At first glance I thought I was seeing things. It's never this easy.
I was sitting literally with my feet on the desk reading emails when I glanced at the camera monitor and saw a lady in our Health and Beauty Department, pulling Clairol hair color off the shelf. I put my feet down and reached over to enlarge the view of this aisle. And here is an instance when I can't really explain why I sat up and took notice, but for whatever reason, I did, and just in time.
I watched the monitor as the lady pulled one box off the shelf, then seemed to look for a different one down further. Then, just before returning the box to the shelf, she opened it, and pulled the bottle from inside and smoothly slipped it into her overcoat poket. I was shocked at first. I don't usually catch the actual concealment on the camera and it was strange sitting in the office watching it happen. Fortunately, that department was just down a few aisles from my office door, so within seconds, I was out on the floor with this lady in plain sight.
The second time I was shocked during this incident was right about now, when I got a good look at who we were dealing with as a thief. This person proved to me right then and there that thieves come in all shapes and sizes. If I hadn't seen actual concealment, I never would have given this woman a second look. Afterall, she was a short elderly lady wearing grandmom's long overcoat and carrying a tiny handbag, taking short deliberate steps as she walked through the store. If nothing else, this was the most relaxed I had ever felt during a surveillance and apprehension... partly because I couldn't believe it was really happening.
I followed this lady as she walked from the hair coloring past the registers and past the customer service desk. I was literally following her, unlike the hide and seek game I have to play with the typical shoplifter.
She walked at this steady pace right out the front doors until she met up with her husband sitting on the bench in the vestibule, where I finally approached her from behind.
"Excuse me folks, I work with Loss Prevention for the store, can I ask you about what you put in your coat pockets?" I said almost reluctantly. The woman's dyed hair came up to my chin and I felt like I was towering over her.
The woman looked up at me in total shock shaking her head, "No, no..." all I heard was a thick accent.
"Sir are you with her?" he never stood, but nodded his head. "I have her on video taking something out of a box and putting it in her coat pocket." I guess I was hoping he could have the argument with her while I watched.
"Agnes, did you take somehting?" suddenly the husband stood and his voice was angry, but in a way that made me think this wasn't the first time she had done this. For a moment, I drifted off to Dirty Dancing where the elderly couple were found stealing silverware, but came back to reality quickly.
The husband took the woman's handbag and rifled through it for me. He then proceeded with a quick pat down of his wife as if he had seen it done in the movies. The woman insisted she never took anything and I was about to run out of ideas short of calling the police. I switched to giving her an out.
"Can you come back into the store with me and I will show you what I saw?" the couple agreed and began their shuffle back through the store. My mind raced with ideas about how to get her to admit she took something short of showing her the video, and short of involving the police department.
Together we walked to the aisle I saw her in and asked..."remember being in this aisle?"
"No, never in this aisle..."
Oh boy. I thought I was starting easy, and she even denies this! I repeated the question in a variety of ways hoping she just misunderstood. Still, a refusal. I looked at her husband and explained, "I am really hoping I don't have to call the police department. I have her on video in this aisle, pulling something out of a box and putting it in her coat pocket. This isn't a question...this much I know for a fact." I said pleading to the husband for help.
"Agnes, they have you on film!" the angry greek man was raising his voice in frustration. She seemed to be getting scared or anxious as time went on, and I felt bad for her. Something was wrong but I couldnt figure it out.
"Can you show me where you were, or what you did?" I asked as a last ditch effort.
"Yes, yes!" she said with finally a smile. Her small frame turned away from us and hustled out of the aisle and turned the corner. It took me a second to get past the husband and catch up to Agnes, but as I turned into the next aisle, I saw her pulling a plastic bottle out of her coat pocket and placed it on the shelf as she walked. I instantly knew she was trying to hide the fact that she had it in her pocket the whole time...
"Hey look, you found it!" I said playing along with her shenanigans. "Where was it, right here on the shelf?"
She smiled and nodded.
"Okay Agnes, good, we found the merchandise. Let's walk down here to my office so I can get some information and get you guys out of here okay?" this was a rare time when I really meant what I said, I just wanted this case to end.
I gave Agnes one more time to come clean. The elderly couple sat on the chairs meant for criminals who do this kind of thing as a hobby, some times a living. The sight of this couple sitting there just threw me. With every ounce of kindness I could muster, I asked Agnes one more question...
"Agnes, the bottles we found on the shelf, would you admit that you really took them out of your pockets and put them there for us to find?"
Again, with the refusals. This time in both English and Greek.
I gave up. I knew I wasn't prosecuting, but it would have been nice to have her admit some wrongdoing. I obtained all of her information for the report and explained to the husband, who by this time was as frustrated as me, that I was not going to call for the police department since it was just hair color and we got the merchandise back.
They both were very appreciative of this fact and I couldn't help but think if this wasn't a case of the old couple from Dirty Dancing again. Were they always let off with a stern warning as they go store to store ripping them off? Well, I had to drop it for now and apologize for holding them up.
As the couple stood to walk to the door, the husband shook my hand and said, thanks, but added one line in a heavy Greek accent...
"Thank you sir, this won't happen again. You may not have needed the police here today, but when we get home..."
To date, I have not caught an older shoplifter than 85 year old Agnes.
Hopefully I won't.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
A Formula For Apprehension
I had been sitting in the hole in the wall, they call the LP office, tiring of my efforts to organize and clean for an upcoming visit by my District Manager. He had never visited my office before, but I didn't want to be caught with my pants down, and wanted it to be nice looking, or to an acceptable level atleast, in the event he came up with a question I couldn't answer on the fly, and would require a peek into my files or desk. Every few seconds I would glance up at the monitor checkered by 24 different camera angles of the store, and would get right back to my cleaning tasks if nothing caught my eye.
Finally, something drew my attention to Camera 2. This was a shot of the Infant Formula aisle, an aisle which surprisingly had not drawn much attention so far during my term in office. When I first arrived at this position I had been told to watch for thieves of infant formula. For this reason, I positioned a camera directly down that aisle, overseeing the formula, and with it the diaper bags, baby food, and various related merchandise. For months, that camera produced nothing more than a glimpse of potential suspects passing through the Infants Department, on their way to other more profitable areas for them to collect loot. So in a way, it did help tracking people, but until this day, that camera produced no evidence of theft.
On this day, I noticed two females in their early twenties, one pushing a shopping cart. They seemed to be meandering through the kids' clothing racks, but deliberately turned into this aisle with what seemed like a mission. Both dressed in the same, tight jeans, nice heeled shoes, nice sweaters and large fashionable handbags over their shoulders. The cart pusher wore sunglasses. I too found the overhead flourescent lights throughout the store annoying, and often returned to my office where the only light I used was from the camera monitors, but I never found the need for sunglasses while on the salesfloor.
I am often asked, " What made you follow them, what caught your eye that told you they were going to steal something?" It's not something I can explain easily. It may be a glance up and down the aisle, it may be something they are carrying, may be the way they walk... hard to define overall. In this case, I was probably watching them because they were two attractive girls wearing tight jeans and nice sweaters. Nothing more, to begin with. As I watched them walk into the aisle on the monitor, I zoomed in and enlarged the screen. Within seconds the blonde was pulling cans of formula off the shelf and placing them into the cart. When she finished, and seemingly moved on with her shopping, the brunette stepped up and took formula from a lower shelf, and placed her cans inside the cart. The two didn't seem to speak to each other, it just looked like they knew what they were there for, and seemed like it was less of a "shopping" excursion and more of the "mission" I spoke of earlier.
With this observation, I left the office and walked quickly to the opposite side of the store where the inconveniently located Infants Department was situated. I walked straight through the department and into a stockroom, out of sight of any customer in the area. In the stockroom I have a "tower." A tower is a wooden ladder that leads to a wooden platform which forms a confessional-like booth, with a two-way mirror looking out onto the salesfloor. This tower happened to overlook the Infant Department and most of the apparel salesfloor.
I climbed the ladder and took my position in the tower in time for me to see the girls leaving the formula aisle, pushing the cart down two aisles and into the stroller and car seat aisle. If you picture these aisles, they are high displays of strollers and child car seats. This makes a wonderful place to hide if you want to do something without being seen. In this particular case, these girls wanted to remove the cans of formula from the cart, peel off the magnetic tags which would activate the alarm at the front door, and place their cans inside their handbags.
As I watched from the mirrored window above and behind them, the two kept an eye out toward the front desk for employees. I watched as both handbags were taken from their shoulders and placed into the cart. The blonde bent over and pulled out a box from under the display counter, and ended up tossing her magnetic tags under the counter "hiding them" from sight. The brunette paced ocassionally to the end of the aisle to make sure no employee was approaching. Little did she know, I was within ten feet behind her with a clear view of the activity. Little did I know, just out of my sight was an employee stocking shelves, who also thought to keep an eye on these two "shoppers." I stayed in this position as the two loaded their bags with cans of formula, and then finally pushed the cart, now empty, out of the aisle and back through the racks of clothes. At this point I saw the employee walking behind them several feet away, then darted to the left toward a phone hanging nearby. I heard her page me to the Infant Department, but I was not in a position to answer, I needed to keep an eye on the two girls.
I quickly climbed down the ladder, emerged back on the salesfloor, taking a quick shortcut through the car seat display aisle. I pulled out a box and sure enough found ten magnetic tags under the counter. I grabbed them up and continued my surveillance of the two girls now walking through the Jewelry Department. Just as I left the aisle, the paging employee met me and said, "Did you see that too?" In the next few seconds she stated she saw the cart loaded with formula go into the aisle, and then the empty cart come back out. I was getting more excited now. I had them on video, I directly observed them conceal merchandise, and I had an employee as a secondary witness. Adrenaline began flowing as I caught up to them walking toward the front doors.
Thinking they were just going to walk out with their handbags over their shoulders, like they came in, my walking became a hustle, but at the same time, I kept ducking behind racks of clothes in case they turned back around suddenly to see if they were being followed. I grabbed "something," I have no idea what at this point, from a nearby shelf and went into my "shopper" mode. I could now be seen and if so, I would blend in with every other miserable male shopper in the store.
As it turned out, they walked right by the front doors and into the Pantry Department. They collected a few items from the shelf, loaded the cart and then proceeded up to the registers. I took this as a green light. I too would have to check out as well, meaning, I could then walk right up behind them and get in line. From here I could see up close what the bags looked like, full or empty, and could overhear any conversation they would have.
From one foot behind them, I could see the bags were quite loaded, and I could almost make out the shape of a can pushing out at the sides of the bag. The conversation with the cashier was one of layaway questions. It seemed they were looking for a way to get back to the layaway counter for some reason. I, playing the annoyed male shopper, left the line and walked to the customer service desk, "to be rung up." I had to think how I was going to do this apprehension and notify management that I was going to stop them.
I turned back toward the register line, and saw both girls pushing their cart back onto the salesfloor. I then asked the employee at the desk to page the manager up front. I would need a witness close by when I stopped the girls. Suddenly, before any pages could be made, the brunette alone walked out of the pantry, through the unmanned registers and turned for the exit with the heavy handbag still over her shoulder.
"I have to stop this girl now...just watch me from here!" I yelled to the service desk employee as I walked out the main door to intercept the brunette coming from the register exit door.
I just got to her in time before she took a step outside. I quickly jumped into her path and scared the hell out of her initially.
"Excuse me!" I said trying with all I had to control the adrenaline rush. "I'm, with Loss Prevention here at the store..."
"Oh my god! You scared me!" were the first words out of her mouth as she stepped back into the vestibule, clutching the handbag under her left arm.
"Need to talk to you about the Infant Formula in your bag..." I started.
"I didn't take anything," she bagan, but quickly changed to, "I'm so sorry, I have never done this before, I was just trying to help out a friend who is a new mother."
After asking me if I would let her go if she told me about what she had done, I invited her to do just that back in my office. I told her, as I do most shoplifters, "we will have you out of here in just a few minutes, just need some of your information."
With that, I escorted her through the store toward the second office I use for interviewing and detaining shoplifters. While reassuring her it would be okay, since afterall, she admits this was the first time she has ever done such a thing, I scanned the salesfloor for an assistant manager I could use as a female witness in the office. Just before reaching the office door, I saw her stocking shelves, and snatched her up to assist me. (It began to worry me since I could not enter the office by myself with a female, but at the same time, didn't want her to think I wasn't in control of this situation either. Sometimes that's all they need to be uncooperative and try to flee on you.)
Inside the office, she stated she had never done anything like this before, and began opening the bag on the desk. I asked her to sit down and removed the cans of formula myself. In total, the cans in this bag added up to almost $200.00 of merchandise. Realizing the amount, I stepped out of the office and dialed for the Police Department. Up until this point, she had been very cooperative, and apologetic. Within minutes, the first police officer was at the door.
As I wrote the report, she asked if she would be let go since she admitted to the theft, and again, it was the first time she had done anything like this. In my head, I knew simply due to the dollar amount alone, she was not being released, this would definitely be a ride in a police car for sure.
"You said it would only take a few minutes! I admitted everything, can I be let go?" her tone of voice began to escalate and become angry.
"I'm sorry, am I holding you up too long?" I asked as I continued writing. "The problem I have is that when I said it would take a few minutes, I hadn't realized you cleared off an entire shelf of formula, I thought you took a couple cans...now my hands are tied." And as if on cue, a knock at the office door. "It's not up to me if you are let go now, it's up to the police. We will leave it up to him." I said very cooperatively as I opened the door revealing a uniformed officer.
"Well hi there! Let me ask you a question, she just took almost two hundred dollars of infant formula in this bag, I stopped her outside the door....can she go home now?"
The officer looked at me recognizing my sarcastic tone and smiled... "No, I don't think so."
Again she cried out, "But I was just helping a friend who just had a baby, I have never done this before in my life!"
And again, as the cuffs were being placed on her wrists...
"I was just helping a friend, I never did anything like this before!"
As they began the walk of shame through the store to the main entrance, the line changed a bit...
"My friend puts twelve cans of formula in her bag and I am the one getting in trouble!?"
Of course it bugged me to realize the blonde had the most loot, and it was the blonde I had to let go as I apprehended the brunette, but things seem to work out in the end. As we walked outside to the awaiting police cars, the cuffed girl looked out to the parking lot.
"My car is missing! I want to report my car stolen! She took my car!"
"The friend you were helping with the new baby stole your car?" I asked as she was placed into the back seat of the car. "You need to pick better friends!"
An hour later, the arresting police officer returned as he usually does with correct information on the people we arrest. Many times names are different than what was provided, ages, addresses, all have a way of changing once at the police station. In this case, she was honest about her name and address...but that one other thing she insisted on, not so much.
This was actually her third arrest for retail theft, twice before in Florida.
Welcome to Pennsylvania, it's illegal here too.
Finally, something drew my attention to Camera 2. This was a shot of the Infant Formula aisle, an aisle which surprisingly had not drawn much attention so far during my term in office. When I first arrived at this position I had been told to watch for thieves of infant formula. For this reason, I positioned a camera directly down that aisle, overseeing the formula, and with it the diaper bags, baby food, and various related merchandise. For months, that camera produced nothing more than a glimpse of potential suspects passing through the Infants Department, on their way to other more profitable areas for them to collect loot. So in a way, it did help tracking people, but until this day, that camera produced no evidence of theft.
On this day, I noticed two females in their early twenties, one pushing a shopping cart. They seemed to be meandering through the kids' clothing racks, but deliberately turned into this aisle with what seemed like a mission. Both dressed in the same, tight jeans, nice heeled shoes, nice sweaters and large fashionable handbags over their shoulders. The cart pusher wore sunglasses. I too found the overhead flourescent lights throughout the store annoying, and often returned to my office where the only light I used was from the camera monitors, but I never found the need for sunglasses while on the salesfloor.
I am often asked, " What made you follow them, what caught your eye that told you they were going to steal something?" It's not something I can explain easily. It may be a glance up and down the aisle, it may be something they are carrying, may be the way they walk... hard to define overall. In this case, I was probably watching them because they were two attractive girls wearing tight jeans and nice sweaters. Nothing more, to begin with. As I watched them walk into the aisle on the monitor, I zoomed in and enlarged the screen. Within seconds the blonde was pulling cans of formula off the shelf and placing them into the cart. When she finished, and seemingly moved on with her shopping, the brunette stepped up and took formula from a lower shelf, and placed her cans inside the cart. The two didn't seem to speak to each other, it just looked like they knew what they were there for, and seemed like it was less of a "shopping" excursion and more of the "mission" I spoke of earlier.
With this observation, I left the office and walked quickly to the opposite side of the store where the inconveniently located Infants Department was situated. I walked straight through the department and into a stockroom, out of sight of any customer in the area. In the stockroom I have a "tower." A tower is a wooden ladder that leads to a wooden platform which forms a confessional-like booth, with a two-way mirror looking out onto the salesfloor. This tower happened to overlook the Infant Department and most of the apparel salesfloor.
I climbed the ladder and took my position in the tower in time for me to see the girls leaving the formula aisle, pushing the cart down two aisles and into the stroller and car seat aisle. If you picture these aisles, they are high displays of strollers and child car seats. This makes a wonderful place to hide if you want to do something without being seen. In this particular case, these girls wanted to remove the cans of formula from the cart, peel off the magnetic tags which would activate the alarm at the front door, and place their cans inside their handbags.
As I watched from the mirrored window above and behind them, the two kept an eye out toward the front desk for employees. I watched as both handbags were taken from their shoulders and placed into the cart. The blonde bent over and pulled out a box from under the display counter, and ended up tossing her magnetic tags under the counter "hiding them" from sight. The brunette paced ocassionally to the end of the aisle to make sure no employee was approaching. Little did she know, I was within ten feet behind her with a clear view of the activity. Little did I know, just out of my sight was an employee stocking shelves, who also thought to keep an eye on these two "shoppers." I stayed in this position as the two loaded their bags with cans of formula, and then finally pushed the cart, now empty, out of the aisle and back through the racks of clothes. At this point I saw the employee walking behind them several feet away, then darted to the left toward a phone hanging nearby. I heard her page me to the Infant Department, but I was not in a position to answer, I needed to keep an eye on the two girls.
I quickly climbed down the ladder, emerged back on the salesfloor, taking a quick shortcut through the car seat display aisle. I pulled out a box and sure enough found ten magnetic tags under the counter. I grabbed them up and continued my surveillance of the two girls now walking through the Jewelry Department. Just as I left the aisle, the paging employee met me and said, "Did you see that too?" In the next few seconds she stated she saw the cart loaded with formula go into the aisle, and then the empty cart come back out. I was getting more excited now. I had them on video, I directly observed them conceal merchandise, and I had an employee as a secondary witness. Adrenaline began flowing as I caught up to them walking toward the front doors.
Thinking they were just going to walk out with their handbags over their shoulders, like they came in, my walking became a hustle, but at the same time, I kept ducking behind racks of clothes in case they turned back around suddenly to see if they were being followed. I grabbed "something," I have no idea what at this point, from a nearby shelf and went into my "shopper" mode. I could now be seen and if so, I would blend in with every other miserable male shopper in the store.
As it turned out, they walked right by the front doors and into the Pantry Department. They collected a few items from the shelf, loaded the cart and then proceeded up to the registers. I took this as a green light. I too would have to check out as well, meaning, I could then walk right up behind them and get in line. From here I could see up close what the bags looked like, full or empty, and could overhear any conversation they would have.
From one foot behind them, I could see the bags were quite loaded, and I could almost make out the shape of a can pushing out at the sides of the bag. The conversation with the cashier was one of layaway questions. It seemed they were looking for a way to get back to the layaway counter for some reason. I, playing the annoyed male shopper, left the line and walked to the customer service desk, "to be rung up." I had to think how I was going to do this apprehension and notify management that I was going to stop them.
I turned back toward the register line, and saw both girls pushing their cart back onto the salesfloor. I then asked the employee at the desk to page the manager up front. I would need a witness close by when I stopped the girls. Suddenly, before any pages could be made, the brunette alone walked out of the pantry, through the unmanned registers and turned for the exit with the heavy handbag still over her shoulder.
"I have to stop this girl now...just watch me from here!" I yelled to the service desk employee as I walked out the main door to intercept the brunette coming from the register exit door.
I just got to her in time before she took a step outside. I quickly jumped into her path and scared the hell out of her initially.
"Excuse me!" I said trying with all I had to control the adrenaline rush. "I'm, with Loss Prevention here at the store..."
"Oh my god! You scared me!" were the first words out of her mouth as she stepped back into the vestibule, clutching the handbag under her left arm.
"Need to talk to you about the Infant Formula in your bag..." I started.
"I didn't take anything," she bagan, but quickly changed to, "I'm so sorry, I have never done this before, I was just trying to help out a friend who is a new mother."
After asking me if I would let her go if she told me about what she had done, I invited her to do just that back in my office. I told her, as I do most shoplifters, "we will have you out of here in just a few minutes, just need some of your information."
With that, I escorted her through the store toward the second office I use for interviewing and detaining shoplifters. While reassuring her it would be okay, since afterall, she admits this was the first time she has ever done such a thing, I scanned the salesfloor for an assistant manager I could use as a female witness in the office. Just before reaching the office door, I saw her stocking shelves, and snatched her up to assist me. (It began to worry me since I could not enter the office by myself with a female, but at the same time, didn't want her to think I wasn't in control of this situation either. Sometimes that's all they need to be uncooperative and try to flee on you.)
Inside the office, she stated she had never done anything like this before, and began opening the bag on the desk. I asked her to sit down and removed the cans of formula myself. In total, the cans in this bag added up to almost $200.00 of merchandise. Realizing the amount, I stepped out of the office and dialed for the Police Department. Up until this point, she had been very cooperative, and apologetic. Within minutes, the first police officer was at the door.
As I wrote the report, she asked if she would be let go since she admitted to the theft, and again, it was the first time she had done anything like this. In my head, I knew simply due to the dollar amount alone, she was not being released, this would definitely be a ride in a police car for sure.
"You said it would only take a few minutes! I admitted everything, can I be let go?" her tone of voice began to escalate and become angry.
"I'm sorry, am I holding you up too long?" I asked as I continued writing. "The problem I have is that when I said it would take a few minutes, I hadn't realized you cleared off an entire shelf of formula, I thought you took a couple cans...now my hands are tied." And as if on cue, a knock at the office door. "It's not up to me if you are let go now, it's up to the police. We will leave it up to him." I said very cooperatively as I opened the door revealing a uniformed officer.
"Well hi there! Let me ask you a question, she just took almost two hundred dollars of infant formula in this bag, I stopped her outside the door....can she go home now?"
The officer looked at me recognizing my sarcastic tone and smiled... "No, I don't think so."
Again she cried out, "But I was just helping a friend who just had a baby, I have never done this before in my life!"
And again, as the cuffs were being placed on her wrists...
"I was just helping a friend, I never did anything like this before!"
As they began the walk of shame through the store to the main entrance, the line changed a bit...
"My friend puts twelve cans of formula in her bag and I am the one getting in trouble!?"
Of course it bugged me to realize the blonde had the most loot, and it was the blonde I had to let go as I apprehended the brunette, but things seem to work out in the end. As we walked outside to the awaiting police cars, the cuffed girl looked out to the parking lot.
"My car is missing! I want to report my car stolen! She took my car!"
"The friend you were helping with the new baby stole your car?" I asked as she was placed into the back seat of the car. "You need to pick better friends!"
An hour later, the arresting police officer returned as he usually does with correct information on the people we arrest. Many times names are different than what was provided, ages, addresses, all have a way of changing once at the police station. In this case, she was honest about her name and address...but that one other thing she insisted on, not so much.
This was actually her third arrest for retail theft, twice before in Florida.
Welcome to Pennsylvania, it's illegal here too.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
An Entry for the LP Hall of Fame
Due to the classic tale that the following story is, and will become in the future archives, I must fast forward right to it and relay it while it is still fresh in my mind. I apologize for jumping out of order but you will understand. I fully intended to keep this chronologically intact...but this is just too good to hold on to.
Not many days ago, while on my watch, I stumble across an older looking black female, leaning her weight on the handle bar of the shopping cart in front of her, as she slowly meanders through the Ladies Apparel department. The fact that nothing she was wearing would have ever come from the Ladies Department of any store was one thing that caught my eye, the second being the constant panning back and forth of her eyes across the top of the racks. Not sure about you, but when I am shopping for something, I look down at the merchandise, not across the top of the racks. I have found it easier to find my size that way.
So, this lady continues this wandering about the store, ocassionally grabbing something off this rack, or that shelf, maybe this hook. All the while, I maintained a constant view from behind a rack, or on the other side of an aisle. I pulled some clothes off a shelf and threw them over my shoulder to try and blend in as a shopper, just in case she turned and saw me nearby. This cat and mouse routine kept up from one end of the store to the other, and at a nice steady pace for exactly one hour. It wasn't a difficult surveillance, but a long one.
Finally, I observe her making a move. She strolled into the Accessories where all of the handbags of all different shapes and sizes hang. I watched from afar as she finally reached up and pulled a large shiny red holiday bag off the top hook and placed it into her cart, and slowly wandered back toward the clothes racks. Once in a suitable position, between two full coat racks and next to a wall display, I watched her open the bag and take her collection of merchandise from the cart and place it into the big red bag. She hesitated only a moment as an employee walked by, totally oblivious to the illegal activity going on in her department. At this point I called the front desk by cell phone and advised them I observed a lady acting like she was about to leave with a bag full of merchandise. I asked for a female to employee to meet me at the door so I have a witness when I stop her.
Finally, with her bag now full of her chosen items, she pushes the cart toward the front door. I relocate to a position behind bed sheets, comforters and pillows which are adjacent to the main entrance, or in this case, exit. I am able to use a mirrored celing tile from this position to wait for her move to leave the store. However, she doesn't. I noticed her cart sitting by the Jewelry counter but she had walked away from it. Hoping she didn't give up on her heist and abandon the cart, I walked out of the aisle to check the front door. Unfortunately for me, I walked right into the aisle she was standing in, and also checking out the front door. I immediately stopped and turned toward the shelf and began picking through the packages of sheets and pillow cases, like a normal shopper would. This is where the case takes an interesting, and quite unique twist.
"Hi how are you doin tonight sir...?" I wasn't sure I even heard it right. I turned toward her in curiosity. "Hi how are you tonight?"
The lady was now cartless, and with both hands in the back pockets of her worn out jeans as she approached me smiling, I discovered she was also toothless.
"Sir you look bothered about something, everything alright?" the lady walked up to me as if we knew each other. I couldnt help but wonder, was she playing me because she knew I was watching her, or is she that nervous that she needs to talk to someone before she rolls out the door with a cart load of stolen merchandise..... hmmmm. For a split second I thought about responding that I was bothered because after following her for an hour I made the mistake of walking into the same aisle as her!
"Oh I just hate shopping, especially during the holidays." I responded and watched her reaction. She never stopped scanning the area for employees as she halfheartedly spoke to me.
"Oh really? What'cha shopping for?"
"I need to get something for my girlfriend, I don't really know what to get..." I reached up and pulled the clothes off my shoulder. "So far I picked this but I dont even know if she'll like this." I said holding a green V-Neck sweater I had blindly grabbed as I was passing the shelf.
"Oh ok! That's nice, that's nice!" I tried to slowly get the conversation moved back toward the cart. "What are you leaving now?" she asked as I moved toward the end of the aisle.
"Hey sir," she said almst shyly and smiling large, "can I aks you for a favor?"
"Sure, what's up?" I said reaching around for my wallet to make my sweater "purchase."
"Well how far ya goin when you leave here?'" she asked still nervously looking around for employees.
"I'm heading out to Downville from here, why where you heading?" I asked the fidgity, wannabe thief.
"Would you be able to drop me over at the bus station?" It was such a relief to hear those words. This told me she, first, trusted me, and second, didn't know me from a hole in the ground. My jig was not up yet!
"Yeah over here where the busses are, sure I can take ya..." I turned back to see where her cart was and said, "you done your shopping there or you still shopping?"
"Oh no, thats not from this store, I got nothing from this store." she said quickly pulling the cart up next to her. "This bag is from the dollar store over there..."
"Oh ok, whatever..." I interrupted to show I didn't care as long as she was ready to leave.
I walked up to the service desk with my internal fingers crossed, hoping the cashier wouldn't say hi to me, ask me how late I was working, am I using my employee discount card, or any number of different things she could say to blow my cover within earshot of my new friend, the thief.
"Maam," I started anxiously, "Are you able to ring me up here or do we have to go to a regular register?" Fingers crossed.
The cashier looked at me for a minute, then looked at the lady pulling the cart up behind me and after what seemed like an hour replied,
"Sure I can take you here." Phew...another sigh of relief. I glanced back as I was being rung up and noticed she once again let her cart get away from her.
"C'mon, grab your stuff, someone could steal it over there!"
My sweater was bagged and I turned toward the exit.
"Ready? Let's get outta here!"
I pushed open the glass doors as she pulled the cart behind her. As soon as she entered between the doors, the alarm was activated by something in her bag.
"What's that?" she stopped immediately and looked up at me with bulging eyes.
"That's not for us," I said brushing it off as she kept moving through the doors I was holding open.
Just as another employee came into the vestibule to be my witness, I put my hand on her cart and looked at her.
"Oh, there was one other thing I forgot to tell you, I work security here for this store."
She stared at me for a second with wide eyes as if the deer was about te be struck by the car.
"I'm so sorry Mr. Security, so sorry Mr. Security."
"Okay, well let's go back inside so I can get some information from you, it's real quick and you'll still be able to make your bus." I usually say something similar to every shoplifter in an effort to have a cooperative, uneventful, walk back to the office. No matter what I know to be the end result, they always get the same initial statement.
The witnessing employee took control of the cart and immediately began wheeling it back into the store. We followed the cart to the interrogation office where for the next 30 minutes we talked and counted merchandise. At the end of the night, the big red bag yielded almost 400.00 worth of stolen merchandise. As a result, this shopper-gone-wrong walked out of the store in handcuffs, and I look forward to visiting with her again at her hearing.
This concludes my nomination for this year's LP Hall of Fame entry.
Not many days ago, while on my watch, I stumble across an older looking black female, leaning her weight on the handle bar of the shopping cart in front of her, as she slowly meanders through the Ladies Apparel department. The fact that nothing she was wearing would have ever come from the Ladies Department of any store was one thing that caught my eye, the second being the constant panning back and forth of her eyes across the top of the racks. Not sure about you, but when I am shopping for something, I look down at the merchandise, not across the top of the racks. I have found it easier to find my size that way.
So, this lady continues this wandering about the store, ocassionally grabbing something off this rack, or that shelf, maybe this hook. All the while, I maintained a constant view from behind a rack, or on the other side of an aisle. I pulled some clothes off a shelf and threw them over my shoulder to try and blend in as a shopper, just in case she turned and saw me nearby. This cat and mouse routine kept up from one end of the store to the other, and at a nice steady pace for exactly one hour. It wasn't a difficult surveillance, but a long one.
Finally, I observe her making a move. She strolled into the Accessories where all of the handbags of all different shapes and sizes hang. I watched from afar as she finally reached up and pulled a large shiny red holiday bag off the top hook and placed it into her cart, and slowly wandered back toward the clothes racks. Once in a suitable position, between two full coat racks and next to a wall display, I watched her open the bag and take her collection of merchandise from the cart and place it into the big red bag. She hesitated only a moment as an employee walked by, totally oblivious to the illegal activity going on in her department. At this point I called the front desk by cell phone and advised them I observed a lady acting like she was about to leave with a bag full of merchandise. I asked for a female to employee to meet me at the door so I have a witness when I stop her.
Finally, with her bag now full of her chosen items, she pushes the cart toward the front door. I relocate to a position behind bed sheets, comforters and pillows which are adjacent to the main entrance, or in this case, exit. I am able to use a mirrored celing tile from this position to wait for her move to leave the store. However, she doesn't. I noticed her cart sitting by the Jewelry counter but she had walked away from it. Hoping she didn't give up on her heist and abandon the cart, I walked out of the aisle to check the front door. Unfortunately for me, I walked right into the aisle she was standing in, and also checking out the front door. I immediately stopped and turned toward the shelf and began picking through the packages of sheets and pillow cases, like a normal shopper would. This is where the case takes an interesting, and quite unique twist.
"Hi how are you doin tonight sir...?" I wasn't sure I even heard it right. I turned toward her in curiosity. "Hi how are you tonight?"
The lady was now cartless, and with both hands in the back pockets of her worn out jeans as she approached me smiling, I discovered she was also toothless.
"Sir you look bothered about something, everything alright?" the lady walked up to me as if we knew each other. I couldnt help but wonder, was she playing me because she knew I was watching her, or is she that nervous that she needs to talk to someone before she rolls out the door with a cart load of stolen merchandise..... hmmmm. For a split second I thought about responding that I was bothered because after following her for an hour I made the mistake of walking into the same aisle as her!
"Oh I just hate shopping, especially during the holidays." I responded and watched her reaction. She never stopped scanning the area for employees as she halfheartedly spoke to me.
"Oh really? What'cha shopping for?"
"I need to get something for my girlfriend, I don't really know what to get..." I reached up and pulled the clothes off my shoulder. "So far I picked this but I dont even know if she'll like this." I said holding a green V-Neck sweater I had blindly grabbed as I was passing the shelf.
"Oh ok! That's nice, that's nice!" I tried to slowly get the conversation moved back toward the cart. "What are you leaving now?" she asked as I moved toward the end of the aisle.
"Hey sir," she said almst shyly and smiling large, "can I aks you for a favor?"
"Sure, what's up?" I said reaching around for my wallet to make my sweater "purchase."
"Well how far ya goin when you leave here?'" she asked still nervously looking around for employees.
"I'm heading out to Downville from here, why where you heading?" I asked the fidgity, wannabe thief.
"Would you be able to drop me over at the bus station?" It was such a relief to hear those words. This told me she, first, trusted me, and second, didn't know me from a hole in the ground. My jig was not up yet!
"Yeah over here where the busses are, sure I can take ya..." I turned back to see where her cart was and said, "you done your shopping there or you still shopping?"
"Oh no, thats not from this store, I got nothing from this store." she said quickly pulling the cart up next to her. "This bag is from the dollar store over there..."
"Oh ok, whatever..." I interrupted to show I didn't care as long as she was ready to leave.
I walked up to the service desk with my internal fingers crossed, hoping the cashier wouldn't say hi to me, ask me how late I was working, am I using my employee discount card, or any number of different things she could say to blow my cover within earshot of my new friend, the thief.
"Maam," I started anxiously, "Are you able to ring me up here or do we have to go to a regular register?" Fingers crossed.
The cashier looked at me for a minute, then looked at the lady pulling the cart up behind me and after what seemed like an hour replied,
"Sure I can take you here." Phew...another sigh of relief. I glanced back as I was being rung up and noticed she once again let her cart get away from her.
"C'mon, grab your stuff, someone could steal it over there!"
My sweater was bagged and I turned toward the exit.
"Ready? Let's get outta here!"
I pushed open the glass doors as she pulled the cart behind her. As soon as she entered between the doors, the alarm was activated by something in her bag.
"What's that?" she stopped immediately and looked up at me with bulging eyes.
"That's not for us," I said brushing it off as she kept moving through the doors I was holding open.
Just as another employee came into the vestibule to be my witness, I put my hand on her cart and looked at her.
"Oh, there was one other thing I forgot to tell you, I work security here for this store."
She stared at me for a second with wide eyes as if the deer was about te be struck by the car.
"I'm so sorry Mr. Security, so sorry Mr. Security."
"Okay, well let's go back inside so I can get some information from you, it's real quick and you'll still be able to make your bus." I usually say something similar to every shoplifter in an effort to have a cooperative, uneventful, walk back to the office. No matter what I know to be the end result, they always get the same initial statement.
The witnessing employee took control of the cart and immediately began wheeling it back into the store. We followed the cart to the interrogation office where for the next 30 minutes we talked and counted merchandise. At the end of the night, the big red bag yielded almost 400.00 worth of stolen merchandise. As a result, this shopper-gone-wrong walked out of the store in handcuffs, and I look forward to visiting with her again at her hearing.
This concludes my nomination for this year's LP Hall of Fame entry.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Our Own Most Wanted
For the first two weeks I was trained by James, a Loss Prevention Manager from a neighboring store, who had not only been in the LP business with this company for almost a year, but had come from working at a larger retail chain for several years . I liked the experience and the stories he could tell to help me obtain a better understanding of what was expected of me in my new position. For now they didn't seem like battle stories, they just seemed like his way of helping me learn about shoplifters, how to detect them, how to follow them and how to apprehend them. Some times he would talk as if these people who would come in and steal merchandise were members of the Philadelphia Mob and the truth of this remained to be seen.
It wasn't long before a sales associate approached me and discussed a frequent flyer, a customer who would come into the store often. The problem with this guy was he was suspected of stealing electric razors and electric toothbrushes each time he visited the store. At first this boggled my mind. If they know this guy is stealing all the time, why aren't they stopping him?
It would soon become clear, as the policies and procedures were embedded in my head throughout training. I went to management, as well as other sales personnel trying to learn more about this regular "shopper." Seemed he would come in on a Thursday or Friday to scope out the shelves, then return over the weeekend and take what he wanted. To me, this seemed like an easy catch.
I discussed the situation with James and we decided it would be a nice first apprehension for me. We decided to get together and plan a set up for the upcoming weekend. Instead of just using me in the store, we considered using three of us, making sure he wasn't going to get away. Since this store didn't have any LP personnel for a while, this would certainly be a surprise attack on the shoplifter.
It was a Tuesday when we met in my office to go over how we would work the weekend apprehension. James sat facing me with his back to the large screen displaying the twenty cameras spread across the store when suddenly my phone rang.
"Pat, that guy Obama just came into the store..." a female's voice advised me over the phone. This guy was labelled "Obama" since most days he wore a wool hat with "Obama" written across the front. Still holding the phone to my ear, I glanced up to the monitor and saw the man standing in front of the electric razors, pulling one off the shelf.
"Yes he is! He's here, he's in the aisle now!" I said to James as I stood and headed for the door to the salesfloor. He followed me out the door asking me something about where he was, I pointed and kept walking. I was moving like a veteran at shoplifter apprehensions. I never slowed down until I reached the aisle where he was known to hide while taking the merchandise out of their packages. The aisle was empty. My cell phone rang and it was James.
"Hey," I could barely hear the whispering voice, "I got him over here in the Pantry aisle ripping open the package."
It now became hide and seek. James and I were hiding, staying out of sight so he didn't know we were on to him. I was close to the exit but tucked behind an aisle of bed sheets and pillow cases. I stayed on the phone with James who was in a position where he could see Obama's movements. From where I was I saw Obama between the registers and reappear with a large shopping bag walking back toward the Pantry. It turned out he was going to collect the razors he had just opened and place them in the bag as if he had already bought them.
A minute later, I see Obama come out of the Pantry, walk hesitantly between two closed registers, and turn toward the exit. About ten feet behind him, James appears nodding his head toward me. I walk from my position, pass the service desk and approach the front door as Obama and James reach the exit doors. Just as we all go through the glass doors, Obama turns back and sees us coming out the door and begins sprinting across the front sidewalk, dropping the bag of merchandise as he runs. James and I without hesitation, follow right behind him, and I notice James now on the phone yelling "he is running toward the side parking lot."
Fortunately, James had already called 9-1-1 as we were heading for the door, and the police were already responding. James and I ran behind the shoplifter until we reached the side lot where the first of five police cars arrived. We pointed toward the man running through the lot and the officers sped away. Moments later, the police department caught him as he entered another retail store and placed him into custody.
At this point, my adrenaline could probably be seen pumping through my veins, because I could sure feel it. James and I stood outside the store waiting until an officer came back for somoene to go identify the suspect. I was all about that job, and jumped into the back seat of the patrol car. We circled back around, through two adjacent parking lots and pulled up behind a small gathering of police officers. In the center of it all was the gentleman I had watched on video over and over, as he repeatedly visited the store for his razor collection, the same man we just chased across the parking lot.
We picked up the bag he had tossed aside as he sprinted away, and inventoried his loot. This time the merchandise added up to more than four hundred dollars. It's tough to imagine how often he did this, and just how much we lost every time he visited us.
After being processed by the police, it was learned that this man had been arrested for the same thing almost twenty times before. He was no rookie, and it felt great getting such the professional for my first apprehension.
As the adrenaline subsided, we were reminded that store policy states we never chase a suspect and never leave the sidewalk.
It just so happened that my District Manager chose this day to stop in and meet me for the first time. He had gone to lunch and was returning to the store as James and I were chasing the shoplifter into the side lot.
As the last police officer left, the DM shook his head,
"Great job this time....but never do that again."
It wasn't long before a sales associate approached me and discussed a frequent flyer, a customer who would come into the store often. The problem with this guy was he was suspected of stealing electric razors and electric toothbrushes each time he visited the store. At first this boggled my mind. If they know this guy is stealing all the time, why aren't they stopping him?
It would soon become clear, as the policies and procedures were embedded in my head throughout training. I went to management, as well as other sales personnel trying to learn more about this regular "shopper." Seemed he would come in on a Thursday or Friday to scope out the shelves, then return over the weeekend and take what he wanted. To me, this seemed like an easy catch.
I discussed the situation with James and we decided it would be a nice first apprehension for me. We decided to get together and plan a set up for the upcoming weekend. Instead of just using me in the store, we considered using three of us, making sure he wasn't going to get away. Since this store didn't have any LP personnel for a while, this would certainly be a surprise attack on the shoplifter.
It was a Tuesday when we met in my office to go over how we would work the weekend apprehension. James sat facing me with his back to the large screen displaying the twenty cameras spread across the store when suddenly my phone rang.
"Pat, that guy Obama just came into the store..." a female's voice advised me over the phone. This guy was labelled "Obama" since most days he wore a wool hat with "Obama" written across the front. Still holding the phone to my ear, I glanced up to the monitor and saw the man standing in front of the electric razors, pulling one off the shelf.
"Yes he is! He's here, he's in the aisle now!" I said to James as I stood and headed for the door to the salesfloor. He followed me out the door asking me something about where he was, I pointed and kept walking. I was moving like a veteran at shoplifter apprehensions. I never slowed down until I reached the aisle where he was known to hide while taking the merchandise out of their packages. The aisle was empty. My cell phone rang and it was James.
"Hey," I could barely hear the whispering voice, "I got him over here in the Pantry aisle ripping open the package."
It now became hide and seek. James and I were hiding, staying out of sight so he didn't know we were on to him. I was close to the exit but tucked behind an aisle of bed sheets and pillow cases. I stayed on the phone with James who was in a position where he could see Obama's movements. From where I was I saw Obama between the registers and reappear with a large shopping bag walking back toward the Pantry. It turned out he was going to collect the razors he had just opened and place them in the bag as if he had already bought them.
A minute later, I see Obama come out of the Pantry, walk hesitantly between two closed registers, and turn toward the exit. About ten feet behind him, James appears nodding his head toward me. I walk from my position, pass the service desk and approach the front door as Obama and James reach the exit doors. Just as we all go through the glass doors, Obama turns back and sees us coming out the door and begins sprinting across the front sidewalk, dropping the bag of merchandise as he runs. James and I without hesitation, follow right behind him, and I notice James now on the phone yelling "he is running toward the side parking lot."
Fortunately, James had already called 9-1-1 as we were heading for the door, and the police were already responding. James and I ran behind the shoplifter until we reached the side lot where the first of five police cars arrived. We pointed toward the man running through the lot and the officers sped away. Moments later, the police department caught him as he entered another retail store and placed him into custody.
At this point, my adrenaline could probably be seen pumping through my veins, because I could sure feel it. James and I stood outside the store waiting until an officer came back for somoene to go identify the suspect. I was all about that job, and jumped into the back seat of the patrol car. We circled back around, through two adjacent parking lots and pulled up behind a small gathering of police officers. In the center of it all was the gentleman I had watched on video over and over, as he repeatedly visited the store for his razor collection, the same man we just chased across the parking lot.
We picked up the bag he had tossed aside as he sprinted away, and inventoried his loot. This time the merchandise added up to more than four hundred dollars. It's tough to imagine how often he did this, and just how much we lost every time he visited us.
After being processed by the police, it was learned that this man had been arrested for the same thing almost twenty times before. He was no rookie, and it felt great getting such the professional for my first apprehension.
As the adrenaline subsided, we were reminded that store policy states we never chase a suspect and never leave the sidewalk.
It just so happened that my District Manager chose this day to stop in and meet me for the first time. He had gone to lunch and was returning to the store as James and I were chasing the shoplifter into the side lot.
As the last police officer left, the DM shook his head,
"Great job this time....but never do that again."
"Security"
A little history before I begin...
In the mid-80's I, the high school grad but failing college guy that I was, scanned the want ads of the local paper and came across one that seemed acceptable. It was a Security Guard position but it didn't specify where or what I would be guarding. After a successful interview, I started as a uniformed security guard at a women's clothing store in a strip mall. I wouldn't be there long because this position was temporary, and I soon found out I would be temporary no matter where I was positioned. First the clothing store. I would pace back and forth amongst the racks watching people as they shopped. Yep, the excitiment level there was just short of watching the paint dry. I welcomed the phone call asking if I would be interested in moving to a different location. Next, I was positioned at a construction site. I was to sit at a desk at the front door of a high rise building, which only had three floors completed, and.... I guess stop anyone wanting to hang out at a construction site...? Mind you, this was an overnight shift. From 11:00pm until 7:00am, I had to sit on the first floor, then each hour, make my rounds. Rounds here consisted of walking the stairs to each of the 16 floors, 13 of which were a cement skeleton, and punch a clock on each floor, proving my rounds were complete. As the night wore on, the temperature on the upper levels dropped. Wind ripped through the unlit cement shell at a hurricane clip. I just couldnt wait to find the clock, punch it and get back to my heated first floor lobby....until the next hour.
So I was at this location for about a week. I was moved to an outside construction site where I sat in my car, between two lanes of a highway and babysat a multi-million dollar crane. My big assignment, as it were, during this time period, was when they needed all available guards at the new shopping mall just opening up downtown. The governor was coming, and a small parade was taking place. Quite the tadoo was unfolding, and they needed all of us uniformed "guards" to report for duty. Of course, the governor had his own security force, and the city had their police department out in full force, but it wasn't complete until we got there with our sharp 8 pointed hats, shiny badges and polyester pants with the blue stripe down the side. Anyway, that lasted most of the day. We lined the mall at predetermined spaces and stood at ...well stood still for as long as we could while dignitaries browsed the mall.
The highlight of my "security" career came when someone accidentally discovered I was a certifed Emergency Medical Technician. My phone rang and it was my boss asking if I could report to the NBA sports arena in town. They were looking for somoene like me there, as he put it. The next night I was entering the stadium I had attended my first Kiss concert at in Junior High, the Springsteen concert, a few pro basketball games and a hockey game.
After meeting with the head of security there, he offered me a position of "House EMT." This would mean I would no longer be a uniformed security guard staring at construction equipment, or racks of clothes. I accepted with little hesitation. I was lead to the "First Aid Office" which was slightly bigger than my bathroom at home. Along one wall was a white paper draped bed, on another was a desk, and the third was a medicine cabinet. Hanging on a hook was a white jacket with Emergency Medical Technician emboidered in script right where the words Neurologist, or Opthamologist are usually found. This would begin my one year career working the medical hot zone for all sporting events and shows touring through this city. Events included Frank Sinatra, Van Halen, and Duran Duran concerts, as well as way too many Ice Capades shows. After the sixth Ice Capades show I didn't have to look to know what song was next and sing along with them. I would be presented with everything from the senior citzen tripping on the stairs during Frank Sinatra to the seizure in the mens room before a hockey game. Took care of the unconscious girl overdosing at Van Halen as well as an Ice Capade skater with a rash on her thigh.
As a result of this move from security to the EMT of the Stars, I left the high paced world of uniformed Security all together to follow the path of the sick and injured. I took a full time position as an Emergency Medical Technician on an ambulance. I turned in my pointy hat and shiny badge and threw a stethoscope around my neck and rubber gloves on my hands instead. My security days were over....or so I thought.
Little did I know, I would end up at another retail store over twenty years later, and become the Loss Prevention Manager...something I think we used to call Security Supervisor. It's an entirely different job these days, and I think I will show you how in these pages as I go forward. Stressful some days, but entertaining most days.
Enjoy.
In the mid-80's I, the high school grad but failing college guy that I was, scanned the want ads of the local paper and came across one that seemed acceptable. It was a Security Guard position but it didn't specify where or what I would be guarding. After a successful interview, I started as a uniformed security guard at a women's clothing store in a strip mall. I wouldn't be there long because this position was temporary, and I soon found out I would be temporary no matter where I was positioned. First the clothing store. I would pace back and forth amongst the racks watching people as they shopped. Yep, the excitiment level there was just short of watching the paint dry. I welcomed the phone call asking if I would be interested in moving to a different location. Next, I was positioned at a construction site. I was to sit at a desk at the front door of a high rise building, which only had three floors completed, and.... I guess stop anyone wanting to hang out at a construction site...? Mind you, this was an overnight shift. From 11:00pm until 7:00am, I had to sit on the first floor, then each hour, make my rounds. Rounds here consisted of walking the stairs to each of the 16 floors, 13 of which were a cement skeleton, and punch a clock on each floor, proving my rounds were complete. As the night wore on, the temperature on the upper levels dropped. Wind ripped through the unlit cement shell at a hurricane clip. I just couldnt wait to find the clock, punch it and get back to my heated first floor lobby....until the next hour.
So I was at this location for about a week. I was moved to an outside construction site where I sat in my car, between two lanes of a highway and babysat a multi-million dollar crane. My big assignment, as it were, during this time period, was when they needed all available guards at the new shopping mall just opening up downtown. The governor was coming, and a small parade was taking place. Quite the tadoo was unfolding, and they needed all of us uniformed "guards" to report for duty. Of course, the governor had his own security force, and the city had their police department out in full force, but it wasn't complete until we got there with our sharp 8 pointed hats, shiny badges and polyester pants with the blue stripe down the side. Anyway, that lasted most of the day. We lined the mall at predetermined spaces and stood at ...well stood still for as long as we could while dignitaries browsed the mall.
The highlight of my "security" career came when someone accidentally discovered I was a certifed Emergency Medical Technician. My phone rang and it was my boss asking if I could report to the NBA sports arena in town. They were looking for somoene like me there, as he put it. The next night I was entering the stadium I had attended my first Kiss concert at in Junior High, the Springsteen concert, a few pro basketball games and a hockey game.
After meeting with the head of security there, he offered me a position of "House EMT." This would mean I would no longer be a uniformed security guard staring at construction equipment, or racks of clothes. I accepted with little hesitation. I was lead to the "First Aid Office" which was slightly bigger than my bathroom at home. Along one wall was a white paper draped bed, on another was a desk, and the third was a medicine cabinet. Hanging on a hook was a white jacket with Emergency Medical Technician emboidered in script right where the words Neurologist, or Opthamologist are usually found. This would begin my one year career working the medical hot zone for all sporting events and shows touring through this city. Events included Frank Sinatra, Van Halen, and Duran Duran concerts, as well as way too many Ice Capades shows. After the sixth Ice Capades show I didn't have to look to know what song was next and sing along with them. I would be presented with everything from the senior citzen tripping on the stairs during Frank Sinatra to the seizure in the mens room before a hockey game. Took care of the unconscious girl overdosing at Van Halen as well as an Ice Capade skater with a rash on her thigh.
As a result of this move from security to the EMT of the Stars, I left the high paced world of uniformed Security all together to follow the path of the sick and injured. I took a full time position as an Emergency Medical Technician on an ambulance. I turned in my pointy hat and shiny badge and threw a stethoscope around my neck and rubber gloves on my hands instead. My security days were over....or so I thought.
Little did I know, I would end up at another retail store over twenty years later, and become the Loss Prevention Manager...something I think we used to call Security Supervisor. It's an entirely different job these days, and I think I will show you how in these pages as I go forward. Stressful some days, but entertaining most days.
Enjoy.
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