hard pressed to find someone with 10 years experience. 10 years of experience with a police department in a midsized city will most likely make you a sergeant with a salary of roughly 50 to 60,000 a year. I'd be lying if I said that a lot of us did not, at one point, desire to go into law enforcement. The point I'm trying to make is that the vast majority of the colleagues and peers I've had over the years would be more than qualified and capable not only in mental and physical status, but in moral and ethical character to perform the duties of a police officer. They simply chose a different path.
I have 7 years of experience in this line of work. I've worked for 4 different retailers. I've worked in Cleveland and most of the surrounding suburbs. I've worked in Akron and most of the surrounding suburbs. Over the years, I've accumulated a lot of stories. Some have been funny, others have been terrifying. Some would make you laugh, and yet others might make you sad. Whenever I get into discussions with some of my peers about our various experiences, I'm reminded of more stories and tales that I had forgotten. That's why I'm doing this. Probably more for me than for anyone who might stumble across this and read it.
The purpose of this blog is simply to tell some of my tales and share some of the discussions I've had with people throughout my career. The first few "installments" of this blog might seem kind of random and that's simply because I can't remember the exact chronological order of when certain things occurred. Once I'm caught up and told my stories, it will continue from there as the new stories happen. Please enjoy...
Disclaimer: every name, except my own, has been changed in the telling of the stories to protect the anonymity of those involved. They may be criminals (or "alleged" criminals) but they still deserve some amount of respect.
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