Are Loss Prevention Officers Pressured to be Overzealous

[free9man]

If she would be viewed as innocent based on her actions, Macy's was the place to do it. Their camera systems can count your nose hairs anywhere in the store and they record.

Yeah but people screw up all the time. The pressure to get cases can also cause an overzealous LP to make a bad stop and sell it as good.

[Disagreeable]

I was not making a judgment, I was providing information that what occurred will clearly be on video and stored.

Yeah but people screw up all the time. The pressure to get cases can also cause an overzealous LP to make a bad stop and sell it as good.

[DeputyDog]

Yeah but people screw up all the time. The pressure to get cases can also cause an overzealous LP to make a bad stop and sell it as good.

This statement is as irresponsible as a statement that police corruption is all around us.

I've worked in LP for 10 years, across several retailers, with different LP staffs, in two states.

I've never seen or heard of this happening. NOT. ONCE.

I've seen the odd bad stop here and there; they get resolved immediately, customer gets an apology, usually gets a gift card, and life goes on. I've NEVER - I repeat - NEVER - seen someone try to "sell a bad stop as good."

Most companies do not fire someone for a bad stop if they followed policy and made an honest mistake. If one got caught covering it up like that though, they would be fired immediately. And everyone knows this. Everyone also knows that they risk perjury charges and never working again for lying in reports and in court.

I'm not saying that in the history of retail it has never happened - so go ahead and produce some news article claiming it did. I'm simply saying that if it has happened it's been so rare that your above statement is not even remotely accurate.

[free9man]

This statement is as irresponsible as a statement that police corruption is all around us.

I've worked in LP for 10 years, across several retailers, with different LP staffs, in two states.

I've never seen or heard of this happening. NOT. ONCE.

Well, hate to burst your bubble bub but I worked in LP for more than 10 years with multiple companies. I saw it. I FIRED someone for it.

If you have been lucky enough not to work for a company that breaths down your throat all the time for numbers. bully for you. The fact is some companies do and that leads to mistakes.

I've seen the odd bad stop here and there; they get resolved immediately, customer gets an apology, usually gets a gift card, and life goes on.

You're right, most bad stops are resolved quickly but not all.

I've NEVER - I repeat - NEVER - seen someone try to "sell a bad stop as good."

Well, I have. Your experience has simply been different than mine.

Most companies do not fire someone for a bad stop if they followed policy and made an honest mistake. If one got caught covering it up like that though, they would be fired immediately. And everyone knows this. Everyone also knows that they risk perjury charges and never working again for lying in reports and in court.

Don't be so sure on that. I've seen people fired for bad stops where they did everything right but the alleged shoplifter made a big enough stink about it. I will grant that I have never seen someone try to sell it to the police, only their own management/co-workers.

I'm not saying that in the history of retail it has never happened - so go ahead and produce some news article claiming it did. I'm simply saying that if it has happened it's been so rare that your above statement is not even remotely accurate.

Seriously? You think EVERYTHING that happens in the world is documented in a newspaper somewhere? You should know very well that LP keeps things as under the radar as possible. If the alleged shoplifter doesn't go to the press, LP sure as hell isn't.

I'm not saying that every LP is messing up or that every one tries to make a bad stop look good. I'm just saying that people in general mess up all the time. People also often try to cover their asses when it happens.

[DeputyDog]

Sounds like you're saying that you saw it once in 10 years. "I fired someone for it."

In 10 years working for a PD, I've also seen ONE cop fired in that time for having sex in a cruiser. I hardly think there's an epidemic of cops having sex in their cruisers all over the city.

Similarly, there's hardly an epidemic of LP making bad stops and covering them up - and by your own admission, you've never actually seen someone lie to the police or lie in court about it, only to their boss or co-workers.

The context of this discussion involved THIS CASE, where the OP WAS prosecuted. Therefore, I find the implication that someone might be lying on the official record about what she did to be far fetched, at best.

You tried to make it sound like this sort of thing "happens all the time." It doesn't, and I think you basically just stated that it doesn't.

[free9man]

Sounds like you're saying that you saw it once in 10 years. "I fired someone for it."

I've seen it more than once. I was only in a position to do something about it that one time.

Similarly, there's hardly an epidemic of LP making bad stops and covering them up - and by your own admission, you've never actually seen someone lie to the police or lie in court about it, only to their boss or co-workers.

I'm not saying there is an epidemic. I'm just saying it happens. People screw up. End of story. Some of those people go too far trying to cover their butts.

You tried to make it sound like this sort of thing "happens all the time." It doesn't, and I think you basically just stated that it doesn't.

No, I didn't. I said people screw up all the time. I then stated that it could cause an overzealous, under pressure LP to take it too far. Which it can and does.

I'm not saying it happened in this case and it probably didn't but I know for a fact that the retailer involved here is known for the above mentioned pressure.

I'm not going to argue the issue anymore. We have simply had different experiences in our LP careers and that is that.

[Security Consultant]

This is a very interesting subject. I have dealt with this very situation 3 times in my career. This may seem alot, but I've been doing this for over 40 years. It's very unfortunate. As an Expert Witness, I have been hired by a plaintiff's attorney in a case where a stop went bad; the suspect did not do what was claimed in the LP report and the criminal case was dismissed. In the civil case it went very badly for the retailer and they settled (for a very large amount of money) just before the case was to go to trial.