Glen Canarte - The Store Detective Training Manual: A Practical Reference for Current and Aspiring Loss Prevention Officers

THE STORE DETECTIVE TRAINING MANUAL

A PRACTICAL REFERENCE FOR CURRENT AND ASPIRING LOSS PREVENTION OFFICERS

GLEN CANARTE

The Store Detective Training Manual: A Practical Reference for Current and Aspiring Loss Prevention Officers.

Copyright 2018 by Glen Canarte. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any manner without written permission from the author. The only exception is fair use as defined by U.S. Copyright Law.

Warranty Disclaimer / Limit of Liability: Although the author has made reasonable efforts to be accurate in writing The Store Detective Training Manual, no warranties or representations are made regarding the accuracy of the books contents. The ideas expressed in the book are the opinions of the author and may not be suitable for your situation. You are advised to seek the services of a qualified professional when appropriate. The author does not assume liability for any personal, commercial, financial, reputational, or other damages which may be incurred.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1 What is Loss Prevention?

Chapter 2 The Store Detective Role

Chapter 3 Shrink, Inventories and Cycle Counts

Chapter 4 Shoplifter Types

Chapter 5 External Theft Red Flags

Chapter 6 Theft Methods

Chapter 7 Surveillance Techniques

Chapter 8 Probable Cause

Chapter 9 Making the Apprehension

Chapter 10 Forms

Chapter 11 Law Enforcement Interactions

Chapter 12 - Incident Reports, Narratives and Case Mgt

Chapter 13 Interacting with Judicial Officials

Chapter 14 Internal Theft

Chapter 15 Internal Investigations

Chapter 16 Interview and Interrogation

Chapter 17 Point of Sale Exception Reports

Chapter 18 Training, Checklists and Audits

Chapter 19 Resume, Social Media and Application Tips

Chapter 20 The Job Interview

Chapter 21 - Safety and Common Sense

Chapter 22 Final Thoughts

INTRODUCTION

Congratulations on your purchase of The Store Detective Training Manual. Most people dream about bettering their lives but many fail to take action. If you purchased this book because you are interested in a Loss Prevention career, you should be proud of taking concrete steps to realize your goals. On the other hand, if you are already in Loss Prevention, then this book is likely to help increase your level of knowledge, perhaps even covering areas not addressed by your employers in-house training. I wrote The Store Detective Training Manual in order to create a practical reference for anyone interested in becoming a Loss Prevention Officer, as well as to support those already doing the job who feel they need additional knowledge. It is my sincere hope that this guide will be of service to you.

About me

I will keep it brief, I promise. My name is Glen Canarte and I live in NJ with my wife Lizbet and my two children Liana and Nicolas. Im blessed with a life that I love and a career that I enjoy more than I deserve. About 20 years ago, something about Loss Prevention attracted me, which led to a job as a Store Detective.

I will never forget the day when I became a Loss Prevention Officer. Back then, things were not as formal as they are today. My training consisted mostly of shadowing other Store Detectives before being allowed to catch shoplifters on my own. I was lucky that many professionals who really knew their stuff shared their knowledge with me. Unfortunately, I also learned some bad habits, leading to mistakes and to me taking longer to understand key aspects of the job. Despite this, after completing my training and becoming certified, it felt like I was on top of the world. Being a Store Detective represented not only the responsibility entrusted in me to make apprehensions, but also my commitment to do the job well, to be fair, and to follow company policy (and the law). I was in love with my new job.

Since then, my career has continued to advance steadily through promotions and opportunities to work with amazing companies such as The Home Depot, Gamestop, L-Brands (parent company of Bath and Bodyworks/Victoria Secret), The Childrens Place, and LOreal. Not many folks can say that they look forward to doing their job, yet I drive to work every morning with a smile on my face.

In my current role as a Director of Loss Prevention and Retail Operations, I continue to help protect company assets by keeping risk to the lowest level possible. Although my shoplifting catching days are mostly behind me, my work is still full of excitement. Im grateful that the job I fell in love with almost 20 years ago developed into a long lasting commitment.

Part of what keeps my career fresh is the fact that my responsibilities change constantly. Whether it is creating a new strategy for identifying fraudulent transactions, writing policy documents, developing a store auditing routine, or conducting theft and fraud investigations, every day is different. In my current job, I visit retail locations throughout the country to conduct associate training, store assessments and investigations. Dont get me wrong, it is serious work and it keeps me very busy, but it is also an incredibly interesting way to make a living. Im truly blessed to do what I do.

If you think that you will love Loss Prevention even half as much as I do, then keep reading because I want to help you to get started in this field. Take your time as you read over the next few chapters, and re-read them as needed until you feel comfortable with the content. The chapters contain critical information that you will need in order to do the job well, safely and with minimal liability.

My First Apprehension

It was nearly 18 years ago, but I remember it as if it was today. At 22, I had just completed the required company training and received my certification. I was given a shiny badge, handcuffs and told to go catch shoplifters. To be completely honest, I had to buy my own cuffs, but I was so excited to do the job that I did not care one bit.

After being assigned to a supermarket in a high crime neighborhood, I recall entering the tiny, not so clean Loss Prevention office and being surrounded by old monitors, permeating with the most distinctive scent of what can only be described as dust and grime. None of the offices smelled great, but this one had a very specific odor that I can still recall if I close my eyes. It was definitely not pleasant and yet not terrible, something that you became accustomed to. To the right of the monitors, there lived a crude, brown, wooden bench with closed hooks drilled into it. It was not pretty but it did the job, we called it The Throne. The Throne was where our guests of honor, the shoplifters would sit with one end of the cuffs tied to their wrist and the other to one of the closed hooks. It was bolted to the ground, giving the impression of a thick, solidly planted structure. This thing looked like it had grown from the floor up, which is why I was always perplexed when a shoplifter attempted to test its strength. At least a few times per year, a suspect tried to rip it off the ground by pulling on his cuffed hands or by kicking it, but no one ever won that battle. Despite the occasional sore wrist or painful foot, The Throne was not going anywhere and neither were the folks who had the misfortune of finding themselves attached to it.

I began my day early, and walked around the sales floor for what seemed like an eternity. After several hours of complete inactivity, I started to wonder if the whole world had suddenly become honest. After wiping down The Throne more than once out of pure boredom and seriously questioning my ability to spot a thief, I finally caught a break. While walking the sales floor for the 4 th or 5 th time, I practically bumped into a middle-aged man with a bad case of lifter-walk. Let me explain, some shoplifters walk a little faster than normal, and lean into their shopping carts in a way that is almost exclusive to folks with bad intentions. I remembered this red flag from my training, which led me to follow him for a little while. After only 5 minutes of observation, I was sure that he was up to no good. Inside the cart, he had made a nest by surrounding expensive product with bulky items. In this case, it was about a hundred dollars worth of make-up and batteries, partially hidden by two cases of soda and one pack of paper towels.