Beginnings…

My very first apprehension was very interesting to say the least. I had been with the company, a grocery store, for about three days. The LP department was very basic and that was evident in their training. It had consisted of me reading about 30 or 40 reports and going over the 5 steps with my trainer. On the third day he declared me ready to make “million dollar decisions” for the company and we took my first stat. I remember it vividly because when we approached him, he was carrying a child that looked to be about 2-3 years old. His initial reaction was to run but he found that he wasn’t going to be able to get away from us with the child in his arms. So at this point, he put the child down and started to run from us. A few steps into it, he realized that it probably wasn’t a good idea to leave the little boy behind and he came back and picked him up again. Well, he was once again in a situation where he couldn’t get away and needless to say, he went through these same steps, putting child down and picking him up, twice more before we got him under control. This we accomplished by pushing him up against a car and handcuffing him.

This was a great example of just how much many shoplifts don’t make sense. The most glaring question that jumps out is, why would anyone take the risk of stealing while caring for a child? It would have made much more sense for this individual to come in alone. He would have then been able to flee without having to worry about the child. As we waited for the Police, I was able to question him on his thought process. While he had certainly had his share of run-ins with the law, I was surprised to find that he was remorseful for putting his son at risk. It was very fortunate that no one was injured in this situation. . The case was concluded, the child was safe, and I had taken my first step into a decade’s long roller-coaster journey through Loss Prevention.