RonaldR
01-25-2008, 01:07 PM
Retailers are turning to cutting-edge technology to halt a bold new breed of shoplifter
http://multimedia.thestar.com/images/de/12/fc7d997c4d8b873c74ff8094ecc2.jpeg
David Graham
Living Reporter
It's a shoplifter's dream out there.
The malls are chaotic and stores are seriously understaffed – often manned with seasonal part-timers.
Everywhere you look, merchandise is enticingly presented – out in the open to encourage a playful interaction between people and products. And while video surveillance cameras and security guards do their best to separate the shoppers from the lifters, profits are disappearing.
To wrap the whole experience up, now the Internet is providing a perfect outlet for e-fencing stolen merchandise. Certainly the shady pawnshops, sketchy flea markets and creepy guys wearing trench coats lined with wristwatches are working overtime – but moving the "merch" online is profoundly more efficient.
To make matters worse, a Google search reveals websites that actually train novice shoplifters in the art of bypassing retail security efforts.
For those more interested in taking than giving, December is a busy time of year.
Shoplifting has become a dangerous crime that has been long trivialized. Respectable adults willingly admit they pinched a lipstick from a pharmacy or a chocolate bar from a corner store in their youth.
But the stakes are much higher now, says Rita Estwick, director of the Retail Council of Canada's loss prevention program and chair of the Retail Organized Crime Task Force.
This month the retail council will publish its first "New Face of Retail Crime" – an overview of the task force's activities, including strategies for dealing with ever bolder and increasingly sophisticated thieves.
As well, the task force is combining efforts with law enforcement officials and government to put teeth into laws against retail theft.
North American retailers lost $40.5 billion to theft last year. And the retail council says Canadian stores lose about $3 billion in merchandise to thieves annually. It's an enormous problem the industry refers to as "shrinkage."
"All we can do is try to stay ahead of the battle," says Lee Pernice, director of marketing for ADT Security Services, headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla. ADT is the largest provider of electronic security services, assisting more than 6 million commercial, government and residential customers throughout North America.
Some estimates suggest a typical retail business will suffer losses of between 0.5 per cent and 6 per cent, of total gross sales. The figure can be crippling to a Canadian retailer already coping with low profit margins and cross-border shopping.
The range of retail crimes includes everything from container theft to credit card and gift card fraud, from tampering with PIN machines to violent professional theft rings, says Estwick, who continues to work as manager of corporate security for Canada Post. She was seconded to the retail council to put her shoulder into the battle against organized retail crime.
Pernice has been in the business 17 years and she's amazed at some of the devices invented by shoplifters to defeat surveillance systems.
"When you build a better mouse trap, the mouse gets smarter."
Estwick also notes that the thieves defy categorization.
Criminals include nervous teenagers hoping to bag a pair of designer jeans, middle-aged kleptomaniacs, seniors and bored housewives looking for a thrill.
Inside theft is also a large part of the problem. And so, of course, is the newest and most destructive phenomenon: the militia-style gangs who bilk stores out of thousands of dollars worth of high fashion and home electronics, using precision manoeuvres worthy of a sophisticated modern army.
Following a two-month investigation by a task force of Toronto, Peel and Durham police, three women and two men were arrested last September and charged with a combined 68 offences related to an elaborate retail theft binge that netted as much as $50,000 worth of merchandise each day. And just last month, Winnipeg Police Service arrested four people from B.C. who had been using distraction tactics and foil-lined bags and boxes to steal $85,000 worth of merchandise.
Organized Retail Crime poses one of the biggest problems, says Pernice. In some instances small bands of thieves set a high daily quota. But they are smart enough to keep the value of each heist below a certain amount so they escape the possibility of serious charges if caught.
Sometimes it's the sheer boldness that has security guards shaking their heads.
Like the New York City shoplifter who lined his underpants with tinfoil to act as a shield between store detectors and stolen items dropped down his trousers. And then there are the famous "milkshake" robbers who meander through stores dropping small items into their drink.
Estwick says the problem of organized retail theft escalated here last year because the U.S. toughened its stance, mostly by involving the FBI. The hard-line approach drove the criminals north , she says.
Keeping a lid on it is a big, cumbersome task. Most retailers want their merchandise to be approachable and their security systems to be unobtrusive and inexpensive.
To ebb the flow of merchandise leaving stores unaccounted for, managers and security experts are exploring all manner of technology – from the latest digital surveillance cameras to the ubiquitous security tags that are attached to products, including RFID (radio frequency identification) labels.
Mostly, though, they want to keep thieves off-balance, making them unsure of what's rigged and what's not. For example, the most popular security tags these days, says Pernice, are small and are attached during manufacture – a fabric tag sewn into the seam of a blouse or a tiny security device built into an electric hand drill.
Last year, ADT shipped 620 million hard tags that are removed at point of purchase and discarded, as well as 4.5 billion disposable labels.
"That means 5 billion products are being protected at the point of manufacturer," she says.
Cost is also a concern. Small disposable labels, for example, cost about 3 cents, while the one-time hard tags cost about 15 cents. The hard plastic reusable devices cost $1.
How retailers approach their security often reflects their own philosophy, Pernice says. Some retailers think security should be subtle and invisible while others think it should be more in your face.
Meanwhile, theft is damaging more than the bottom line, explains Estwick, suggesting it is also a matter of health and safety. "These criminals are becoming increasingly violent."
Surveillance cameras and security tags are only part of the solution. An educated, alert and loyal staff is an employer's best defence. They will be less inclined to steal and less vulnerable to the lucrative lure of outside criminals.
This summer, Steve Waldron, Danier Leather's director of loss prevention, emphasized the importance of employer-employee relationships in Canadian Security magazine.
"Organized crime is about identifying and placing propositions with people ... Once it's worth the risk for an employee, they'll go for it."
The original article can be found here:To Catch A Theif (http://www.thestar.com/article/284942)
http://multimedia.thestar.com/images/de/12/fc7d997c4d8b873c74ff8094ecc2.jpeg
David Graham
Living Reporter
It's a shoplifter's dream out there.
The malls are chaotic and stores are seriously understaffed – often manned with seasonal part-timers.
Everywhere you look, merchandise is enticingly presented – out in the open to encourage a playful interaction between people and products. And while video surveillance cameras and security guards do their best to separate the shoppers from the lifters, profits are disappearing.
To wrap the whole experience up, now the Internet is providing a perfect outlet for e-fencing stolen merchandise. Certainly the shady pawnshops, sketchy flea markets and creepy guys wearing trench coats lined with wristwatches are working overtime – but moving the "merch" online is profoundly more efficient.
To make matters worse, a Google search reveals websites that actually train novice shoplifters in the art of bypassing retail security efforts.
For those more interested in taking than giving, December is a busy time of year.
Shoplifting has become a dangerous crime that has been long trivialized. Respectable adults willingly admit they pinched a lipstick from a pharmacy or a chocolate bar from a corner store in their youth.
But the stakes are much higher now, says Rita Estwick, director of the Retail Council of Canada's loss prevention program and chair of the Retail Organized Crime Task Force.
This month the retail council will publish its first "New Face of Retail Crime" – an overview of the task force's activities, including strategies for dealing with ever bolder and increasingly sophisticated thieves.
As well, the task force is combining efforts with law enforcement officials and government to put teeth into laws against retail theft.
North American retailers lost $40.5 billion to theft last year. And the retail council says Canadian stores lose about $3 billion in merchandise to thieves annually. It's an enormous problem the industry refers to as "shrinkage."
"All we can do is try to stay ahead of the battle," says Lee Pernice, director of marketing for ADT Security Services, headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla. ADT is the largest provider of electronic security services, assisting more than 6 million commercial, government and residential customers throughout North America.
Some estimates suggest a typical retail business will suffer losses of between 0.5 per cent and 6 per cent, of total gross sales. The figure can be crippling to a Canadian retailer already coping with low profit margins and cross-border shopping.
The range of retail crimes includes everything from container theft to credit card and gift card fraud, from tampering with PIN machines to violent professional theft rings, says Estwick, who continues to work as manager of corporate security for Canada Post. She was seconded to the retail council to put her shoulder into the battle against organized retail crime.
Pernice has been in the business 17 years and she's amazed at some of the devices invented by shoplifters to defeat surveillance systems.
"When you build a better mouse trap, the mouse gets smarter."
Estwick also notes that the thieves defy categorization.
Criminals include nervous teenagers hoping to bag a pair of designer jeans, middle-aged kleptomaniacs, seniors and bored housewives looking for a thrill.
Inside theft is also a large part of the problem. And so, of course, is the newest and most destructive phenomenon: the militia-style gangs who bilk stores out of thousands of dollars worth of high fashion and home electronics, using precision manoeuvres worthy of a sophisticated modern army.
Following a two-month investigation by a task force of Toronto, Peel and Durham police, three women and two men were arrested last September and charged with a combined 68 offences related to an elaborate retail theft binge that netted as much as $50,000 worth of merchandise each day. And just last month, Winnipeg Police Service arrested four people from B.C. who had been using distraction tactics and foil-lined bags and boxes to steal $85,000 worth of merchandise.
Organized Retail Crime poses one of the biggest problems, says Pernice. In some instances small bands of thieves set a high daily quota. But they are smart enough to keep the value of each heist below a certain amount so they escape the possibility of serious charges if caught.
Sometimes it's the sheer boldness that has security guards shaking their heads.
Like the New York City shoplifter who lined his underpants with tinfoil to act as a shield between store detectors and stolen items dropped down his trousers. And then there are the famous "milkshake" robbers who meander through stores dropping small items into their drink.
Estwick says the problem of organized retail theft escalated here last year because the U.S. toughened its stance, mostly by involving the FBI. The hard-line approach drove the criminals north , she says.
Keeping a lid on it is a big, cumbersome task. Most retailers want their merchandise to be approachable and their security systems to be unobtrusive and inexpensive.
To ebb the flow of merchandise leaving stores unaccounted for, managers and security experts are exploring all manner of technology – from the latest digital surveillance cameras to the ubiquitous security tags that are attached to products, including RFID (radio frequency identification) labels.
Mostly, though, they want to keep thieves off-balance, making them unsure of what's rigged and what's not. For example, the most popular security tags these days, says Pernice, are small and are attached during manufacture – a fabric tag sewn into the seam of a blouse or a tiny security device built into an electric hand drill.
Last year, ADT shipped 620 million hard tags that are removed at point of purchase and discarded, as well as 4.5 billion disposable labels.
"That means 5 billion products are being protected at the point of manufacturer," she says.
Cost is also a concern. Small disposable labels, for example, cost about 3 cents, while the one-time hard tags cost about 15 cents. The hard plastic reusable devices cost $1.
How retailers approach their security often reflects their own philosophy, Pernice says. Some retailers think security should be subtle and invisible while others think it should be more in your face.
Meanwhile, theft is damaging more than the bottom line, explains Estwick, suggesting it is also a matter of health and safety. "These criminals are becoming increasingly violent."
Surveillance cameras and security tags are only part of the solution. An educated, alert and loyal staff is an employer's best defence. They will be less inclined to steal and less vulnerable to the lucrative lure of outside criminals.
This summer, Steve Waldron, Danier Leather's director of loss prevention, emphasized the importance of employer-employee relationships in Canadian Security magazine.
"Organized crime is about identifying and placing propositions with people ... Once it's worth the risk for an employee, they'll go for it."
The original article can be found here:To Catch A Theif (http://www.thestar.com/article/284942)