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.