Thieves
Christmas seems to multiply exponentially the number of department store thieves at the place where I work. My guess is that they figure that with all the noise and confusion of Christmas shopping, they have a better chance of ripping off the stores.
One of my roles at The Store involves that of Door Greeter. We're the chick/dude who you see when you come into the shop, ostensibly to say g'day to you when you step through the door, thereby enhancing your shopping experience.
In reality, we're there to stop thieves, or at least cut down on the amount of stock stolen. If you've been in this role as long as I have, you can usually identify potential shoplifters in a number of ways. Not always, I should add, but a lot of the time.
I am still, after having done this job for a number of years, gobsmacked by the people who I wouldn't suspect of being thieves but who do it...and have been doing it on a regular basis...sweet-looking old ladies who smile so nicely as they exit the store - after having stolen clothing, hidden deep inside their handbags, under the knitting gear. Fresh, cute young girls from the local Catholic high school who just happen to have stolen $250 worth of apparel and who suddenly get VERY nasty with the store detective who stops them...until they see the evidence on video. Schoolboys with emo haircuts who get caught swiping boxes of hair-removal kits. I mean...WTF?? Do they shave their legs? (and yes, I do know that leg-shaving is common with dudes now...)Pubes? Or schoolboys with emo haircuts who steal packets of condoms. Or schoolgirls who steal pregnancy testing kits.
Yep, it's all ages and types who steal from department stores but it's mainly the under-25 crowd who do the best job of it. I don't know what happens to them after the cops come in to take them to be booked at the cop shop and I dont know what goes on in court when their case comes up. But I really often wonder if catching them and prosecuting them actually stops them from stealing in the future. Maybe, I guess.
We had an old girl, well into her 70's, escorted out of the store the other week, into the waiting police van. Her body language indicated to me (anyway) that she'd been in this sort of van before. When she was stopped by security, she told them that her son ordered her to steal, evidently to support a drug habit of his. I believe her.
Very few days go by without at least one customer escorted out of the store into a waiting police van.
One of my roles at The Store involves that of Door Greeter. We're the chick/dude who you see when you come into the shop, ostensibly to say g'day to you when you step through the door, thereby enhancing your shopping experience.
In reality, we're there to stop thieves, or at least cut down on the amount of stock stolen. If you've been in this role as long as I have, you can usually identify potential shoplifters in a number of ways. Not always, I should add, but a lot of the time.
I am still, after having done this job for a number of years, gobsmacked by the people who I wouldn't suspect of being thieves but who do it...and have been doing it on a regular basis...sweet-looking old ladies who smile so nicely as they exit the store - after having stolen clothing, hidden deep inside their handbags, under the knitting gear. Fresh, cute young girls from the local Catholic high school who just happen to have stolen $250 worth of apparel and who suddenly get VERY nasty with the store detective who stops them...until they see the evidence on video. Schoolboys with emo haircuts who get caught swiping boxes of hair-removal kits. I mean...WTF?? Do they shave their legs? (and yes, I do know that leg-shaving is common with dudes now...)Pubes? Or schoolboys with emo haircuts who steal packets of condoms. Or schoolgirls who steal pregnancy testing kits.
Yep, it's all ages and types who steal from department stores but it's mainly the under-25 crowd who do the best job of it. I don't know what happens to them after the cops come in to take them to be booked at the cop shop and I dont know what goes on in court when their case comes up. But I really often wonder if catching them and prosecuting them actually stops them from stealing in the future. Maybe, I guess.
We had an old girl, well into her 70's, escorted out of the store the other week, into the waiting police van. Her body language indicated to me (anyway) that she'd been in this sort of van before. When she was stopped by security, she told them that her son ordered her to steal, evidently to support a drug habit of his. I believe her.
Very few days go by without at least one customer escorted out of the store into a waiting police van.
posted by Cody Mac at
4:02 AM
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