Kevin Burchell and Clifford Barber, both police officers, worked with two others, one of them an employee at the Walmart the items were taken from; to get up to $200,000.00 worth of merchandise out of the store and onto an eBay site. According to the latest report, Barber was the mastermind behind the scheme, and sold the items on eBay and to friends and acquaintances.

Apparently, Bryan Dunn, a Walmart employee, staged the merchandise while Laquionus Pressley created diversions. That seems to suggest that the two cops actually committed the thefts, although that is not expressly stated in the reports.

Another thing that is not clear in the reports is how this theft ring was discovered. My guess would be that the Walmart Loss Prevention team caught on to their employee staging merchandise for shoplifters, and the case developed from there, but I haven’t been told that.

This is an interesting case in that it involves two police officers from two different towns. It also involves an employee of the store where the thefts occurred. I know we rely on police officers a great deal as loss prevention professionals. It is a frightening thought that some of those officers may be the very shoplifters you are trying to catch.

Who can you trust? Anybody want to discuss?

Popularity: 20% [?]