Since I last chatted...I am saddened to admit, there have been no more apprehensions. As in, not one in the month of February. This time last year I had three under my belt. (By the way, February 9 marked my one year anniversary as Police Chief of my retail store. I ended the year with 20 shoplifter apprehensions, five employee apprehensions, one macing and two lacerated elbows).
Instead of straight up theft apprehensions, apparently the white collar crimes have picked up. Every day, it seems, I am walking into yet another fraudulent transaction investigation.
We have an assortment of people involved. I have a white mother and daughter coming in and shopping for an hour, loading up two shopping carts with merchandise, and proceeding to the register line. Once in line, they produce a tupperware container filled with coupons, and from it, matches almost every piece of merchandise with a coupon. As a result, two shopping carts cost them $2.32. That is not a typo. Just in case you didn't see it the first time, two shopping carts loaded with merchandise cost a total of $2.32.
So, using coupons isn't against the law. That really comes under the "smart shopper" column. However, they don't stop there. Over the past weeek, it has become apparent, through diligent review of video tapes, (because there are no shoplifters in the store...I have to do something), I notice the same coupon duet, returning merchandise the next day, shopping for another hour, and repeating the same procedure again. Suspicious? How many times do you need to shop for two cart loads of merchandise in a week? So I examine the situation closer. This is where I find the real problem for us, benefit for them.
When they return ten items the next day, they are getting the full price for the items back in a gift card. If you recall, their total order came to $2.32. Their return of just ten of the items yielded them %15.84. I am terrible at Math, but that seems like they made off with about $13.00 of which they never paid for to begin with. Innocent mistake? Maybe they aren't trying to make a profit, and it's cashier error, or paperwork error, etc etc... However, there is one more finding... when they go back shopping the next time, they purchase the same things they just returned! Verdict: Scam. Investigation continuing...
I also have two black females, and one or two black males who have joined efforts in their operation. I was approached the other day by an employee who was assigned to our Electronics Counter. The only reason he came up to me was because he needed a manager to unlock the Electronics Stockroom, and it happened to be me doing it for him. If this didn't cause our paths to cross that night, I really wonder if I would have ever heard from him. As I walked away from the stockroom, after unlocking it for him, he calls out to me...
"Question for ya!"
I stopped and walked back through to the back hallway to listen intetntly to his question, which I fully expected to be rivetting, if not totally random.
"Are we allowed to accept VISA gift cards whe they purchase PSP's and DSI's...and..."
I stopped him mid-sentence.
"I have a VISA gift card, are you going to stop me from buying whatever it is I want with it?"
He started to walk away with his tail between his legs but then paused and addded that he just had a customer who bought four PSP's with his gift card.
"Are you kidding me? You already made the transaction, and then think to ask if its okay that you did?" I was shocked, but knew his history of doing dumb things, so it really wasn't too shocking. "And let me ask this... someone who buys a stack of PSP game systems at 200 dollars a piece, with a gift card...does this raise any red flags with you at all? Other than whether you are allowed to take the gift cards?"
"Well it just happened, literally a few minutes ago..." he replied trying to save himself.
"So the customer has already left huh?" he just stared back at me. "So, no, it didn't raise any flags huh?, nothing suspicious about a guy buying numerous game systems with a gift card..."
He stuttered and stammered for minutes, until I finally walked away shaking my head. I had suddenly been given yet another investigation... and I just wished he didn't have anything to do with it.
I checked video of the transaction he was speaking of. A black male walks into the store alone, walks directly to the CD and DVD aisle and paces up and down. When the employee walks by, he suddenly walks out and aks him about the game systems which are locked in the display case on the other side of the department. The employee helps him out, and brings out the four he asks four, adds a few other DVD's and rings him up. This transaction comes to over 650 dollars. The customer pays for the merchandise with a card, later identified as a VISA gift card. He is handed a bag filled with merchandise and he walks out of the store with it. I try to get a good shot of the customer and get a still photo of him incase the card comes back stolen. Experience shows purchases like these are often done with stolen cards.
I check the time and realize I am due at the neighboring store to help interview an employee who is accused of stealing merchndise. I grab my coat and head back out of the office, doing one more lap through Electronics before I leave the store "unprotected."
As I started toward Electronics, I saw another employee walking quickly toward me, sorta signalling me with his fingers. As he walked by me he whispered...
"There's a girl in Electronics trying to buy a bunch of PSP's..."
Only fifteen minutes had passed since the first guy made his purchase. I instantly thought they could be working together. I did a lap down the back aisle so she wouldnt see where I was coming from. I came out and walked right behind her standing at the counter, waiting to be rung up. She was a thin black girl in her late twenties with a pony tail sticking out of her baseball cap. Before she turned to see me, I kept walking straight to the service desk by the front door. My mission now was to see what car they got into and hopefully get a license plate.
Since I was leaving for another store anyway, I waited for the girl to walk behind me out the door, then I walked out behind her, pulling my car keys out as I walked. She walked straight out toward the far end of the lot as I walked left toward my car. I peeked over to her as I acted like I was unlocking my car door, and saw her throw her bag of merchandise into the trunk of a silver Dodge Charger. She then walked up the passenger side and got in the front. I jumped into my car and pulled up behind them as they sat at the red light at the exit from the lot. I typed their license plate into my cell phone as we tunred out of the lot and sent it to the LP I was about to meet. At that point I thought I was done with the case for a while.
Once I arrived at the other store, I asked for the information I had sent over the cell phone, explaining the situation we had with the gift card purchases. As luck would have it, the scenario sounded familiar to him as well, and within a minute I was being shown video of the same people making purchases in this store too. The case just doubled...
I called back to the Electronics Department and asked about the transactions. I wanted in detail what was bought, how it was bought and how it all went down. It was then I learned that I didn't have two people making purchases, I had three. One male and two females. By the time the Electronics Department employee stopped me to ask about gift cards, he had already rung up the first two people for about 700 dollars each. The third girl left with about 600 dollars of video game systems.
The next day, I started right in on investigating and documenting the three transactions. I found the receipts for each transaction, complete with times, merchandise bought, cards used and amounts. On video I saw the guy, and the two girls. While reviewing it for the fourth or fifth time, I noticed something odd. Each time the person was making the purchase, they were talking on a cell phone. Then, I noticed, as the man and the first female was being rung up, the thin female with the pony tail, walked into the store on her cell phone, hung out near the front of the store, then slowly meandered out behind the one carrying the merchandise.
As I was reviewing the transactions, I got a call from the LP at another store which isn't in our district. He was explaining to me about a customer using a stolen gift card. Once he stopped, I described the case I was looking at and of course, it sounded very similar. One way to tell was for him to look at my video. A few hours later, he stopped in to my office and I pulled up the video. Sure enough, the same day they were in my store, they were also in his attempting the same thing. The big difference in the transactions is the fact that in addition to game systems, the male also tried to buy two 50 inch Tv's at the other store. Once the employees began asking questions, the guy left the store, leaving the TV's he had purchased with the card, behind on a flatbed.
The visiting LP added that each time someone came in to make a purchase with the gift cards, the pony tailed girl acted as lookout, watching their back. It made me wonder what she was prepared to do if the people were stopped. Would she just warn them and run, or is she armed and ready to help the other ones get away?
So, for now, we have them making purchases for over $6000.00 in the other district, $2000.00 in my store, and we are still checking video in other stores.
With any luck, we can help the Police Department make some arrests for Fraud, ID Theft, Theft by Unlawful Taking, Forgery and many more charges I may have never even heard of.
It's not as fun as beating someone to the front door and surprising them... but it's still taking a bite outta crime. And it would be nice to be able to say I have been spending my time this month saving the store some money.
Stay tuned...
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
After Further Investigation...You're An Idiot!
My morning was going just as most do. I was printing out reports from the day before, reviewing overnight video and sipping on the first cup of coffee of the day. On the overhead paging system, the Jewelry Manager's voice came on and requested me to call her.. "at my convenience." I thought to myself, "she is so well trained."
I had advised the coworkers, if they see a suspicious person, possible shoplifter, need somehting urgently, just page "300" instead of my name. If it's not urgent, and you just need to speak to me about something that is not going on now, use my name and add "at your convenience." This will tell me I don't have to drop what I am doing and rush out of the office, but instead I can call or find you when I get a chance. For the most part, everyone has been cooperating.
I called the Jewelry counter and she advised me she had something for me to see from over the weekend. This scared me a bit since we had been having a gang going from store to store committing jewelry thefts. To date, we had been lucky and I really wasn't looking forward to becoming a statistic as a victim of their activities.
I arrived at the counter to find the manager reaching under the display case pulling out a small box with a gold chain in it. A refund receipt was attached with the words "Defective/Damaged" written on it. The manager went on to explain that this item was returned over the weekend. However, when it was bought, also over the weekend, the chain had a diamond and gold pendant attached to it. The customer brought it back in claiming the pendant had fallen off because the chain was broken.
Okay, so it fell off, but I wondered what happened to the pendant. Why wouldnt it be in the box as well when she returned it? I took the box and receipt and headed back to my office. Now I am no jeweler, but when I examined the chain, it made a full circle with a fully operational clasp in the middle. To me, with the untrained eye, that's a fully functioning necklace. This just added to the mystery of the missing pendant.
In an effort to try and make sense of what happened, I pulled up the video of the date and time in question. I observed a lady walking into the store and go right to the jewelry counter. The employee at the counter was new and engaged in conversation with the customer. I observed the employee take merchanise from under the counter then together, both the employee and the customer walk to the service desk.
I later find out that the Jewelry employee hands the service desk associate both the new merchandise and the returned merchandise and asks,
"Can you please exchange this for this for her?"
I observe the cashier scanning and processing the return as a damaged or defective item. After doing the transaction, the damaged merchandise is handed back to the Jewelry employee to take back to her department. The new merchandise is handed to the customer, who then pockets it and walks out of the store. Out of curiosity, I keep watching video and track the lifespan of that "damaged" merchandise.
The new employee walks behind the counter with the box inher right hand. She looks around, leans down and places it on the shelf under the cash register. Ten minutes later, the same employee returns and removes the box from the shelf, and leaves the department. Three minutes later I observe her walking out of the back stock room.
At this point, I think I am on to something bigger than I thought. Suddenly, I am thinking, I found out where the $100.00 pendant got to.
I continue following the employee, by video, who is seen walking through the Men's Department with her hand in her right pocket of her sweater. I am wondering if that is where the jewelry is, and she is keeping her hand, maybe even subconsciously, on the merchandise. Maybe a little too much CSI watching, but still, it was a thought.
I watched as she approaches another employee and says a few things before leaving the apparel area. I stop the video at this point and track down the other employee who happened to be working. I wanted to know what that conversation was about, thinking if she just hid the pendant, or is carrying the pendant with her, she might have been trying to play it off somehow with the other employee. I find the other employee and ask about the encounter.
"Can you remember what she was talking to you about before she walked away?" this was the only thing I asked.
"Yeah, she was telling me she thought we just got ripped off by a customer. Something about a chain that was returned and a pendant..." the cooperative employee relayed.
There it was. I thought I had her all figured out. She obviously had this chain and pendant on the brain, and was still talking about it a while after the transaction.
I return to the Jewelry Manager and ask her to walk me through the life of a jewelry return. She detailed everything that I had seen on the video until she explained that the return is placed into the drawer designated for Damaged or Defective merchandise. In this case, I never saw the drawer opened or the merchandise placed anywhere it should have been.
"Does every jewelry employee know this procedure?" I asked thinking someone is about to plead ignorance. The manager stated she knew that each employee assigned to that counter knows how to do a return. She began naming all of the employees who she knew was aware of the procedure, and the new employee was named. Again, some points against her.
An hour later, the Service Desk associate came in to work. I asked him about the transaction and received much the same information.
"She handed me two boxes and said exchange them, the one was being returned because the chain was damaged." he explained matteer of factly.
"Did you look in the returned box to see what was in it?" I asked.
"Hey that was up to her, she had already done that I would think." he replied fairly defensively.
So, this brought me back to the new employee. After talking with a few more employees working that night, it became apparent that we didn't have an internal theft problem, we had a stupidity problem. Several people advised me during my investigation that she does not look at merchandise being returned.
How does an employee take a jewlery box that is supposed to have a damaged piece of jewery inside and not open it and see what is wrong with it? How does an employee just take the customer's word for it and exchange it for a brandd new piece of jewlery? I hear that the customer is always right, but I believe we are now out $100.00 simply because of an idiot working on our counters.
So, in the end, we had a lady walk in with a chain, return it, and walk out with a new chain and a $100.00 gold and diamond pendant for her troubles.
Case closed.
I had advised the coworkers, if they see a suspicious person, possible shoplifter, need somehting urgently, just page "300" instead of my name. If it's not urgent, and you just need to speak to me about something that is not going on now, use my name and add "at your convenience." This will tell me I don't have to drop what I am doing and rush out of the office, but instead I can call or find you when I get a chance. For the most part, everyone has been cooperating.
I called the Jewelry counter and she advised me she had something for me to see from over the weekend. This scared me a bit since we had been having a gang going from store to store committing jewelry thefts. To date, we had been lucky and I really wasn't looking forward to becoming a statistic as a victim of their activities.
I arrived at the counter to find the manager reaching under the display case pulling out a small box with a gold chain in it. A refund receipt was attached with the words "Defective/Damaged" written on it. The manager went on to explain that this item was returned over the weekend. However, when it was bought, also over the weekend, the chain had a diamond and gold pendant attached to it. The customer brought it back in claiming the pendant had fallen off because the chain was broken.
Okay, so it fell off, but I wondered what happened to the pendant. Why wouldnt it be in the box as well when she returned it? I took the box and receipt and headed back to my office. Now I am no jeweler, but when I examined the chain, it made a full circle with a fully operational clasp in the middle. To me, with the untrained eye, that's a fully functioning necklace. This just added to the mystery of the missing pendant.
In an effort to try and make sense of what happened, I pulled up the video of the date and time in question. I observed a lady walking into the store and go right to the jewelry counter. The employee at the counter was new and engaged in conversation with the customer. I observed the employee take merchanise from under the counter then together, both the employee and the customer walk to the service desk.
I later find out that the Jewelry employee hands the service desk associate both the new merchandise and the returned merchandise and asks,
"Can you please exchange this for this for her?"
I observe the cashier scanning and processing the return as a damaged or defective item. After doing the transaction, the damaged merchandise is handed back to the Jewelry employee to take back to her department. The new merchandise is handed to the customer, who then pockets it and walks out of the store. Out of curiosity, I keep watching video and track the lifespan of that "damaged" merchandise.
The new employee walks behind the counter with the box inher right hand. She looks around, leans down and places it on the shelf under the cash register. Ten minutes later, the same employee returns and removes the box from the shelf, and leaves the department. Three minutes later I observe her walking out of the back stock room.
At this point, I think I am on to something bigger than I thought. Suddenly, I am thinking, I found out where the $100.00 pendant got to.
I continue following the employee, by video, who is seen walking through the Men's Department with her hand in her right pocket of her sweater. I am wondering if that is where the jewelry is, and she is keeping her hand, maybe even subconsciously, on the merchandise. Maybe a little too much CSI watching, but still, it was a thought.
I watched as she approaches another employee and says a few things before leaving the apparel area. I stop the video at this point and track down the other employee who happened to be working. I wanted to know what that conversation was about, thinking if she just hid the pendant, or is carrying the pendant with her, she might have been trying to play it off somehow with the other employee. I find the other employee and ask about the encounter.
"Can you remember what she was talking to you about before she walked away?" this was the only thing I asked.
"Yeah, she was telling me she thought we just got ripped off by a customer. Something about a chain that was returned and a pendant..." the cooperative employee relayed.
There it was. I thought I had her all figured out. She obviously had this chain and pendant on the brain, and was still talking about it a while after the transaction.
I return to the Jewelry Manager and ask her to walk me through the life of a jewelry return. She detailed everything that I had seen on the video until she explained that the return is placed into the drawer designated for Damaged or Defective merchandise. In this case, I never saw the drawer opened or the merchandise placed anywhere it should have been.
"Does every jewelry employee know this procedure?" I asked thinking someone is about to plead ignorance. The manager stated she knew that each employee assigned to that counter knows how to do a return. She began naming all of the employees who she knew was aware of the procedure, and the new employee was named. Again, some points against her.
An hour later, the Service Desk associate came in to work. I asked him about the transaction and received much the same information.
"She handed me two boxes and said exchange them, the one was being returned because the chain was damaged." he explained matteer of factly.
"Did you look in the returned box to see what was in it?" I asked.
"Hey that was up to her, she had already done that I would think." he replied fairly defensively.
So, this brought me back to the new employee. After talking with a few more employees working that night, it became apparent that we didn't have an internal theft problem, we had a stupidity problem. Several people advised me during my investigation that she does not look at merchandise being returned.
How does an employee take a jewlery box that is supposed to have a damaged piece of jewery inside and not open it and see what is wrong with it? How does an employee just take the customer's word for it and exchange it for a brandd new piece of jewlery? I hear that the customer is always right, but I believe we are now out $100.00 simply because of an idiot working on our counters.
So, in the end, we had a lady walk in with a chain, return it, and walk out with a new chain and a $100.00 gold and diamond pendant for her troubles.
Case closed.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Eventually, A Good Grab
Exactly one week to the hour after being maced in the face by a shoplifter I was trying to apprehend, I found myself on the trail of another genius who decided to take some merchandise without paying.
I was perched in my office watching the cameras when I noticed a guy pushing a baby stroller. Now, to the naked eye, that's such a cute scene, daddy spending some quality shopping time with his little boy. To the eye of the LP who has grown suspicious of every young male alone in the Electronics Department, that stroller is merely a vehicle to transport stolen goods. I watched halfheartedly, expecting "mom" to show up soon after wandering through the shoe department nearby. But no, I only see yet another young male walk up and talk to the daddy. They seemed to be comparing video game accessories. Before the two separate, I leave the office and walk to the Electronics Department for a closer look. I was only perusing the DVD aisle for thirty seconds when I see the daddy look around for one second, then all of a sudden push the stroller out of the department and head toward the back corner of the store. I look back and noticed his buddy hasn't even moved. He continued to finger every video games on the shelf. I then decided to leave the department and keep an eye on the daddy.
I noticed from several departments behind him, the guy with the stroller makes a turn into the Hardware Department. I noticed how he seemed to know right where he was going. Most people looking for some obscure tool or device in Hardware won't know where that department is, or where to find that item, and have to ask an employee. Not so this time. He walked from the video games, past four other departments directly into Hardware, as if he was on a mission.
I stepped up my pace and swung around through the Automotive aisles trying to get a good angle on this guy, seemingly perusing the hardware offerings. I caught a glimpse of him in a ceiling mirror and saw that his back was turned to the main aisle. I took this opportunity to dash past and into the aisle right next to him. I did my version of tip-toeing down the aisle until I was directly opposite of him with only a thin wall of metal shelving between us. I looked almost straight up into the mirror above and could see everything he was doing.
With an occasional glimpse back and forth up and down the aisle, he removed a box containing a Water Filter for a kitchen faucet, from the shelf. He knelt down behind the stroller, pulled the filter and accessories out of the box, then unzipped a compartment on the back of the stroller. At this time, I noticed a small child laying in the stroller looking straight up into the mirror as I was doing back at him. It was hard not to smile, wave and make faces at the cute kid. However, daddy finished transferring the contents of the water filter box to the stroller compartment, then returned the empty box, neatly closed up as he found it, back on to the shelf. This instantly got my adrenaline flowing. I was now certain of what I was seeing, and that was daddy using his child to help steal from the store. It was at this moment I decided, his ass was mine, one way or another.
He tucked away the filter into the compartment, zipped it up, stood up and returned to pushing the stroller out of the department. As soon as he cleared the end of the aisle, I walked around and grabbed the empty box. As I walked out of the department trying to keep an eye on the stroller, I found an Assistant Manager nearby.
"Here, take this up to the front desk, guy with the stroller just took it" I said to her as I kept walking trying to keep up with the stroller. What I didn't expect was that the dad with the stroller was done shopping and decided to head right for the exit. I watched from a back aisle and suddenly noticed he was making his way across the front of the store, aimed right at the exit. I jumped down a few aisles and then had to run toward the front door to catch up to him before he made it through the doors.
I approached the doors from the left at the same time he was approaching from the right. Just as he hit the first door, the alarms went off signifying he had merchandise that had a security tag on it. I immediately switched gears and walked through the vestibule to him waiting at the door with a confused look on his face.
"How are you," I said almost out of breath from my little jog. "Just step over to the side here and we can figure out whats setting that off."
"It's okay, it goes off all the time when I bring the stroller in with me." the guy says slowly backing the stroller up.
"Okay thats cool, maybe we can figure out why for ya then..." I kept talking calmly so he didn't realize I knew what he was up to. "Just pull to the side here and will take care of it"
The assistant manager approached us from behind him and he suddenly realized he was outnumbered. He slid the stroller to the side and walked toward me.
"I am just going to take my kid to the car..."
"This will only take a minute, step to the side here, and you'll be able to go in a second..." he was now right in front of me with the stroller next to him, and he was eyeing up the possibility of getting past me. "Dude, you don't want to cause a scene in front of your kid do you?"
"And what the hell are you going to do about it?" he was now face to face with me.
I turned my head to look at the assistant manager and have her call 9-1-1. It was quite apparent this wasn't going to end smoothly. At the same time he shoved me in the chest so hard I fell back on to the floor of the vestibule. As soon as I got my bearings back, I started to stand up as he walked out into the vestibule. Inches away from my face I saw his waist and I just wrapped my arms around him and began what I thought would be a nice tackle. However, I was suddenly reminded of my high school days when I played rough touch football with my buddy Bob. I would wrap him up and try to pull him down with all of my dead weight, but Bob simply wore me like a cape and drug me downfield.
Much like Bob, this guy was only mildly slowed down. I tried grabbing his legs to trip him up, but I hadn't realized he was still steadying himself on the damned stroller. We continued this for mere seconds, but did make it out on to the sidewalk where I finally got him down. Finally letting go of the stroller he then started hitting and kicking and he broke free of my grip. In a flash he was up and gone, running across the front of the store like he stole something!
I got myself up off the sidewalk, quickly scoured the area for my glasses and hat, then realized two male employees were standing there watching.
"We didn't know if we could do anything..." they said with one of the dumbest looks on their faces I had ever seen.
"Are you kidding me?! If I am in the process of getting my ass kicked you fucking help me!" I couldn't have yelled any louder. I couldn't believe they stood and watched. Not only because this guy was fighting me, but because they also let him just run away while I was looking for my glasses.
Suddenly one of the employees pulled keys from his pocket and ran to his car. He finally felt the need to get involved. I watched from the front door as the employee turned the corner in pursuit of a guy running with a baby stroller. I then realized there were other customers standing nearby shopping through clothing racks we had outside for a sidewalk sale.
"Sorry, I work here and that guy stole merchandise and hid it in the baby stroller..." I tried to let them know I was the good guy, and he was so bad he used his kid to help steal.
Seconds pass before the first police car screeches into the lot. I just point toward the side lot and he speeds off. Soon he is followed by three more police cars, none of which even slow down at my door, they all seem to know right where to go. Minutes later, the employee drives back around the corner and pulls up to me and rolls his window down.
"The police want to know if you can come over to the parking garage and ID the guy..."
He barely got the words out and I was running for the passenger door... "Let me in!"
When we got to the parking garage, which is located behind our store, five police cars were parked in disarray near the entrance to the stairwell. The vehicle was barely parked when I jumped out of the passenger side. A police officer noticed us pulling up and came right over, stopping me from getting any closer. I explained the incident to the officer before he finally asked if the guy sitting in the grass, in handcuffs, next to a baby stroller, was the guy involved in the incident. I identified him as the person who stole the merchandise, assaulted me and fled.
The water filter and video game controller was located inside the stairwell by an officer chasing him there on foot. He tried hiding the stuff but the officer was there too quickly and saw where he was.
"You okay?" the officer asked me taking notes.
"Yeah I'm fine, just pissed off"
"What's that on your arm..." the officer gave me a quick once over with his flashlight. I lifted my arm and then noticed blood running down my arm from an open gash on my elbow.
"Guess I got cut, didn't know that was there..."
I then returned to the store, apologized for yelling at the two employees, realizing that they were only concerned for their measely part time jobs, and began rehashing the events with the manager. She saw my arm and offered to get some bandages from the first aid kit and wrap it up for me.
Finally sitting in my office, with the water filter and game controller sitting on my desk, with my arm sloppily bandaged and bleeding...I still felt good about the incident.
The last thing I saw was the tough guy, Daddy of the Year, being stuffed into a police car with his hands cuffed behind his back. I was notified later that he was no stranger to Retail Theft. He had a record in New York for prior theft arrests, but this was the first one with Assault, Fighting, and Endangering the Welfare of A Child added to it.
I was told once again by several employees how I don't get paid enough for the job I do. But was it worth it? Well, I received a cut elbow, a bruised rib, and a cut on my knee. I was at work the next night and the merchandise was back on the shelf. The Daddy of the Year, on the other hand, was arrested, fined and may see jail time.
All in all...yeah,'twas a good night.
I was perched in my office watching the cameras when I noticed a guy pushing a baby stroller. Now, to the naked eye, that's such a cute scene, daddy spending some quality shopping time with his little boy. To the eye of the LP who has grown suspicious of every young male alone in the Electronics Department, that stroller is merely a vehicle to transport stolen goods. I watched halfheartedly, expecting "mom" to show up soon after wandering through the shoe department nearby. But no, I only see yet another young male walk up and talk to the daddy. They seemed to be comparing video game accessories. Before the two separate, I leave the office and walk to the Electronics Department for a closer look. I was only perusing the DVD aisle for thirty seconds when I see the daddy look around for one second, then all of a sudden push the stroller out of the department and head toward the back corner of the store. I look back and noticed his buddy hasn't even moved. He continued to finger every video games on the shelf. I then decided to leave the department and keep an eye on the daddy.
I noticed from several departments behind him, the guy with the stroller makes a turn into the Hardware Department. I noticed how he seemed to know right where he was going. Most people looking for some obscure tool or device in Hardware won't know where that department is, or where to find that item, and have to ask an employee. Not so this time. He walked from the video games, past four other departments directly into Hardware, as if he was on a mission.
I stepped up my pace and swung around through the Automotive aisles trying to get a good angle on this guy, seemingly perusing the hardware offerings. I caught a glimpse of him in a ceiling mirror and saw that his back was turned to the main aisle. I took this opportunity to dash past and into the aisle right next to him. I did my version of tip-toeing down the aisle until I was directly opposite of him with only a thin wall of metal shelving between us. I looked almost straight up into the mirror above and could see everything he was doing.
With an occasional glimpse back and forth up and down the aisle, he removed a box containing a Water Filter for a kitchen faucet, from the shelf. He knelt down behind the stroller, pulled the filter and accessories out of the box, then unzipped a compartment on the back of the stroller. At this time, I noticed a small child laying in the stroller looking straight up into the mirror as I was doing back at him. It was hard not to smile, wave and make faces at the cute kid. However, daddy finished transferring the contents of the water filter box to the stroller compartment, then returned the empty box, neatly closed up as he found it, back on to the shelf. This instantly got my adrenaline flowing. I was now certain of what I was seeing, and that was daddy using his child to help steal from the store. It was at this moment I decided, his ass was mine, one way or another.
He tucked away the filter into the compartment, zipped it up, stood up and returned to pushing the stroller out of the department. As soon as he cleared the end of the aisle, I walked around and grabbed the empty box. As I walked out of the department trying to keep an eye on the stroller, I found an Assistant Manager nearby.
"Here, take this up to the front desk, guy with the stroller just took it" I said to her as I kept walking trying to keep up with the stroller. What I didn't expect was that the dad with the stroller was done shopping and decided to head right for the exit. I watched from a back aisle and suddenly noticed he was making his way across the front of the store, aimed right at the exit. I jumped down a few aisles and then had to run toward the front door to catch up to him before he made it through the doors.
I approached the doors from the left at the same time he was approaching from the right. Just as he hit the first door, the alarms went off signifying he had merchandise that had a security tag on it. I immediately switched gears and walked through the vestibule to him waiting at the door with a confused look on his face.
"How are you," I said almost out of breath from my little jog. "Just step over to the side here and we can figure out whats setting that off."
"It's okay, it goes off all the time when I bring the stroller in with me." the guy says slowly backing the stroller up.
"Okay thats cool, maybe we can figure out why for ya then..." I kept talking calmly so he didn't realize I knew what he was up to. "Just pull to the side here and will take care of it"
The assistant manager approached us from behind him and he suddenly realized he was outnumbered. He slid the stroller to the side and walked toward me.
"I am just going to take my kid to the car..."
"This will only take a minute, step to the side here, and you'll be able to go in a second..." he was now right in front of me with the stroller next to him, and he was eyeing up the possibility of getting past me. "Dude, you don't want to cause a scene in front of your kid do you?"
"And what the hell are you going to do about it?" he was now face to face with me.
I turned my head to look at the assistant manager and have her call 9-1-1. It was quite apparent this wasn't going to end smoothly. At the same time he shoved me in the chest so hard I fell back on to the floor of the vestibule. As soon as I got my bearings back, I started to stand up as he walked out into the vestibule. Inches away from my face I saw his waist and I just wrapped my arms around him and began what I thought would be a nice tackle. However, I was suddenly reminded of my high school days when I played rough touch football with my buddy Bob. I would wrap him up and try to pull him down with all of my dead weight, but Bob simply wore me like a cape and drug me downfield.
Much like Bob, this guy was only mildly slowed down. I tried grabbing his legs to trip him up, but I hadn't realized he was still steadying himself on the damned stroller. We continued this for mere seconds, but did make it out on to the sidewalk where I finally got him down. Finally letting go of the stroller he then started hitting and kicking and he broke free of my grip. In a flash he was up and gone, running across the front of the store like he stole something!
I got myself up off the sidewalk, quickly scoured the area for my glasses and hat, then realized two male employees were standing there watching.
"We didn't know if we could do anything..." they said with one of the dumbest looks on their faces I had ever seen.
"Are you kidding me?! If I am in the process of getting my ass kicked you fucking help me!" I couldn't have yelled any louder. I couldn't believe they stood and watched. Not only because this guy was fighting me, but because they also let him just run away while I was looking for my glasses.
Suddenly one of the employees pulled keys from his pocket and ran to his car. He finally felt the need to get involved. I watched from the front door as the employee turned the corner in pursuit of a guy running with a baby stroller. I then realized there were other customers standing nearby shopping through clothing racks we had outside for a sidewalk sale.
"Sorry, I work here and that guy stole merchandise and hid it in the baby stroller..." I tried to let them know I was the good guy, and he was so bad he used his kid to help steal.
Seconds pass before the first police car screeches into the lot. I just point toward the side lot and he speeds off. Soon he is followed by three more police cars, none of which even slow down at my door, they all seem to know right where to go. Minutes later, the employee drives back around the corner and pulls up to me and rolls his window down.
"The police want to know if you can come over to the parking garage and ID the guy..."
He barely got the words out and I was running for the passenger door... "Let me in!"
When we got to the parking garage, which is located behind our store, five police cars were parked in disarray near the entrance to the stairwell. The vehicle was barely parked when I jumped out of the passenger side. A police officer noticed us pulling up and came right over, stopping me from getting any closer. I explained the incident to the officer before he finally asked if the guy sitting in the grass, in handcuffs, next to a baby stroller, was the guy involved in the incident. I identified him as the person who stole the merchandise, assaulted me and fled.
The water filter and video game controller was located inside the stairwell by an officer chasing him there on foot. He tried hiding the stuff but the officer was there too quickly and saw where he was.
"You okay?" the officer asked me taking notes.
"Yeah I'm fine, just pissed off"
"What's that on your arm..." the officer gave me a quick once over with his flashlight. I lifted my arm and then noticed blood running down my arm from an open gash on my elbow.
"Guess I got cut, didn't know that was there..."
I then returned to the store, apologized for yelling at the two employees, realizing that they were only concerned for their measely part time jobs, and began rehashing the events with the manager. She saw my arm and offered to get some bandages from the first aid kit and wrap it up for me.
Finally sitting in my office, with the water filter and game controller sitting on my desk, with my arm sloppily bandaged and bleeding...I still felt good about the incident.
The last thing I saw was the tough guy, Daddy of the Year, being stuffed into a police car with his hands cuffed behind his back. I was notified later that he was no stranger to Retail Theft. He had a record in New York for prior theft arrests, but this was the first one with Assault, Fighting, and Endangering the Welfare of A Child added to it.
I was told once again by several employees how I don't get paid enough for the job I do. But was it worth it? Well, I received a cut elbow, a bruised rib, and a cut on my knee. I was at work the next night and the merchandise was back on the shelf. The Daddy of the Year, on the other hand, was arrested, fined and may see jail time.
All in all...yeah,'twas a good night.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
A Morning in the Life...
The other day my past month climaxed with a visit from the Loss Prevention District Manager. It's usually painless, and many times actually good, but nonetheless, still stressful as the days are crossed off my calendar until the managerial visit occurs.
The day after my District Manager visits the store, is usually a nice calm relaxing day with nothing to be concerned about from the brass. After he makes his monthly visit, I do not usually have to be concerned about him again for another thirty days. How I spend the other 29 days is completely up to me. Not that I do not work on those other days, I am just not stressed out over the possibility of being watched, being critiqued and being quizzed and tested. I can spend eight hours a day the way I want to. And quite often, the day after the visit is basically an eight hour sigh of relief.
The paperwork on my desk would wait another day. The recommendations on the DM's report would wait until one of those other 29 days, instead,the first day after DM Day, was apprehension day. I come to work dressed down in a gray college sweatshirt with "Shippensburg University" emblazoned across my chest, tan cargo pants and old sneakers, or I just throw a dark hoodie over whatever I have on. The mornings often consist of making a fresh pot of hot coffee, reading the newspaper, joining some coworkers during their morning 15 minute break, checking my emails, checking to see how the closing manager from the night before, did or did not set the alarm correctly when he left for the night, and then walk the store for two official reasons. First, the walk is to check for what we call, "known stolen." It is what you may call...trash. There is however a difference. I will check certain areas of the store that are both secluded, and at most times of the day, vacant of employees. This will be where I find the remnants of a thief the night before. They will often remove an item from its shelf, carry it into a corner of the store, rip it out of its package, pocket the item and drop the empty package on a shelf or behind something else. If its laying on top of a shelf or some other merchandise, this tells me they were in a hurry, and did a drive by dropping. If its tucked in behind a large box, or furniture display, the thief took his time and thought about it, or has done it before. The heater and humidifier aisle is prime hiding locations, as well as the jeans in the mens department. They can either reach behind the larger space heater boxes and drop the empty or they can take smaller items into the men's department and slide the empty between the jeans. Of course there is alwys the bathroom trash cans as well as the fitting rooms being an option.
If I do come up with a package from a costly item, I will then go to the video tape and try to find the thief doing the deed. I can not usually apprehend on just a video tape, but I can keep an eye out for the next time he comes in. If they got away with it the night before, they will usually return to get away with it again. The last two apprehensions were born out of previous thefts when I wasn't present, and video review assisted me greatly. The empties that I locate are collected and placed in a bin for all Known Stolen items. This way the store does get credit for it at iventory time, and its just not a total loss. We can atleast account for it.
The second official reason to walk the store in the morning is for the safety aspect. I am checking aisles, and fixtures, and floors and exits for anything that may be or become a safety hazard to an employee or customer. Are the pallets in the receiving department laying down or leaning on a stack of boxes that may fall on someone, (each leaning pallet is a $500.00 fine from OSHA); are fire exits cleared of all obstructions; are the wet floor cones needed; are there any spills near the entrance or in the pantry area; are stack displays atleast three feet high to eliminate a tripping hazard; etc, etc.
Of course the third reason is to socailize with the employees in various departments throughout the store. There are some Loss Prevention employees who do not associate with the other employees in the store. I am not that guy. I come from a fire department where we socialize to the point we become family. We know that at one time or another, we may need to count on each other during a life threatening or critical time. I don't believe my life is in danger at the store, but there are times where we count on each other, and I need to know I can depend on certain people and I need them to know they can count on me. I have seen employees arguing with customers on camera and have immediately left the office to get into that aisle in the event something escalated. I have seen female employees dealing with one or two male customers and hung around in the area to even up the score and allow them to feel more secure with the situation. It all comes from being friendly with each of them on more than just a work level. Soon they will have an interest in my safety as I have in theirs. In addition, they know right away if I am in their department just to chat, or because I am watching a shoplifter. If I do not walk right up and say something to them, as I would in the morning, they know not to say anything to me because I am probably trying to blend in as a shopper. Some employees refuse to speak to me until I speak to them, afraid they are going to blow my cover. It may not be the corporate practice, but its working for me. I have never had to call twice for assistance when approaching a shoplifter, never had a coworker, whether it be a stock boy or member of the management team, hesitate doing anything I request of them.
So, after my initial walks around the store, I retreat to my office and tear through a number of reports including on hand counts, expected deliveries for the day or week, department audits, cash overages and shortages, refund activity, cashier activity, employee purchases, gift cards issued and redeemed....and oh yeah, all while keeping one eye on the 25 different cameras for any suspicious shoppers in the store.
God forbid any of these reports show me something I have to investigate as suspicious. Once I get into that it soon becomes lunch time... and after that is another pot of coffee and another blog altogether.
The day after my District Manager visits the store, is usually a nice calm relaxing day with nothing to be concerned about from the brass. After he makes his monthly visit, I do not usually have to be concerned about him again for another thirty days. How I spend the other 29 days is completely up to me. Not that I do not work on those other days, I am just not stressed out over the possibility of being watched, being critiqued and being quizzed and tested. I can spend eight hours a day the way I want to. And quite often, the day after the visit is basically an eight hour sigh of relief.
The paperwork on my desk would wait another day. The recommendations on the DM's report would wait until one of those other 29 days, instead,the first day after DM Day, was apprehension day. I come to work dressed down in a gray college sweatshirt with "Shippensburg University" emblazoned across my chest, tan cargo pants and old sneakers, or I just throw a dark hoodie over whatever I have on. The mornings often consist of making a fresh pot of hot coffee, reading the newspaper, joining some coworkers during their morning 15 minute break, checking my emails, checking to see how the closing manager from the night before, did or did not set the alarm correctly when he left for the night, and then walk the store for two official reasons. First, the walk is to check for what we call, "known stolen." It is what you may call...trash. There is however a difference. I will check certain areas of the store that are both secluded, and at most times of the day, vacant of employees. This will be where I find the remnants of a thief the night before. They will often remove an item from its shelf, carry it into a corner of the store, rip it out of its package, pocket the item and drop the empty package on a shelf or behind something else. If its laying on top of a shelf or some other merchandise, this tells me they were in a hurry, and did a drive by dropping. If its tucked in behind a large box, or furniture display, the thief took his time and thought about it, or has done it before. The heater and humidifier aisle is prime hiding locations, as well as the jeans in the mens department. They can either reach behind the larger space heater boxes and drop the empty or they can take smaller items into the men's department and slide the empty between the jeans. Of course there is alwys the bathroom trash cans as well as the fitting rooms being an option.
If I do come up with a package from a costly item, I will then go to the video tape and try to find the thief doing the deed. I can not usually apprehend on just a video tape, but I can keep an eye out for the next time he comes in. If they got away with it the night before, they will usually return to get away with it again. The last two apprehensions were born out of previous thefts when I wasn't present, and video review assisted me greatly. The empties that I locate are collected and placed in a bin for all Known Stolen items. This way the store does get credit for it at iventory time, and its just not a total loss. We can atleast account for it.
The second official reason to walk the store in the morning is for the safety aspect. I am checking aisles, and fixtures, and floors and exits for anything that may be or become a safety hazard to an employee or customer. Are the pallets in the receiving department laying down or leaning on a stack of boxes that may fall on someone, (each leaning pallet is a $500.00 fine from OSHA); are fire exits cleared of all obstructions; are the wet floor cones needed; are there any spills near the entrance or in the pantry area; are stack displays atleast three feet high to eliminate a tripping hazard; etc, etc.
Of course the third reason is to socailize with the employees in various departments throughout the store. There are some Loss Prevention employees who do not associate with the other employees in the store. I am not that guy. I come from a fire department where we socialize to the point we become family. We know that at one time or another, we may need to count on each other during a life threatening or critical time. I don't believe my life is in danger at the store, but there are times where we count on each other, and I need to know I can depend on certain people and I need them to know they can count on me. I have seen employees arguing with customers on camera and have immediately left the office to get into that aisle in the event something escalated. I have seen female employees dealing with one or two male customers and hung around in the area to even up the score and allow them to feel more secure with the situation. It all comes from being friendly with each of them on more than just a work level. Soon they will have an interest in my safety as I have in theirs. In addition, they know right away if I am in their department just to chat, or because I am watching a shoplifter. If I do not walk right up and say something to them, as I would in the morning, they know not to say anything to me because I am probably trying to blend in as a shopper. Some employees refuse to speak to me until I speak to them, afraid they are going to blow my cover. It may not be the corporate practice, but its working for me. I have never had to call twice for assistance when approaching a shoplifter, never had a coworker, whether it be a stock boy or member of the management team, hesitate doing anything I request of them.
So, after my initial walks around the store, I retreat to my office and tear through a number of reports including on hand counts, expected deliveries for the day or week, department audits, cash overages and shortages, refund activity, cashier activity, employee purchases, gift cards issued and redeemed....and oh yeah, all while keeping one eye on the 25 different cameras for any suspicious shoppers in the store.
God forbid any of these reports show me something I have to investigate as suspicious. Once I get into that it soon becomes lunch time... and after that is another pot of coffee and another blog altogether.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Retail Theft Tip o' The Day...
I was simply trying to purchase a roll of Scotch tape in the Stationary Department, and between you and I, I was even off the clock. I grabbed my tape of choice, which is a blog story in itself, almost as entertaining as trying to purchase a pen, but thats another story. I had just turned to leave the aisle when I noticed a large black guy walking down the main aisle from the Electronics Department toward the Toy Department, with a webcam box in his right hand. Now if you have been paying attention, this is the path shoplifters often take to go into the bathroom, conceal the merchandise and throw out the empty packages, all in the privacy of their own stall. I pull out of the Stationary Department and nonchalantly slide into this man's wake. As expected, he makes a determined turn into the aisle leading to the men's room. I stop short and begin to observe him by the overhead mirror. I see that he didn't make it all the way to the bathroom, but turned just before it, and I can see him looking at board games. Then I discover, he's not looking at the games, he is hiding the webcam behind one because there is an employee standing outside the bathroom. A minute goes by and the employee approaches him offering assistance, then walks away. As soon as the coast is clear, the man returns to the board games, retrieves the hidden webcam box and walks into the men's room.
I hail the helpful employee from a distance, and advise him to enter the bathroom once this guy comes out, in an effort to collect any evidence of the webcam box or anything that would help me prove what I suspect is happening. I have never used this employee for this before, but really, how difficult is this request?
I hear the squeaky bathroom door open, well you don't think I was going to oil it, I need that noise. I slide back behind a nearby shelf and position myself to see the hallway in the mirror above. I observe the man come out of the bathroom, now empty handed. I can see the case taking shape now, he's about to be arrested and he doesn't even know it.
He enters the Toy Department again and suddenly I see the employee walk right behind him as he heads to the bathroom. Apparently, smooth isn't in this guys repetoire. The suspected thief stopped and turned back just in time to see the employee enter the bathroom. With that, the light bulb went off in his head, and he ran away from the areea and back to his friends waiting in the Footwear Department. I am now caught in a tough place. Do I go after the running guy, (basically carrying a billboard that reads "HEY I JUST STOLE SOMETHING!") or do I wait for the evidence to come out of the bathroom...
Seemed like forever, but about thirty seconds later the employee walks out of the bathroom, also empty handed.
"Anything, nothing, what?" I asked as I began walking toward the guys in Footwear.
"Yeah, there is something..." he starts to explain.
"Can you bring it out to me!" Here is the rookie mistake being made now. I need the evidence so I can be more intimidating at the front door. I walk further and further away from the bathroom, looking back for the employee to return while trying to keep an eye on the thief. Finally the employee comes back out with a quicker step than before.
"It was in the toilet..." he says as he reaches out to me like the passing of the baton on the track. But, I had to stop in my tracks. I looked into his hand and was a bit shocked. He was handing me a razor blade and the cardboard package of the razor blade.
"C'mon, I am looking for a box from a webcam! Look in the trash can!" I turned away as I noticed the guys had left the area and were heading toward the exit. "Call up front if you find it!" I yelled as I scurried up an aisle toward the front of the store. I turned the corner in time to see the front doors closing. An employee from the service desk was walking toward me.
"Three black guys, did they leave?"
"With the mechanics uniforms, yeah they just went out."
At the same time another employee yelled to me, "Ed says to tell you it was in the trash can!"
"No shit!" were the only words I could put together.
I walked outside and watched as the blue Dodge Caravan pulled out of the lot.
In an effort to save time and space, I will now fast forward. I watch video and notify the police department. My video showed clearly, three black guys all dressed the same. All had blue jeans, all had short blue coats and all wore the same sweatshirt. On this sweatshirt was the clue that broke the case for me. Emblazoned across their chest was the name of their Technical School they all attend. Unfortunately for them, I have a personal friend who works as a Police Detective in the town where the school is located. Unfortunately for them, this Detective had developed a database for the school which contains photos of all students, and linked to photos of their vehicles.
Yesterday, I spent my afternoon riding with the detective, searching the school parking lot for the vehicle. After locating four possibilites and gathering their license plates, we went into the school to discuss the incident with their administrators. I showed photos of the guys I had seen in the store and they agreed to show their faculty.
Shouldn't be too long before we can surpise the hell out of three guys who think they just got away with a brand new webcam, free of charge.
Oh yeah, the tip.... Don't wear your school name on your shirt if you are going to steal on camera. Silly boys.
Side note: The game he hid the webcam behind as he waited to take it inside the men's room...."RISK."
I hail the helpful employee from a distance, and advise him to enter the bathroom once this guy comes out, in an effort to collect any evidence of the webcam box or anything that would help me prove what I suspect is happening. I have never used this employee for this before, but really, how difficult is this request?
I hear the squeaky bathroom door open, well you don't think I was going to oil it, I need that noise. I slide back behind a nearby shelf and position myself to see the hallway in the mirror above. I observe the man come out of the bathroom, now empty handed. I can see the case taking shape now, he's about to be arrested and he doesn't even know it.
He enters the Toy Department again and suddenly I see the employee walk right behind him as he heads to the bathroom. Apparently, smooth isn't in this guys repetoire. The suspected thief stopped and turned back just in time to see the employee enter the bathroom. With that, the light bulb went off in his head, and he ran away from the areea and back to his friends waiting in the Footwear Department. I am now caught in a tough place. Do I go after the running guy, (basically carrying a billboard that reads "HEY I JUST STOLE SOMETHING!") or do I wait for the evidence to come out of the bathroom...
Seemed like forever, but about thirty seconds later the employee walks out of the bathroom, also empty handed.
"Anything, nothing, what?" I asked as I began walking toward the guys in Footwear.
"Yeah, there is something..." he starts to explain.
"Can you bring it out to me!" Here is the rookie mistake being made now. I need the evidence so I can be more intimidating at the front door. I walk further and further away from the bathroom, looking back for the employee to return while trying to keep an eye on the thief. Finally the employee comes back out with a quicker step than before.
"It was in the toilet..." he says as he reaches out to me like the passing of the baton on the track. But, I had to stop in my tracks. I looked into his hand and was a bit shocked. He was handing me a razor blade and the cardboard package of the razor blade.
"C'mon, I am looking for a box from a webcam! Look in the trash can!" I turned away as I noticed the guys had left the area and were heading toward the exit. "Call up front if you find it!" I yelled as I scurried up an aisle toward the front of the store. I turned the corner in time to see the front doors closing. An employee from the service desk was walking toward me.
"Three black guys, did they leave?"
"With the mechanics uniforms, yeah they just went out."
At the same time another employee yelled to me, "Ed says to tell you it was in the trash can!"
"No shit!" were the only words I could put together.
I walked outside and watched as the blue Dodge Caravan pulled out of the lot.
In an effort to save time and space, I will now fast forward. I watch video and notify the police department. My video showed clearly, three black guys all dressed the same. All had blue jeans, all had short blue coats and all wore the same sweatshirt. On this sweatshirt was the clue that broke the case for me. Emblazoned across their chest was the name of their Technical School they all attend. Unfortunately for them, I have a personal friend who works as a Police Detective in the town where the school is located. Unfortunately for them, this Detective had developed a database for the school which contains photos of all students, and linked to photos of their vehicles.
Yesterday, I spent my afternoon riding with the detective, searching the school parking lot for the vehicle. After locating four possibilites and gathering their license plates, we went into the school to discuss the incident with their administrators. I showed photos of the guys I had seen in the store and they agreed to show their faculty.
Shouldn't be too long before we can surpise the hell out of three guys who think they just got away with a brand new webcam, free of charge.
Oh yeah, the tip.... Don't wear your school name on your shirt if you are going to steal on camera. Silly boys.
Side note: The game he hid the webcam behind as he waited to take it inside the men's room...."RISK."
What a Let Down
I had been looking forward to this hearing ever since I apprehended this girl over a month ago.The main reason being, I would get the opportunity to tell the story of how I apprehended her again. That's it! It was an LP Hall of Fame apprehension, and I wanted everyone to hear about it.
If you recall, and i'm sure you will being the avid reader of this rivetting blog you are, back in mid December I followed a girl walking around the store collecting a total of 39 items. Before she made her move she tries to get me to give her a lift to the bus stop. I agreed, and she followed me right out the door with all of her stolen merchandise, which resulted in a $330.00 apprehension. (Blog entry 12/17/09)
Fast forward to this week in my usual courtroom. As the clock ticks away and I wait patiently for my case to be called, the investigating police officer asks if I would oppose knocking this down to a summary offense, which meant waiving the hearing. In my head all I heard was..."You won't be able to tell your story."
I asked what the process would be and as he explained, I heard, "You won't be able to tell your story."
"The other option is to hold the hearing and see what the judge gives her..." the officer spoke, and I think I heard "You might be able to tell your story."
I continued weighing the decision while other cases were heard. I thought about the time and effort I actually did put into this apprehension, the amount of effort she put into trying to get away with it, and the amount of money we almost lost. Before I could get back to the officer with my decision, the judge advised us we were going on with the hearing in abstentia. Meaning, she wasn't even showing up for the hearing. In effor to afford her all the opportunity in the world, the judge was nice enough to place all other cases first. We then checked the lobby with no success. By the time I was called to the stand, the courtroom had emptied of all observers, and it was me, the prosecutor and the judge. Not quite the audience I wanted for my story, but I did get to tell my story again!
The prosecution proved their case, that a crime was actually committed, and the case was forwarded to trial. As for the defendant, there is now an arrest warrant for her to make sure she doesn't miss her next appointment with the judge.
The prosecutor and myself wrapped up our notes, grabbed our coats and headed for the door. I glanced up at the judge still signing paperwork and he glanced back down at me.
"Thanks for spending the morning with us sir," the judge said looking over his glasses at me, "I'm going to get you a reserved seat if this keeps up!"
I've been debating if I want to hear that from a judge or not...
If you recall, and i'm sure you will being the avid reader of this rivetting blog you are, back in mid December I followed a girl walking around the store collecting a total of 39 items. Before she made her move she tries to get me to give her a lift to the bus stop. I agreed, and she followed me right out the door with all of her stolen merchandise, which resulted in a $330.00 apprehension. (Blog entry 12/17/09)
Fast forward to this week in my usual courtroom. As the clock ticks away and I wait patiently for my case to be called, the investigating police officer asks if I would oppose knocking this down to a summary offense, which meant waiving the hearing. In my head all I heard was..."You won't be able to tell your story."
I asked what the process would be and as he explained, I heard, "You won't be able to tell your story."
"The other option is to hold the hearing and see what the judge gives her..." the officer spoke, and I think I heard "You might be able to tell your story."
I continued weighing the decision while other cases were heard. I thought about the time and effort I actually did put into this apprehension, the amount of effort she put into trying to get away with it, and the amount of money we almost lost. Before I could get back to the officer with my decision, the judge advised us we were going on with the hearing in abstentia. Meaning, she wasn't even showing up for the hearing. In effor to afford her all the opportunity in the world, the judge was nice enough to place all other cases first. We then checked the lobby with no success. By the time I was called to the stand, the courtroom had emptied of all observers, and it was me, the prosecutor and the judge. Not quite the audience I wanted for my story, but I did get to tell my story again!
The prosecution proved their case, that a crime was actually committed, and the case was forwarded to trial. As for the defendant, there is now an arrest warrant for her to make sure she doesn't miss her next appointment with the judge.
The prosecutor and myself wrapped up our notes, grabbed our coats and headed for the door. I glanced up at the judge still signing paperwork and he glanced back down at me.
"Thanks for spending the morning with us sir," the judge said looking over his glasses at me, "I'm going to get you a reserved seat if this keeps up!"
I've been debating if I want to hear that from a judge or not...
"Hey, did ya hear what happened?"
A little while ago I was texted while at home. It was the assistant manager at the store advising me they had a shoplifter and that one of the associates was chasing him. I immediately thanked God I was off that day. Nobody but me is permitted to ch.... follow a shoplifter. Nobody but me is permitted to apprehend a shoplifter, and only I am permitted to accuse a customer of shoplifting, and that is only after I have met the strict criteria of determining a definite shoplifter. So here I am at home, with my feet up watching TV, and I am picturing a guy running across the parking lot being chased by a guy who can't do a damned thing if he catches up to him. I shake my head and continue on with my night in peace.
The next morning I walk into the courtroom for a morning load of hearings. In the lobby I am met by a police officer I have worked with on many previous thefts.
"Hey, did you hear about the incident at your store last night?" he said with a big wide smile standing over me.
I shook my head no in confusion and at the same time I remember the text message, and begin to get concerned. The officer went on to explain how there was a theft and an employee chased him into the next town.
"They what?!" I couldnt believe I was hearing this from a police officer.
"Yeah he said they were going almost 100 mph out the highway..."
Am I awake? Someone pinch me! Did an employee, who is not permitted to leave the store, step off the curb, or approach a suspected shoplifter, jump into his car and pursue one for miles? And this is a police officer telling me!
He leaves the conversation with, "Yeah i'll be over later to talk to you about it."
When I finished court I drove to the store hoping this employee was working. He was. Unfortunately he is a guy who words and reprimands go in one ear and out the other with no understanding in between. When I tried to list the number of policy violations he committed all at one time he was just shocked. He only wanted accolades, and nothing else. Well, he needed to look somewhere else for that.
When we were finished it was clear that he doesn't leave the store, he doesn't step off the curb, and he does nothing with a shoplifter unless I am there asking him to help me.
Now with that handled, the police officer eventually shows up. Seems our Starsky and Hutch employee provided just enough information to the police that night, for them to track down the bandit at his home. With that, and my review of the video of the store, the end result was a Retail Theft arrest for a $14.00 cooler. Added to that arrest will be driving without a license, driving while suspended, etc etc. And, not surprisingly, it wasn't his first arrest. This would be close to his tenth arrest and was dumped right into the jail that night.
So...as much as I wanted to stay away from this, I was then drug into this case simply by viewing the video. I made a copy of the video of a guy entering the store, and seven minutes later, leaving the store holding the cooler up over his head so he didn't trip the sensors at the door. Any guesses what caught the eye of the employee at the service desk?
This week was the hearing for this young man. During the pre-testimony conference with the Asst. District Attorney, it was determined we would not need the employee involved in the high speed pursuit, and would just use me and the service desk girl. I was pleased with that decision. I didn't want it broadcasted that we engage in high speed pursuits for a $14.00 theft...especially in front of other officers and the judge.
Once in the courtroom, the defendant shuffled in wearing handcuffs and ankle shackles. The employee there to testify for the first time in her life, almost landed on my lap when she saw him led in like that.
"Is that because he might freak out and attack somebody and run!" she said grabbing my arm with a death grip.
"No. He has been in jail ever since the night you saw him. Thats just how prisoners are transported from the prison....you're fine relax. He's a cooler thief, not a murderer."
The hearing was fairly uneventful, with the exception of the defendant suprised to hear that our store has a camera system. He was pleading guilty and challenged the prosecutor to "show me the video." According to his own Public Defender, he insisted he wasn't anywhere near our store that night, and won't change his story until he sees the video for himself. When I was testifying, the Public Defender got right to the point.
"Do you have a video of that night?" (Yes)
"Did you preserve this video somehow?" (Yes)
"What kind of tape is it? VHS?" (DVD)
"And at some point did you turn this DVD over to the Police Department as evidence?" (Yes)
"So the Police Department would have custody of this DVD now?" (No)
"I don't understand, you did give them the DVD?"
I finally gave in...
"They do not have custody of the DVD at this time, I do. The officer handed it to me this morning in court. It's right here in my folder."
"No further questions your honor."
The hearing came and went as do most of my hearings for retail theft, with the accused being held for trial and led off back to prison. If he believes that I had a video in my folder, maybe he will end up changing his plea and hope for a reduced charge. Who knows.
As for the employee who completed her maiden voyage in the witness stand...she wants to change her name and address and enter the witness protection program.
The next morning I walk into the courtroom for a morning load of hearings. In the lobby I am met by a police officer I have worked with on many previous thefts.
"Hey, did you hear about the incident at your store last night?" he said with a big wide smile standing over me.
I shook my head no in confusion and at the same time I remember the text message, and begin to get concerned. The officer went on to explain how there was a theft and an employee chased him into the next town.
"They what?!" I couldnt believe I was hearing this from a police officer.
"Yeah he said they were going almost 100 mph out the highway..."
Am I awake? Someone pinch me! Did an employee, who is not permitted to leave the store, step off the curb, or approach a suspected shoplifter, jump into his car and pursue one for miles? And this is a police officer telling me!
He leaves the conversation with, "Yeah i'll be over later to talk to you about it."
When I finished court I drove to the store hoping this employee was working. He was. Unfortunately he is a guy who words and reprimands go in one ear and out the other with no understanding in between. When I tried to list the number of policy violations he committed all at one time he was just shocked. He only wanted accolades, and nothing else. Well, he needed to look somewhere else for that.
When we were finished it was clear that he doesn't leave the store, he doesn't step off the curb, and he does nothing with a shoplifter unless I am there asking him to help me.
Now with that handled, the police officer eventually shows up. Seems our Starsky and Hutch employee provided just enough information to the police that night, for them to track down the bandit at his home. With that, and my review of the video of the store, the end result was a Retail Theft arrest for a $14.00 cooler. Added to that arrest will be driving without a license, driving while suspended, etc etc. And, not surprisingly, it wasn't his first arrest. This would be close to his tenth arrest and was dumped right into the jail that night.
So...as much as I wanted to stay away from this, I was then drug into this case simply by viewing the video. I made a copy of the video of a guy entering the store, and seven minutes later, leaving the store holding the cooler up over his head so he didn't trip the sensors at the door. Any guesses what caught the eye of the employee at the service desk?
This week was the hearing for this young man. During the pre-testimony conference with the Asst. District Attorney, it was determined we would not need the employee involved in the high speed pursuit, and would just use me and the service desk girl. I was pleased with that decision. I didn't want it broadcasted that we engage in high speed pursuits for a $14.00 theft...especially in front of other officers and the judge.
Once in the courtroom, the defendant shuffled in wearing handcuffs and ankle shackles. The employee there to testify for the first time in her life, almost landed on my lap when she saw him led in like that.
"Is that because he might freak out and attack somebody and run!" she said grabbing my arm with a death grip.
"No. He has been in jail ever since the night you saw him. Thats just how prisoners are transported from the prison....you're fine relax. He's a cooler thief, not a murderer."
The hearing was fairly uneventful, with the exception of the defendant suprised to hear that our store has a camera system. He was pleading guilty and challenged the prosecutor to "show me the video." According to his own Public Defender, he insisted he wasn't anywhere near our store that night, and won't change his story until he sees the video for himself. When I was testifying, the Public Defender got right to the point.
"Do you have a video of that night?" (Yes)
"Did you preserve this video somehow?" (Yes)
"What kind of tape is it? VHS?" (DVD)
"And at some point did you turn this DVD over to the Police Department as evidence?" (Yes)
"So the Police Department would have custody of this DVD now?" (No)
"I don't understand, you did give them the DVD?"
I finally gave in...
"They do not have custody of the DVD at this time, I do. The officer handed it to me this morning in court. It's right here in my folder."
"No further questions your honor."
The hearing came and went as do most of my hearings for retail theft, with the accused being held for trial and led off back to prison. If he believes that I had a video in my folder, maybe he will end up changing his plea and hope for a reduced charge. Who knows.
As for the employee who completed her maiden voyage in the witness stand...she wants to change her name and address and enter the witness protection program.
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