The Bunker Blog

As some of you know, in addition to my full time job in retail loss prevention, and this blog, I also try to keep up a personal blog, and recently started up a community web magazine for my local area. (I know, I know. Yes, I drink lots of caffeine, and yes, I do have help)

Last week I was out at a local festival talking to folks and getting some photos for the website. One young lady had just gotten her face painted with a cool looking butterfly, so I asked her mother if I could take the little girl’s picture for the site. She said, “Sure.”, so I got the photo.

Then I realized that I knew this lady from somewhere, but I didn’t know where. So, I asked her, “Do I know you?”

She looked at me and said, “You look familiar, but I’m not sure.” So, I asked her, “Did you ever work for Kohl’s?” (My former employer in that particular area). She said, “No, but did you work in loss prevention there?”

And it hit me. Like a ton of bricks falling on my stupid head it hit me. I had stopped her for shoplifting several years ago. I could feel my face turning red from embarrassment. I said, “Did I catch you there?”

She proceeded to tell me that I had caught her shoplifting there, and that she had gone through a rough period in her life back then, but that now she was doing very well. She said she learned her lesson after going to jail several times for shoplifting, and that she remembered that I was very professional with her, and treated her like a human being.

We shook hands and I walked away. My wife smiled at me and said, “Wow, that was awkward.”

You think? But, that’s the risk you take when you live in a small town and you have worked in that small town catching shoplifters for several years. I caught well over 500 shoplifters in my 4 years in that area, and I have met some of those same people in different venues before. But, this was the first time I had the opportunity to have a long conversation with one of them like that.

Two things struck me about our conversation. First, that she went out of her way to let me know that she doesn’t steal anymore, and that she got her life straightened out. Secondly, that she remembered me as a professional, who treated her with courtesy. I felt like, somehow, I had a positive impact on her, at least I hope I did.

Have you ever had one of these encounters? How did it go for you?

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The NRF released their Organized Retail Crime Survey yesterday, and the results are interesting. Here are some of the highlights:

• Nine out of ten retailers (92%) report that their companies were victims of organized retail crime during the past year, up eight percent from 2008.
• Nearly three-fourths (73%) of retailers also reported the level of organized retail crime activity has increased over the past 12 months, an increase of 11 percent from 2008.
• 42% of retailers say their company is allocating additional resources to address organized retail crime.
• Nearly half (49%) of respondents believe senior management in their company understands the seriousness of the issue.

In addition, according to NRF’s Press Release, “Thanks to the new partnerships formed with Federal and local law enforcement officials, retailers have had some success identifying stolen merchandise or gift cards at physical fence locations such as pawn shops and temporary stores (60%) and through online e-fencing operations (60%), where stolen merchandise is sold through online auction sites.”

Organized retail crime can be devastating to a retailer because the losses caused by these groups to a market area can be huge. Does anyone have any great success (or failure) stories they’d like to share? Are you seeing the effects of ORC first hand? If so, is it as bad as it is being reported to be?

Check out the findings first hand by visiting the links above, then come back and let’s talk about it…

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I don’t make these up, folks.

In Sacramento, CA, 38-year-old grandma Felicia Renee Harris walked into a local Marshall’s and boosted over $100 in men’s clothing by concealing them under her baby granddaughter, who was in a stroller.

When  Harris was approached by loss prevention, she attacked, using the baby and stroller as a weapon, and then letting the stroller, with baby inside, roll across the parking lot. Police stated that she bit, scratched and kicked the loss prevention officer.

Here’s the good news about this whole mess. A Good Samaritan grabbed up the baby and kept her until police arrived. Harris was arrested and held on $1 million dollars bail. She is charged with robbery, probation violation, and child endangerment.

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