The Bunker Blog

This “Mom”, whose name is being witheld, apparently taught her 21-year-old daughter to steal, and now the duo is teaching her 9-year-old son the family trade. The three were caught after stealing from a Target in New Jersey.

Apparently, mom and big sister would hand off merchandise to the little boy, who then concealed it under his jacket. $430 worth of clothes, electronics, and toys.

Does anybody see a pattern here? Oh, and the best part is, Mom and sis got a summons and were released.

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Here’s an interesting story and video out of Las Vegas. Police recovered 2000 bottles of shampoo from this ring of thieves, who were stealing and then selling at swap meets, flea markets, and online.

Police there are considering charging shoplifters with burglary because, according to police, the shoplifters enter the establishment with the intent to commit a larceny. According to the police source, that’s burglary in Vegas. Not sure how that’ll stick, though.

We have also seen an increase in employees getting involved in these kinds of cases, and in some cases, even selling the items themselves. It’s happening out there folks, and each of us in the business is affected by these people in one way or another.

Organized Retail Crime is real, and it is having a negative impact on retail shrink. Some are being affected more than others. Anybody want to share an experience with ORC? Leave a comment.

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A study released in December, 2008 shows that many companies are seeing an increase in workplace crime, and specifically, theft related crime. Of course, this just serves to further support what we have already been saying all along. Those of us working in the field don’t really need studies to tell us that there has been a definite increase in internal and external theft issues. But, this does give us some more ammunition, in the form of facts, to help combat the problem.

Awareness, training, accountability; these three are still the keys to reducing incidents, and to catching internal theft early. Many companies are increasing their audit cadence this year so that issues can, hopefully, be identified earlier. Inspecting what we expect has always been a key to success in shrink reduction, but it is much more crucial today.

We face an up-hill battle against shrink, and we have to fight a tougher fight with fewer troops this year. Less eyes in the stores means more opportunities for theft.

Employees who feel the pressures of this down economy, including reduced payroll and benefits, are much more likely to steal from their employers. These thefts can range anywhere from simple time theft to multi-thousand dollar embezzlements. Loss Prevention MUST, not only expect this, but get out in front of this issue and be proactive in efforts to discourage disgruntled employees from causing a “bad to worse” scenario for retailers.

As always, comments are welcome

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Be sure to watch, TiVo, or DVR Nightline on ABC tonight. They will feature a special segment on Organized Retail Crime.

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8 Knoxville, TN football players have been arrested as part of an investigation that resulted in a total of 33 arrests. Investigators with the Knoxville Police and Knox County Sheriff’s Office conducted a 3 day investigation that concluded with the arrests of 33 suspects, including the 8 football players from Austin-East High School.

Police charge that the 8 players worked as a team when shoplifting, also. According to police investigators, some of the players would distract retail store employees while others stole merchandise. Police recovered over $9,000.00 in stolen merchandise.

But, the news report states that their status on the school’s football team is unclear. The coach reportedly stated that he would evaluate their status on the team.

Come again? Evaluate their status? Hey coach Graham, they have been charged with felonies! Doesn’t that at least warrant suspension pending the resolution of their cases in court? Oh, I’m sorry, they are supposed to play in a playoff game this weekend? Oh, well, that changes things.

Really, folks, what is there to evaluate. They have been charged with felony theft. Police had enough evidence to arrest and charge them. So, at the very least, their football careers should be put on hold until they are either exonerated or proven guilty.

What do you think? Should they be suspended from the team? Should they be allowed to play this weekend? Leave a comment and we can discuss it.

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