May - June 2012

THE VOICE OF LOSS PREVENTION LPportal.com | V11.3 May – June 2012

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LOSS PREVENTION

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Volunteers In Action

LP Professionals Giving Back INTERVIEW WITH ALAN TAGUE OF GANDER MOUNTAIN HOW NOT TO INVESTIGATE ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME BEST PRACTICES WHEN YOU WORK REMOTELY FROM YOUR BOSS

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Contents 6 PUBLISHER’S LETTER Readers’ Response to Our Articles

By Jack Trlica

17 Voluteers in Action.

LP Professionals Giving Back

ON THE WEB

10

RETAIL SPONSORS

12 LOOKING BACK Ten Years of LP Magazine

Recognizing contributions by individuals and companies

14 INTERVIEWING Cross-Cultural Interviewing: Part 1

By David E. Zulawski, CFI, CFE and Shane G. Sturman, CFI, CPP

By Melissa Mitchell, CFI, LifeWay Christian Stores

28 ACADEMIC VIEWPOINT Florida and Concealed Handguns

By Richard C. Hollinger, Ph.D.

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38 ASSOCIATIONS IN ACTION What’s in Store for NRF’s LP Community

By Rich Mellor

Leveraging Internal Resources to Impact Loss

40 CERTIFICATION Who Is Getting Certified?

By Gene Smith

A Conversation with Alan Tague of Gander Mountain

By James Lee, Executive Editor

52 SUPPLY CHAIN The Lesson of Avon: Willful Blindness

By Kelby Woodard

41 How NOT to Investigate Organized Retail Crime

61 SOLUTIONS SHOWCASE - Axis Communications - Palmer, Reifler & Associates - Alpha - InstaKey -W G Security

Dos and Don’ts from industry experts

68 INDUSTRY NEWS - Retail RFID: When and How, not Why or If - ASIS 2012 Sessions to Explore Retail Security

By Robert L. DiLonardo

By Amber Virgillo, Contributing Editor

53 How to Maintain an Engaged Working Relationship When You and Your Boss Work Remotely

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CALENDAR

71

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

72

ADVERTISER DIRECTORY

73

VENDOR SPONSORS

74 PARTING WORDS How Did We Get So Lucky?

By Jim Lee

Best communications practices

By Bruce Tulgan, RainmakerThinking, Inc.

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Publisher’s LETTER MAGAZINE

Readers’ Response to Our Articles

O

ne of the most satisfying aspects of publishing a magazine is when readers offer their comments about articles. It’s important to us because we want to engage with our readers and stimulate a dialogue within the industry.

While we don’t have a formal letters-to-the-editor column in the print magazine, we do have mechanisms for you to respond to articles and columns on our website (LPportal. com) as well as forums on Facebook (LP Voices), Twitter (@LPmag), and LinkedIn (LP Central).

Following are a few excerpts from readers’ comments to some recent articles. Note that I am not including the person’s name here even though the writers identify themselves online.

To Stop Or Not to Stop: Is This Still a Question?

700 Matthews Mint Hill Rd, Ste C Matthews, NC 28105 704-365-5226 office, 704-365-1026 fax EDITOR AND PUBLISHER Jack Trlica JackT@LPportal.com

suspect was seen in the Hollister store, but the shooting took place in the mall near the Sears store. Sorry for the error.

Cussing in the Workplace: WTF?

Amber Virgillo likes to stir the pot. Her recent e-newsletter article about the use of profanity stimulated a lot of discourse.

“Cussing is never a win/win situation. If you cuss at your staff or a customer you have lost not only the respect of both, but show you have no respect for your position.”

“I am relieved to know one of my ‘old school’ habits is not viewed by all as completely inexcusable. I rarely curse at home or around friends, but sometimes find it natural and useful to do so in certain work situations.”

Amber’s article in this issue, “How NOT to Investigate ORC” on page 41 will likely stimulate more dialogue.

The cover story in the March-April issue actually began as a LinkedIn discussion before Johnny Custer turned it into an article.

Think Before You Profile Customers “There are numerous studies that indicate Rick Pfeifer, a regional LP leader for Justice the threat of punishment does not deter the vast Stores, offered his experience in a My Turn majority of criminals. As such, it seems nonsensical column on our website. Not everyone agreed with to center a corporate loss prevention strategy on his viewpoint that profiling is wrong. physical apprehensions.”

“I do not agree with your characterizing all profiling being bad. To some degree, profiling in retail security is very acceptable and an effective method for detecting possible shoplifters.”

“Profiling is a good way to stop thefts….I will always do it and never think twice about it!”

We don’t have to agree on everything, but, hopefully, we will respect each other’s opinions and, just maybe, learn something along the way.

What Do You Think?

Unlike the current state of political discourse in this country, dialogue and debate are healthy ways to move the loss prevention industry forward.

We don’t have to agree on everything, but, hopefully, we will respect each other’s opinions and, just maybe, learn something along the way.

We encourage you to take the time to voice your opinion on one of our online channels or by emailing us at comments@LPportal.com

“Making apprehensions not only protects profits and merchandise, but it also sends a very important message the shoppers and employees.”

Dennis Klein, VP of LP at Abercrombie & Fitch, emailed us saying, “I think it raises a very good question on the necessity of making apprehensions and, more importantly, surfaces the quantifiable issue of the effect of shoplifting on shrink. I hope someone picks up the gauntlet and attempts to put some numbers to it.” Dennis also asked us to correct an error in the article where Jack Trlica we mentioned a shooting at a Hollister store in Editor and Publisher Woodbridge, NJ. For the record, the shoplifting

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LossPrevention and LP Magazine are service marks owned by the publishers and their use is restricted. All editorial content is copyrighted. No article may be reproduced by any means without expressed, written permission from the publisher. Reprints or PDF versions of articles are available by contacting the publisher.

Statements of fact or opinion are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the publishers. Advertising in the publication does not imply endorsement by the publishers. The editor reserves the right to accept or reject any article or advertisement.

May - June 2012

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EXECUTIVE EDITOR James Lee JimL@LPportal.com CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Robert L. DiLonardo Walter E. Palmer, CFI, CPP, CFE Amber Virgillo CONTRIBUTORS William A. Alford, LPC, CFE Read Hayes, Ph.D., CPP Richard C. Hollinger, Ph.D. Mike Marquis, CFI Gene Smith Shane G. Sturman, CFI, CPP Kelby Woodard David E. Zulawski, CFI, CFE NEWSLETTER EDITOR John Selevitch JohnS@LPportal.com ONLINE EDITOR Matt Richardson MattR@LPportal.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Larry Preslar PROOFREADER Amy Trainor DESIGN & PRODUCTION SPARK Publications info@SPARKpublications.com 704-844-6080 ADVERTISING

ADVERTISING MANAGER Bonnie Dodson 828-479-7472 office, 704-943-5797 fax BonnieD@LPportal.com WEST COAST REPRESENTATIVE Ben Skidmore 972-587-9064 office, 972-692-8138 fax BenS@LPportal.com SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

CIRCULATION MANAGER Matt Richardson MattR@LPportal.com NEW OR CHANGE OF ADDRESS www.myLPmag.com POSTMASTER Send change of address forms to Loss Prevention Magazine P.O. Box 1088 Lowell, MA 01853 LossPrevention aka LP Magazine (USPS 000-710) is published bimonthly by Loss Prevention Magazine, Inc., 700 Matthews Mint Hill Rd, Ste C, Matthews, NC 28105. Print subscriptions are available free to qualified loss prevention and associated professionals in the U.S. and Canada at www.myLPmag.com. The publisher reserves the right to determine qualification standards.

International print subscriptions are available for $99 per year payable in U.S. funds at www.LPportal.com. For questions about subscriptions, contact circulation@LPportal.com. Periodicals postage paid at Matthews, NC, and additional mailing offices.

© 2012 Loss Prevention Magazine, Inc.

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ON THE WEB

Editorial Board

Columns

There are a number of articles on the magazine website you may have missed. Check out the following articles.

Cussing in the Workplace: WTF?

By Amber Virgillo ORC—Are We to Blame?

By David George Does Your Career Need Some Oxygen?

By Denise Jennings Impacting Results with a Strong Safety Culture

By Alan Barrington, SPHR Go-to People in LP­—Sandy Woodard

By Jim Lee and Amber Virgillo

Weekly e-Newsletter

Get the latest news and features you need every Thursday.

■ C urrent loss prevention, retail, and technology news, ■ O riginal content from magazine staff and contributors, ■ P eople on the move listings, ■ H elpful links, and ■ A little fun to brighten your week.

If you are not receiving our e-newsletter, visit the magazine home page at www.LPportal.com and click on the links under CURRENT NEWSLETTER to read the latest issue or to sign up. If you would like to contribute to the newsletter or have any comments, contact us at newsletter@LPportal.com.

Ken Amos, LPC Divisional Vice President, Loss Prevention Walgreens

Bob MacLea Senior Vice President, Loss Prevention, TJX

Leo Anguiano Vice President, Chief Risk Officer, Central Parking Corp.

Chris McDonald Senior Vice President, Loss Prevention, Compass Group NA

Jim Carr, CFI Director, International Loss Prevention, Rent-A-Center

Randy Meadows Senior Vice President, Loss Prevention, Kohl’s

Ken Cornish Vice President, Retail Operations, The Kroger Co.

Monica Mullins Vice President, Asset Protection & Safety, Wal-Mart Stores U.S.

Francis D’Addario Emeritus Faculty Member, Strategic Influence and Innovation Security Executive Council

Tom Roan Group Vice President, Loss Prevention, Macy’s

Charles Delgado Vice President, Manager of Asset Protection BJ’s Wholesale Club

Tim Shipman Director, Corporate Investigations and Crisis Management, Food Lion

Patti Felz Vice President, Loss Prevention, Polo Ralph Lauren

Mark Stinde Vice President, Asset Protection 7-Eleven

Barry Grant Senior Vice President, Operations & Loss Prevention, CPI Corp

Paul Stone, LPC Vice President, Loss Prevention and Risk Management, Best Buy

Bill Heine Senior Director, Global Security, Brinker International

New Digital Magazine Format

Optimized for iPads and Tablet PCs Offers easier navigation, higher resolution, and more functions: ■ S ave PDFs of articles ■ P rint or email pages ■ S hare pages directly to social networks ■ F ast keyword search ■ H ot links to outside content and advertiser offers

Frank Johns, LPC Chairman, The Loss Prevention Foundation Gary Johnson Vice President, Loss Prevention, Vitamin Shoppe Paul Jones, LPC Senior Director, Global Asset Protection, eBay Mike Lamb Vice President, Asset Protection, The Home Depot

Bookmark the new digital magazine at digital.lpportal.com Ten years of archives available at digital.losspreventionmagazine.com

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Bill Titus Vice President, Loss Prevention, Sears Holdings Bill Turner Senior Director, Retail Operations, Cole Haan Claude Verville Vice President, Loss Prevention, Safety & Hazmat, Lowe's Stanley E. Welch Vice President, Director of Loss Prevention, JCPenney Keith White Senior Vice President, Loss Prevention and Corporate Admin., Gap Inc.

Retail SPONSORS

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May - June 2012

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Join these great companies as an LP Magazine corporate sponsor. Email JackT@LPportal.com for more information.

LP Magazine | May - June 2012

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LOOKING Back BACK ON Looking on 10 YEARS Years OF of LP MAGAZINE Magazine Twenty years ago biometric access control was either fantasy or something only top-secret government agencies would use. Today it is a solution that may just move the needle in a retail environment on several fronts—shrink control, expense control, and safety exposure.

“This economy has created fundamental, structural changes in our industry. If you’re not prepared when transactions start ramping up again, how in the world are you going to manage your results?”

– Bill Titus, Sears Holdings

By utilizing all the tools at our disposal, we can continue to impact the various levels of ORC. We can make the occupation more difficult and less rewarding. Sooner or later, with the help of enhanced legislation, the career criminals will land in prison as habitual offenders.

“Today we believe that in LP you’re only as good as the incident that does not occur.”

– Dean Henrico, Loblaw Companies

March-April

May-June

2010

January-February

“Although we have had the same LP challenges as the rest of the retail world, the factor that is unique to LifeWay is that loss is associated with stewardship, and the associates take that responsibility seriously.”

– Melissa Mitchell, LifeWay Christian Stores

Earthquake devastates Haiti.

The store managers and their associates take shrink prevention very seriously.

They understand the relationship between shrink and bottom-line profit.

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Movie Gallery files bankruptcy.

Three Years in the Making—LP Certification Is Now Reality

by Jack Trlica Interview with Dean Henrico, Loblaw Companies Protecting High-Demand, High-Tech Merchandise at GameStop

by Michael Stugrin 2010 Loss Prevention Resource Guide

May - June 2012

Oil platform explodes in Gulf of Mexico.

Biometric Access Control— The Next Great Thing to Reduce Shortage

by Kevin Plante Shedding Light on an LP Career from a Regional’s Perspective

by James Lee Investigating in Facebook and Other Parlor Tricks

by Cynthia Hetherington Boosters Vs. Fences— Which Is the Direct Link to Shrink?

by Frank Muscato and Jack Pearson |

LPportal.com

ADT’s Art Magruder dies.

Are We the Liars?

Getting an Admission at any Cost

by Amber Virgillo Interview with Sears Holdings’ Bill Titus Thy Shall Not Steal— LifeWay Christian Stores

by Michael Stugrin Preventing On-line Order Fraud

by David Pelligrinelli

2008 2010

With 34 percent of the population posting opinions about companies, products, and brands, our chief executives care about this virtual giant of communication. It is loss prevention’s job to care about the great risk that often comes with great reward.

July-August

RILA forms AP Leaders Council.

For an organization creating an evolving loss prevention department, building a support system and first-rate working relationship within the corporate structure is essential. We are proud that we have successfully created strong relationships with all levels of employees.

September-October

Vector Security’s John Murphy dies.

Social Networking— A Double-Edged Sword

by Nicole Accardi Different Perspectives on Climbing the Corporate Ladder

by James Lee Profile of Goodwill Industries

by Andrew Fossler, Matt Morgan, and Justin Neese Performance Measures and Controls to Keep Investigators Honest

by Amber Virgillo

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career.

I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

– Michael Jordan

“The persistent challenge is to seek and implement more customer-friendly solutions. Part of this is going to require the identification and recruitment of nontraditional technologies and suppliers.”

– Brand Elverston, Walmart

November-December

Four years into full operations and it is clear that the tag recycling program works. Feedback from the stores has been strongly positive.

Shrink from both internal theft and shoplifting has declined significantly.

33 Chilean Miners Rescued.

Future Technology—The Search for New Asset Protection Tools

by James Lee Job Jumping— Fitting Stereotype Or the New Reality?

by Amber Virgillo U.S. Navy Exchange— LP with a Family Touch, Global Reach

by Michael Stugrin Back-to-Basics Management— The Most Effective Business Strategy in 2009

by Bruce Tulgan

Hard Tag Recycling— Transparent, Sustainable, and Profitable

by Steve Fabey From Next-Generation Technology to the Next Generation

by James Lee Chico’s TechnologyBased Approach to Attacking Shrink

by Michael Stugrin Basic ROI Knowledge for First-Line Management

by Bob DiLonardo

LP Magazine | May - June 2012

In 2009, its first full year of operation, Chico’s POS system helped the loss prevention team bring down shrink by about 27 percent.

“This equates to a shrink reduction of $3.4 million at retail value. We reached our target ROI in just ten months,” says Leo Doran.

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interviewing

Cross-Cultural Interviewing: Part 1 T

by David E. Zulawski, CFI, CFE and Shane G. Sturman, CFI, CPP

© 2012 Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates, Inc.

Cultural Assimilation

he United States has been described as being a “melting pot” of different cultures and races. Immigrants come to live in the U.S., and then, to one extent or another, they begin to change as our national norms and culture become an extension of who they were. U.S. citizens living abroad are changed in the same way when they live in another country.

We read with interest Dr. Hollinger’s column relating his recent visit to Singapore and the massive use of cameras in that country (see January-February 2012 page 26). As with all our international training programs, it is important to know the culture and history of the country and people we will be dealing with. Even more difficult are our seminars for the Department of State where we may have as many as thirty representatives from different countries attending the same program.

The best way to understand any culturally rooted practice is to consult with someone who is familiar with the culture. It may be useful for an interviewer to understand the length of time the person has been in the United States, who they live with, and where they reside. For example, Native Americans can differ greatly if they were raised on a reservation where there was a strong adherence to tribal traditions versus alone in a large metropolitan area. If an interviewer has a large population of a particular cultural group, he will be more successful if he can better understand their perception of everyday life.

People will change culturally depending on how assimilated they have become to their new country. Some immigrants will not evolve culturally because they isolate themselves in their own native enclaves in the new country. Because they are surrounded by their own language and culture, they have no need to assimilate to the language and surroundings.

Chicago, for example, like most major metropolitan areas, has neighborhoods where foreign immigrants congregate. One can go to Chinatown and hear native Chinese fresh to the country conversing with second-generation Chinese who still strongly adhere to the Chinese culture.

More typical is the integrated immigrant who has begun to assimilate to the United States culture. They generally speak English and are able to interact comfortably with others outside their culture. These types of immigrants may still adhere to their own culture and family practices when they retreat into their own homes, but they are capable of successfully living in the U.S. Their children are also likely to be assimilated into the dominant culture where they live, play, or go to school. Unfortunately, there may be strong cultural disconnects between the family and the child’s outside life, which can cause problems within the family between young and old. Generally, by the third generation, immigrant families have begun to be totally assimilated into the U.S. culture. In our home our grandparents’ native language and most traditions have been lost as we later generations are separated in time from those with ties to the “old country.”

Culturally there will be some people who will be more traditional in their cultural practices and relationships. People who move to the United States when they are older tend to retain the culture of their home country. Some people moving to the United States in their younger years struggle with the conflict of the old and new ways, feeling comfortable with neither. Other individuals

Potential Interview Pitfalls

Most readers will be called on to interview in the United States, which as we all know can have significant cultural diversity. Certainly one of the most problematic areas is the individual’s ability to speak the English language. An interviewer who speaks the individual’s language will have a step up on any interviewer who has to use a translator. Even speaking a smattering of the language can often establish rapport with the non-native speaker.

Here are some other potential cross-cultural problems: ■T he interviewer gives more credence to a person who speaks English more fluently than those who have difficulty with the second language. There may also be a bias to think a person is less intelligent or competent if they don’t speak English fluently.

■D uring some interviews there may be a necessity to fill out paperwork. This must be done tactfully since in some countries, a person’s word is as powerful as a signed document. In other countries people may sign documents without reading them because they believe that to read them carefully would convey mistrust of the interviewer.

In any interview the interviewer needs to create a working relationship with the individual in order to obtain the necessary information often under less than optimal conditions. When we observe the cultural and language differences, we may miss the person’s uniqueness of personality and personal history that may tell a different story about our observations. This is to say there is a danger of treating the person as a stereotype or the caricature we expect to see.

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Zulawski and Sturman are executives in the investigative and training firm of Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates (www.w-z.com). Zulawski is a senior partner and Sturman is president.

Sturman is also a member of ASIS International’s Retail Loss Prevention Council.

They can be reached at 800-222-7789 or via email at dzulawski@w-z.com and ssturman@w-z.com.

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LPportal.com

may be more formal with a strict protocol. There is a strict chain of command and often relationships take time to develop, but a calm demeanor is favored over a more aggressive style.

Singapore is an interesting mix of East and West. On the one hand, there have been thousands of years of Chinese culture and religious practices, and, on the other hand, there are several hundred years being a strong trading partner with the West.

It was interesting discussing interviewing with investigators based in China and Singapore. Most noteworthy was the comment that the best interviewers in Singapore were non-confrontational and used tactics that allowed the subject to save face. Our experience is exactly that—an interviewer who is friendly and non-confrontational will produce more admissions and information than one who acts aggressively.

continued from page 14

retain the tradition of their old culture while valuing their new situation. For these people there is a strong sense of belonging to both cultures. This leads to them maintaining the old culture or melding the language, food, holidays and traditions of their old country with those of the new.

Mix of East and West

It is clear that simply saying someone is Chinese would lead us to a stereotype neglecting the individual’s personal choices and personality. In Singapore, for example, 75 percent of the population is Chinese, 14 percent Malay, and about 8 percent Indian. However, there is a strong British influence since it was an important trading colony dating back to 1819. The city sports English signs and has English as one of its official languages.

English is even the language of choice for business and politics.

Singapore’s legal system is based on English common law, as is the United States.

Even though there is a strong British influence in Singapore, there is also a clear and significant Chinese cultural component, plus influences from its neighbors Indonesia and Malaysia. Like the Chinese, Singapore has a social structure that centers on the family. The society emphasizes respect for the elderly and mutual group harmony over the importance of the individual. As in China, retaining personal dignity and saving face are important in all aspects of a person’s life. Creating harmonious relationships is a critical component of the Singapore culture; it is the group or family where one goes for support.

Because there is often a reliance on hierarchy, there is a strong respect for age and status resulting in business interactions that

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Soliciting Your Experience

As more organizations become global there will be an increasing need to understand other cultures and the unique traditions associated with them. This will require investigators to manage the interviews in ways that complement the laws and culture in which they are working. Here in the United States as more and more immigrants join our ranks, investigators need to understand the person’s culture and his relative assimilation into ours.

In our future columns we intend to focus on ways of building rapport and conveying respect across cultural barriers. In addition, we will address common problems and misunderstandings in cross-cultural interviewing. If anyone has specific questions, situations, or experience in cross-cultural interviewing, we would love to hear from you as we prepare these upcoming columns.

We can be reached at dzulawski@W-Z.com.

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Cover feature

Volunteers in Action LP Professionals Giving Back

By Melissa Mitchell, CFI

Volunteers In Action

People Stepping Up

The concept of some type of award or presentation that would honor individuals in our industry who extended themselves to others within their own communities was the brainchild of Mike Keenan, who was a member of the NRF awards committee.

The consensus of the committee was that this was definitely a worthwhile endeavor, but we were undecided as to exactly what form it should take. As the new awards committee chairperson at the time, it fell to me to figure it out.

As the June 2007 conference grew closer, I made an executive decision to attempt to compose a PowerPoint deck of the photos submitted with musical background. I made that decision solely on the fact that it sounded like it would be the easiest way to accomplish the goal.

We made that first video at our kitchen table using our home computer. After receiving detailed instructions from my teenagers about how to use Movie Maker software…while trying to ignore the eye rolling between them…I did what any parent would do—I paid them to help me.

As with so many things, it was not nearly as simple as I had thought. The problem was the volunteers and the

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incredible things they had done. Take for example, Todd Jenkins, regional loss prevention investigator with Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores, who was featured in that first video. After the so-called Christmas tsunami hit Thailand in December 2004, Jenkins decided that he could not just “stand by and do nothing,” so he gathered some tools, took vacation time, and bought a ticket to Thailand with no other plan than to just start helping the survivors of the tsunami in whatever way he could. Jenkins stepped up.

Or consider Terry Yankee, security

voice-overs and a storyline for each set of pictures and tried to tie the whole thing together. My children and some coworkers provided their voices. My husband and I pulled a few all-nighters to get it done.

When we had the video complete, we played it through one final time. As he was loading it to the NRF site for their review, my husband told me that he found it “very moving.” Because my husband is generally a fairly stoic guy, his comment made me panic. I said, “Stop! Can you un-send it?”

He laughed at me while the kids rolled their eyes.

Volunteers In Action

E

ach year since 2007 at the National Retail Federation (NRF) Loss Prevention Conference, I have the opportunity to present the Volunteers in Action video that showcases loss prevention professionals making significant and measurable contributions to charitable organizations. While the many activities these individuals participate in vary widely from fundraising to outreach to volunteering, they all result in a positive impact in their community.

Every year as I review the submissions in preparation for the process of creating the video, I always find myself shaking my head in wonder at what people in our industry have done with the interest of another in mind. This year is no different.

The LP individuals, teams, and vendor partners for 2012 have accomplished incredible things, but before you meet them, it seems to me the proper place to start is at the beginning. So here, as Paul Harvey would say, is “the rest of the story.”

Rent-A-Center’s Andrew Schneider, CFI with one of the children in the daycare facility he helped renovate in South Africa.

LP manager for Sobeys, Inc., who was also featured in that video. Yankee runs a not-for-profit organization that provides jujitsu lessons to under-privileged children, with the goal of decreasing the chances of these kids becoming involved in drugs, alcohol, or gang activity. Yankee saw a need, and took action to fill it.

Home Depot had entire LP teams at various destruction sites left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, taking care of individuals who had lost everything they had as well as the volunteers who were there to help them rebuild. Home Depot’s LP organization showed up.

None of the people featured in the video that first year had done something that was “simple” or “easy,” and it felt a bit like I was cheating them to do any less in telling their stories. So, I added May - June 2012

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A couple of weeks later, as I stood offstage waiting to walk out and present the video, the phrase “career suicide” kept running through my mind. What had I been thinking? Loss prevention people are stoic; they are not going to respond well to something that is “moving.”

After introducing the video, I found a place where I could watch the crowd as the video rolled. I was strategically positioned near an exit in case this thing “went over like a lead balloon,” as my dad used to say.

In the end it was not the song, the story line, or the voice-overs that carried the day. It was the people featured and their incredible acts of generosity in giving of their time and financial resources to impact the lives of others. And truly, what they do does impact the lives of others.

Volunteers In Action

The Fuel for the Vehicle

Every year since, as I put the video together, I am again impacted by the people whose stories we tell. How could I not be?

Consider these examples.

■ LP associates who have literally laid the foundation for a family to have a home by working with Habitat for Humanity.

■ LP vendors who organized, ran, and participated in a golf tournament that generated a donation that would provide funding for many “wishes” to be granted to children with life-threatening illnesses through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

■ LP teams that garnered the collective energy of many in LP to benefit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by holding annual fundraisers that collected an incredible $580,000 from 2004 to 2007.

■ Individuals like Everett Stein, CFI, a regional LP manager for Tractor Supply Company, who became a trained advocate to speak up for abused and neglected children in court by volunteering his time to work with the Court-Appointed Special Advocates Association.

I learned something very important putting that video together that first year.

I understood that while it is true that the “vehicle” that drives these charitable organizations is in large part funding, the “gas” for that vehicle is volunteers—the LP folks who show up to hammer nails into the framework of an elderly person’s home or spend weeks with Team in Training to run a marathon in order to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s research.

Our coworkers in LP who go into disaster areas with a shovel or a chainsaw following a flood, tornado, or hurricane, do not go because they know somebody in the disaster area or because they are paid to go.

Rather, they go “because they couldn’t stand by and do nothing.”

In 2008 we featured an LP team that raised money for a well to be dug in a remote village in Africa. The people from that village had to walk many miles each day to a stream they shared with animals to get drinking water. The generosity on the part of the Saks Fifth Avenue LP team led

by Rosamaria Sostilio was like dropping a pebble in a pond. This single act had a

LP Magazine | May - June 2012

ripple effect that changed the future of an entire village. Today, the people of that area have clean, safe drinking water from a well within their own village.

In 2009 we told the story of Jon Harper, LPQ, a loss prevention analyst for Genesco, who decided he would fulfill his sister’s “bucket list” wish of running in the Music City Marathon. Suffering from ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and confined to a wheelchair, she could not run as she had hoped…but he could push her. When Jean Ann Schutte from Checkpoint, one of Jon’s vendors heard about it, she decided to support Jon in this endeavor to raise money for ALS research. In an act of extreme solidarity, Jean Ann showed up and ran it with them.

Inspiring Leaders to Do More

There have been times over the last five years when the leaders of an organization got fired up about the potential good that their organization could do, and the synergy created took them to a higher level.

For example, after seeing the 2007 video, Randy Meadows, vice president of LP for

19

Kohl’s, issued a challenge to his LP teams across the country to see if they could top 100 total separate events in a single year.

They more than doubled that number the next year, and then doubled it again the following year with events ranging from shining up a school to taking a special education class to a park for the day.

In another example, two associates from Hart Inventory Systems were featured in the 2010 video presentation. When Hart CEO Ed Tonkon saw the video, he decided that as a company they could do more. With the intention of creating an environment where employees could make an impact on their communities with deliberate and intentional support from the company, Tonkon formed a community service team that organizes events that support a wide variety of community services chosen by the employees. Some of the charitable activities include a coat drive, Polar Plunge for kids cancer camp, and funding the purchase of 100 totes, backpacks, and suitcases for kids in foster care.

2012 Volunteers in Action

Members of the Kroger team from Portland, Oregon, who participated in the Polar Plunge to benefit the Special Olympics.

S ears Holding Corporation—In July 2011 eleven LP associates volunteered in Joplin, Missouri, rebuilding a home for a single father with two small children.

Their goal was to complete the home and present it to the family on Friday (see photo page 24).

■ Andrew Schneider, CFI—A divisional LP manager for Rent-A-Center, Schneider along with eleven other volunteers traveled to South Africa where they renovated an uninhabitable daycare facility, finished out a new building, and beautified the grounds with new grass, a playground, and a ■

Volunteers In Action

This year the 2012 edition of the Volunteers in Action video will be presented at the NRF conference in New Orleans, June 19–22. Following are just a few of the LP professionals, teams, and vendor partners who will be featured.

Volunteers In Action

Volunteers In Action

Adel Sayegh, CEO of Universal Surveillance Systems (USS), with some of the 350 children from poverty-stricken communities who received new bicycles donated by the USS Foundation.

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garden for children who are orphans or whose grandparents are unable to raise them (see photo page 18).

■ Universal Surveillance Systems—In 2010 Adel Sayegh took aim at a problem in an orphanage in Zambia, Africa. The children there had to walk four hours each day to school. Sayegh successfully created an initiative for donations that provided bicycles to all 800 orphans in the village. He has now turned that initiative to providing bicycles to underprivileged children in the United States (photo at left).

■ PETCO—During their annual department meeting last December, Kelly Gorman, vice president of loss prevention, and the entire LP team took time to volunteer at the Animal Defense League shelter in San Antonio, Texas. Chartered in 1934, the Animal Defense League is a non-profit organization that is the largest “no-kill” shelter for abandoned, abused, or neglected dogs and cats in the Southwest.

The team supplemented the manpower at the shelter, allowing the regular staff to accomplish things they might not otherwise have been able to do.

■ Limited Brands—The LP team at Limited Brands has participated in various charities, including United Way, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, cancer research via a bike-a-thon, and volunteering at the Columbus Early Learning Centers.

Volunteers In Action roger—The members of the Kroger K central alarm control monitoring station literally took the plunge for the Special Olympics when they participated in the Polar Plunge into the 38-degree water of the Columbia River near Portland, Oregon (see photo opposite page).

■ PetSmart—The entire department of thirty-four LP associates volunteered time at the Greater Phoenix Youth at Risk community center, with one LP professional stepping up to be a mentor for a child there this past year. This organization provides at-risk children a safe, nurturing place to learn, have fun, and see that there are other options for their lives than what they currently know.

■ Thomas Courtney—A regional LP investigator at LifeWay Christian Stores, Courtney spent two weeks in earthquake-ravaged Haiti rebuilding homes, churches, schools, and distributing food and water to villagers.

■ Terry Hennessey—A corporate investigator at Stanley Black & Decker, Hennessey raised over $15,000 in 2011 for cancer research in 24 Hours of Booty, an annual cycling event held in ■

Charlotte, North Carolina. Last year was Hennessey’s sixth year riding in the event in memory of his mother who “ran out of time waiting on a cure” eight years ago (see photo page 22).

An Ironic Twist of Fate

Last year after the awards ceremony, someone asked me if “the volunteer thing was an assignment I believed I had to complete every year or if I completely believed in it?” I understood why I was asked the question. Like most of you, I had found myself at charitable events occasionally, mostly because someone asked me to attend or because the event itself was something my husband and I wanted to do. I realize now that these were not really good reasons, but I rationalized that once we wrote a check, it all balanced out.

I sat in those events and listened as the speakers waxed eloquently about the individuals who would be helped by our financial support. Almost always the speakers mentioned that they not only needed financial support, but they needed people who could step up and support them by donating their time. That’s when

LP Magazine | May - June 2012

I would whip out my checkbook as fast as I could, thinking to myself, “Time? Come on, I’m giving you money!” I admit that I would give myself a little mental pat on the back for doing the right thing and then forget about it. It wasn’t that I didn’t care; it’s just that I didn’t “get it” at the time.

But life can turn on a dime. In April 2004 I got a request for a donation of an auction item for a golf fundraiser taking place at the NRF LP conference to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I don’t play golf, so I passed. Shortly after that, there was a fundraiser on television for the Children’s Miracle Network that benefited the local children’s hospital near our home.

Because my then 12-year-old daughter, Katie, would not surrender the remote control until I called in a donation, I did…again with a mental pat on the back.

Two short weeks later, I stood in that very same hospital listening to a doctor tell us that Katie had leukemia. What a twist of fate. I suddenly had a lot of time to think.

I thought about the irony that now I knew what those people were like that they spoke about in fundraisers. In a single

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instant my family was the beneficiary of thousands of miles of running so many have done with Team in Training to raise funds to support cancer research, which has helped raise the survival rate for the type of cancer that our daughter had from 6 to 80 percent.

We spent the better part of two-and-a-half years at that children’s hospital. We appeared on that telethon we had seen on television the year before. We were the family that went on a Make-A-Wish trip—one week that allowed us to remember that we had two other children who wanted time with their parents and that there is a world outside of the cancer floor at the children’s hospital where people actually have fun.

Thankfully, Katie is now 20 years old and in remission. She is no longer considered a cancer patient, but a cancer survivor.

As you can imagine, we are truly grateful for charitable organizations and the financial support that individuals and companies offer them that ended up enabling these organizations to help

Volunteers In Action

Volunteers In Action

Terry Hennessey (left) riding with Lance Armstrong in the 24 Hours of Booty event to raise money for cancer research. Photo by Kreutz Photography

families like ours. But at the end of the day, it was not having a child with cancer that most often brought us to our knees. And it was not an organization representative walking in the door with an offer of help. Rather, it was the kindness of people, like those recognized in the

Volunteers in Action video, who showed up to give of their time for complete strangers like us.

The truth is, and the message of the Volunteers in Action recognition program is, that real differences are made not by continued on page 24

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07-02-2012 14:01:34

plifies consultative i³ International exem s-on approach of nd ha al du vi di in e Th sales. a cal staff made them both sales and techni Style Environment. ily m Fa r ou r fo fit l natura s so many applications The product itself ha d throughout our ge ra ve le be n ca it that n g and Loss Preventio Operations, Marketin analytics and data. e im -t al re r fo ns tio Func k’s r Mar , Asset Protection fo

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corporations, but by individuals. This article is not to tell of the exploits of a few “good” people in our industry, but to encourage each of you. Often we find ourselves falling into the mindset that as a single individual, our part won’t really make a difference. But look at what all of the individuals you have read about in the LP community have accomplished, often for people they may never meet, but sometimes for people like the Mitchell family.

So, to answer that question about believing in this program—yes, I completely believe in the concept of volunteering, as well as firmly believe that honoring the individuals among us is something we need to do. I think of it as our annual opportunity to say “Thank you” to the people within our industry whose actions end up helping so many when it’s needed the most.

Volunteers In Action

Volunteers In Action

Members of the Sears Holdings team assist in the rebuilding efforts following the tornado in Joplin, Missouri.

MELISSA MITCHELL, CFI is director of loss prevention and inventory control at LifeWay Christian Stores based in Nashville, Tennessee. She is a member of the National Retail Federation (NRF) loss prevention advisory committee and chair of its awards subcommittee. She also sits on the Certified Forensic Interviewer advisory board. Mitchell’s LP career followed her service in the U.S. Air Force and includes various positions with T.J. Maxx, Revco, Roses Department Stores, Cato, and Service Merchandise. She can be reached at 615-251-5044 or melissa.mitchell@lifeway.com.

EDITOR’S NOTE: To watch the Volunteers in Action video, visit the magazine website following the June 19 – 22 NRF conference.

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“I’m certified.

Here’s why.”

Sandy Chandler, LPC, CPP Regional Director, Loss Prevention Rite Aid Corporation

With the evolution of our profession, it is imperative that retail LP professionals become true business partners. Whether you are a seasoned LP professional or just starting out, the Foundation certification courses have valuable content to meet that goal.

These courses contain a wide range of subject matter that validates our ever-changing roles, showing how valuable our position is to our retail organizations. The LPC allowed me to become more proficient on some subjects not previously utilized. For example,

“I have a job.

Why do I need certification?”

Certification not only prepares you for the future, it helps you when you need it most—in your current job.

Certification refreshes and validates your knowledge base while teaching you critical business expertise to roundout your skill set. It not only covers key components of loss prevention, it teaches you solid business skills to prepare you for your next promotion.

“Yeah, but…”

“It costs a lot.” Certification is very affordable and can even be paid for in installments. It is one of the best investments you can make for yourself and will pay for itself over again as you advance in your career.

“I don’t have the time.” Certification was designed by seasoned professionals who understand the demands on your time.

The coursework allows you to work at your own pace and at your convenience.

Everyone is busy, but those who are committed to advancement will find the time to invest in learning.

“I’ve never taken an online course.”

The certification coursework is designed with the adult learner in mind. The online courses are built in easy-to-use presentation style enhanced with video illustrations to elevate comprehension and heighten retention.

“What if I fail?” Both the LPQ and LPC certifications have been accepted for college credit at highly respected universities, and as such, passing the exam demands commitment and study. However, the coursework includes highly effective study and review tools to fully prepare you for the exam. In the event you fail the exam, you can review the coursework and retest after 30 days.

“Okay, how do I get started?”

It’s easy to get started. Go online to sign up at www.LossPreventionFoundation.org.

If you need help or want more information, contact Gene Smith at Gene.Smith@LossPreventionFoundation.org or call 866-433-5545.

the compliance module enhanced my expertise, giving me an edge in our highly regulated retail environment.

In order to promote career knowledge and advancement, the Rite Aid LP department endorses both the LPC and LPQ courses, and selects key personnel every year to receive scholarships. Why?

Because these certifications provide the business skills necessary to maximize our contributions, not only within our department, but to impact the company on multiple levels, substantiating a higher return on investment and further advancing our industry through continued professional development.

SM

POWERED BY THE LOSS PREVENTION FOUNDATION

ACADEMIC VIEWPOINT

Florida and Concealed Handguns I

by Richard C. Hollinger, Ph.D. Dr. Hollinger is a professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law at the University of Florida, Gainesville. He is also director of the Security Research Project, which annually conducts the National Retail Security Survey (soccrim.clas.ufl.edu/criminology/srp/srp.html). Dr. Hollinger can be reached at rhollin@ufl.edu or 352-294-7175. © 2012 Richard C. Hollinger

thwart an attack. Now the new law reverses that standard and immunizes an individual from criminal charges if he asserts he had a “reasonable” fear of personal harm. Florida’s stand-your-ground law applies wherever a person has a legal right to be, whether in his home, his car, his business, or on a public sidewalk.

live in Florida and once again I find that my state is in the center of the national debate on the right of citizens to defend themselves with firearms against street crime. Soon after my family moved to Florida during the summer of 1983, the infamous Bernard Goetz shooting took place in New York City.

On December 22, 1984, Bernard Goetz shot four young black men who tried to mug him on a New York City subway train, resulting in his conviction for illegal possession of a firearm. Although none of his victims died, Bernard Goetz became known as the “subway vigilante” and came to symbolize frustrations with the high crime rates experienced in New York City during the early 1980s. The Goetz shooting sparked a nationwide debate on race and crime in major cities, as well as the legal limits of self-defense. As a result of this case the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun lobbies were able to wage successful campaigns to loosen state and local restrictions on the concealed carrying of firearms.

It was revealed during the trial that the gun that Goetz used in his assault had been legally purchased in Florida and then taken to New York City where gun purchases and possession are much more strictly controlled.

Dueling Statistics

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Florida experienced an average of 34 “justifiable homicides” before 2005. Two years after the stand-your-ground law was enacted, the number jumped to more than 100. Similarly disturbing spikes have been found in other states with similar laws.

According to an analysis of FBI data done by the office of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who co-chairs the 650-strong Mayors Against Illegal Guns organization, states that passed stand-your-ground laws experienced a 53.5 percent increase in “justifiable homicides” in the three years following enactment. States without such laws saw a 4.2 percent increase.

The Association of Prosecuting Attorneys opposed stand-your-ground laws, arguing that they were unnecessary and likely a danger to public safety. In a 2007 report they foreshadowed the Trayvon Martin tragedy. “Although the spirit of the law may be to allow the public to feel safer, the expansions may instead create a sense of fear from others, particularly strangers,” the report said, concluding that enactment would have a “disproportionately negative effect on minorities, persons from lower socio-economic status, and young adults/juveniles” that are often unjustly stereotyped as suspects.

According to the March 2012 update of the Violence Policy Center’s (VPC) Concealed Carry Killers online resource, the deadly shooting of Trayvon Martin is unfortunately only one example of at least 402 victims killed in thirty-two states since May 2007 in incidents involving private citizens legally allowed to carry concealed handguns.

VPC legislative director Kristen Rand states, “The tragic killing of Trayvon Martin is the result of Florida’s gun laws that allow virtually anyone to carry a concealed loaded handgun in public. While Florida’s ‘shoot-first’ law is the reason that George Zimmerman has not been arrested, it’s Florida’s concealed-carry law that enabled Zimmerman to confront Trayvon Martin with a loaded handgun in the first place.”

Despite the current national outrage over the shooting of Trayvon Martin, Congress may soon act on legislation that would actually expand the ability of people like Zimmerman to carry their guns to virtually every state. Two bills have been introduced in the U.S. Senate (S. 2188 and S. 2213) that would significantly expand the ability of concealed-carry permit holders to carry their

Stand-Your-Ground Laws

Florida is currently in the national news once again based upon the recent shooting of Trayvon Martin by a self-appointed neighborhood-watch volunteer, George Zimmerman, in his Sanford, Florida, townhouse community. Recordings of the 911 call made by Zimmerman to police show him following the 17-year-old, whom he described as suspicious and possibly high on drugs. Martin was unarmed when he was shot, but Zimmerman was not initially charged with a crime, in part because of Florida’s so-called “stand-your-ground law.”

Florida enacted its stand-your-ground legislation in 2005, becoming the first of some twenty states to adopt similar measures. The law protects private individuals from prosecution if police determine they used deadly force in self-defense. This much is relatively uncontroversial, given that individuals have always had a right to defend themselves against attack. These protections are particularly strong if one is attacked inside one’s home, commonly known as the “castle doctrine.”

What makes the stand-your-ground law so controversial is that it absolves the individual of any responsibility to consider other ways to avoid bodily harm. Before stand-your-ground laws, police and law enforcement officials assessed whether a “reasonable person” would have resorted to the level of violence used to

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loaded handguns nationwide. The bills would force all states that issue concealed-carry permits to recognize all out-of-state permits, even if the person could not qualify for a permit in that state.

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Gun-Control Critics

Critics of strict gun control have stated that the facts portrayed in the research produced by the Violence Policy Center are biased and misleading. For example, the 402 statistic mentioned above is actually over a span of five years, or eighty people a year. Those numbers include eighty-three from committing suicide. These are a relatively small number out of the millions of legal handgun owners.

For example, Florida has issued 2,031,106 licenses since adopting its law in 1987, and had 843,463 licensed permit holders as of July 31, 2011. That is just Florida alone. Based upon these numbers, it is obvious that not all Florida citizens that are legally allowed to carry concealed handguns are dangerous people. In fact, gun ownership in Florida may actually be reducing the crime rate.

In 1987 when Florida began to enact more liberal gun ownership legislation, critics warned that the “sunshine state” would become the “gunshine state.” Contrary to their predictions, homicide rates dropped faster than the national average. Furthermore, through 1997 only one permit holder out of the over 350,000 permits issued was convicted of homicide, according to Gary Kleck’s book Targeting Guns: Firearms and Their Control.

If the rest of the country behaved as Florida’s permit holders did, the U.S. would have the lowest homicide rate in the world. David Kopel, research director at the Independence Institute, commented on Florida’s concealed-carry experience in a Los Angeles Times article, stating: “What we can say with some confidence is that allowing more people to carry guns does not cause an increase in crime. In Florida where 315,000 permits have been issued, there are only five known instances of violent gun crime by a person with a permit.

This makes a permit-holding Floridian the cream of the crop of law-abiding citizens, 840 times less likely to commit a violent firearm crime than a randomly selected Floridian without a permit.”

Effect on Retailers

There is no doubt that Floridians are applying for concealed-weapons permits at such a rapid rate that the state has had to increase the speed and number of places that one can apply for a permit. Today with more than 800,000 issued, nearly one in every fifteen Florida adults has a license to carry a concealed weapon, according to data compiled by the state. Among Floridians over 18 years of age, about 6.5 percent have applied for and received permits to carry a concealed weapon. Add the 104,210 permits brought into the state by out-of-state visitors and the total rises to 906,924 as of February 2012, according to Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which administers the licensing program.

Only time will tell whether this level of concealed-weapon permits will decrease crime in Florida or lead to an unprecedented increase in the use of handguns in both legitimate and illegitimate cases of self-defense. Clearly a shopping trip in the future will expose more people to firearm use than ever before, perhaps even more than the Wild West days of our nation’s early history. With this many guns in the hands of non-law enforcement personnel, the retail industry may have to develop protective systems and new policies to ensure the safety of shoppers in its stores, strip centers, and malls without violating the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens.

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LP Magazine | May - June 2012

The Right Combination 29

PARTNERING WITH RETAILERS

Communication and partnership with retailers and law enforcement is a primary focus of the Global Asset Protection (GAP) team. Our 2012 investigations mission is to support eBay’s commerce communities by developing systems and procedures to protect our users and global assets, address risk through the prevention and reduction of criminal activity, and foster strategic relationships with law enforcement and government.

■ Function as primary team to interact with global law enforcement and other government entities in response to requests for information and proactive referrals of criminal matters.

■ Leverage current technology to scale and improve efficiency of data disclosure processes.

■ Increase effectiveness of proactive investigations by promptly responding to and identifying significant incidents to protect users, mitigate risk, minimize financial losses, and recover assets.

■ Shift strategy and resources from reactive and low-value work streams to more proactive initiatives.

■ Contribute to the development of innovative systems and reports to proactively detect and deter criminal activity across platforms with minimal impact to users while maximizing opportunity for safe and trusted commerce.

■ Develop a world-class team by growing individual skills, capabilities, and sound execution of team mission and goals.

■ Support government relations, legal, and other relevant business units to enhance the trust and safety of commerce by building effective collaborative relationships among stakeholders, both internal and external.

Retail and Law Enforcement Outreach. The PROACT membership has grown to 326 members in just a few years. We have more than 1,600 members in our “eBay Partners with Loss Prevention Professionals” LinkedIn group. With a large and growing partnership base, the challenge is to maintain an active dialogue.

Over the past year, we have found that speaking at conferences attended by retailers and law enforcement has proven an effective way to communicate our message. We have participated in organized retail crime (ORC) conferences in Los Angeles, London, Albany, Albuquerque, New England, Chicago, New Jersey, Orlando, Raleigh, and Seattle. We have also presented at most of the major

LP-specific conferences presented by the various retail associations.

Senior retail executives have travelled for day-long site visits at our facilities in Salt Lake City. Dick’s Sporting Goods, Big 5, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Kroger, TJX, jcpenney, Macy’s, Hobby Lobby, and others have participated in training and discussions on how to enhance our collaborative approach on mutually beneficial solutions around the stolen-goods initiatives.

Survey Feedback. Our PROACT members represent $1.9 trillion in sales and nearly 200,000 stores. Because these members are important business partners, we recently surveyed them to see how we are doing and obtain an understanding of the trends they were experiencing. The following results are based on responses from a cross section of our membership that included 71 retailers with $582 billion in sales and 66,000 store locations.

The chart below shows how the respondents rated their PROACT membership experience. Other results included: ■ Shrink results—80% reported a decrease or no change versus the previous year.

■ Department budget—58% reported no change, 22% had a decrease, and 20% showed an increase.

■ Number of ORC cases completed—55% reported an increase, 38% had a decrease, and 6% experienced no change.

“Barnes & Noble has recognized significant year-over-year reduction in inventory shrinkage relative to external theft,” said Scott Sanford, director of LP investigations and training. “Our relationship with eBay has proven to be most effective in the fight against ORC and professional shoplifting. This collaborative effort spearheaded by Paul Jones and eBay’s PROACT team is a model for success. I can only hope that other online venues adopt a similar practice that will help to eradicate organized retail crime.”

According to Tony Sheppard, nationwide manager of ORC for CVS Caremark, “We have a great working relationship with eBay. They have been extremely helpful in our efforts against organized retail crime by providing consistent assistance to develop strong cases.

They are a great partner to law enforcement and the retail industry.

The PROACT team continues to seek new ideas on providing additional information to the field and limiting the number of ‘bad actors.’”

How Do You Rate the PROACT Partnership and Support?

Unacceptable/Least Likely

Excellent/Most Likely

Would you recommend PROACT to another retail partner?

The response time you receive from other online sites?

The response time you receive from PROACT? Partnership and support you receive from other online sites?

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INTERVIEW

Leveraging Internal Resources to Impact Loss A Conversation with Alan Tague of Gander Mountain

By James Lee,| Executive LP Magazine May - June 2012Editor

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INTERVIEW

Gander Mountain LP Staff

selections of both new and used firearms, accessories for hunting, fishing, camping, boating, and archery, and leading brands of active outdoor apparel and footwear. We are proud to be the largest retail network of stores focused on outdoor lifestyle products and services.

EDITOR: How long has Gander Mountain

Andrew Barborak Manager of Loss Prevention

been in business?

TAGUE: The company started in 1960 as a cataloger before opening retail stores. In the mid-nineties the retail stores were bought by Minnesota-based Holiday Companies, who combined them with several other local outdoor retailers they owned to create what is now Gander Mountain.

EDITOR: I know you also have a strong online

Pat Sopher Regional LP Manager

presence.

TAGUE: We do. In December 2007 we purchased a North Carolina company called Overton’s, one of the leading catalog and online sellers of water sports products and marine accessories for the recreational boater. We leveraged that management expertise and fulfillment capability to launch Gander Mountain’s catalog and online business in August 2008, and it has grown substantially since then.

EDITOR: How many stores do you have?

TAGUE: We have 114 stores in twenty-three

states primarily located in the eastern half of the U.S. We also have two distribution centers— one for retail and one for our direct segment.

Our principle executive offices, which we refer to as Base Camp, are in Saint Paul.

EDITOR: Like many specialty retailers, Edwin Rodriquez Regional LP Manager

EDITOR’S NOTE: Alan Tague, CFI is vice president of loss control for Gander Mountain. He has thirty-plus years of LP experience with Target, Software, Etc., and Tires Plus. Tague is a member of the National Retail Federation LP advisory council and chair of the conference planning committee. He is also a charter member of the Certified Forensic Interviewer (CFI) advisory board.

I’m guessing you don’t have a huge loss prevention organization.

TAGUE: That is absolutely true. There are only four of us. Andrew Barborak, our manager of loss prevention, and I are here at Base Camp, and there are two regional LP managers in the field. Pat Sopher is located in the Pittsburg area, and Edwin Rodriquez is near Dallas.

EDITOR: You have an interesting title—vice

president of loss control. Why is that?

TAGUE: I use that title because, although my responsibilities go beyond traditional EDITOR: For those readers who may not know loss prevention into risk management, my Gander Mountain, give us a short description involvement in the business goes well beyond that. I look at myself, as many of us do of the company. nowadays, especially in smaller companies TAGUE: Gander Mountain is an outdoor or with smaller departments, as having to be specialty retailer. We offer one of the largest

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engaged in all parts of the business. In fact, there is no way for a small department of four people to have a significant impact on the company without being actively engaged with our business partners and leveraging internal resources, both from a technology standpoint, but most importantly, from a people standpoint.

EDITOR: Let’s talk about that for a moment.

Given all the challenges you’re faced with in loss prevention, such as inventory control, shrink, product protection, not to mention the risk management side, how do you set up and manage a program with just four people?

TAGUE: That is a challenge I think about every day. For me it boils down to having a strategy and sticking to it, because if you don’t, you will spend your life reacting to the daily fires that flare up around you. At the beginning of the year, we map out a strategy and consciously make choices of where we are and are not going to spend our time. We write it down. We try to pick out those things that will have the greatest impact and allow us to leverage our resources, extend our reach, and multiply our efforts. We measure our progress against the plan throughout the year to make sure we stay on task and meet our key business objectives.

EDITOR: You’ve used the word “leverage”

several times now.

TAGUE: When I use the word “leverage,” I mean it in the truest sense of the word. It’s not leverage in terms of a negotiation, where you try to get the upper hand. It’s leverage in a cooperative sense, where we really need to find ways to multiply the small base of people that we have, to multiply that effect across the organization. To do that requires not only developing a strategy, but also sharing the strategy and laying out the areas where we need assistance from our business partners in order to achieve the departmental, and, ultimately, the company success we all desire. So, we design a roadmap that identifies how the program should be executed by the store associates, store managers, district managers, right up the line.

We also identify where we need help from our merchandise partners, our human resources partners, and we identify any other internal investments necessary to accomplish the plan.

Those investments may include capital projects, but more often it means payroll investments or associate time investments for things like training and education.

INTERVIEW EDITOR: So, if I’m a store manager, is

control of shrink part of my objective?

TAGUE: Yes, it is. In fact, the overall responsibility for shrink is a shared responsibility, but the primary responsibility lies in our operations organization, starting with store associates and store managers.

We have a shrink committee here at Base Camp, comprised of operations, merchandising, distribution, finance, and others, who develop the overall company shrink strategy and identify the processes and tools that can be used at the store level.

We provide a toolbox and allow the stores to develop an individual shrink action plan based on their results and unique store characteristics and choose which tools they want to implement.

EDITOR: How do your two regional LP

managers help facilitate this process throughout the year?

TAGUE: First off, they play a consultative role, using their expertise to assist the stores with a wide range of loss prevention issues.

We also have them target specific areas where they can make a key difference.

For example, we intentionally invest their

Gander Mountain’s SMART room at their Saint Paul, Minnesota, headquarters allows remote video access to their stores across the U.S.

time in the physical inventory process.

That’s a critical activity that must be done well in order for our results to be valid.

We also focus their time on training and education of new managers and on regular communication with their district and store managers through weekly conference calls.

In addition, each year we identify shrink focus stores that need extra attention. They team up with store operations to go out to those stores, audit them, determine how we can improve our performance, and then provide extensive training and education.

That program has been extremely successful

Protect your merchandise and increase your sales - PERIOD

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33

INTERVIEW in helping our shrink focus stores improve shrink results in the next inventory.

One additional responsibility worth mentioning is related to one of the more unique aspects of our company, which is our firearms business. If you look at our stores, our physical security is probably about as tight as you’ll see in any retailer. As a result, our regional LP managers, as well as Andrew and myself, are very involved in the planning and management of the remodel and new store processes to make sure that all the many aspects of our physical security efforts are executed properly.

EDITOR: Can you provide a couple of

examples of the strength of your physical security program?

TAGUE: As we have worked with our firearms exposures over the years, we recognized that we need multiple layers of protection. A lot of this is physical security 101, but the first thing we want to do is make it obvious to anybody driving by or walking around outside our store that we are serious about securing our stores.

So, we use bollards at all of our ground-level

capability in every store with DVRs and the ability to remotely access the cameras. We use public-view monitors as well as signage to make it very clear that we use video to protect the firearms and the rest of our merchandise.

EDITOR: What about EAS? TAGUE: We’re 100 percent EAS. My

philosophy about EAS is that by itself, it doesn’t do anything. But it is a tool that, if managed correctly, can extend our reach and give the stores another opportunity to really make a difference.

For example, we talk to our merchandise partners about the three Ps—packaging, placement, and protection. We want them to think about those three components, in that order, on every product they buy. First and foremost, if they package the merchandise properly, that can stop a lot of potential theft problems right there. We are now on a full planogram system, so they can consciously plan for the best placement. We are reaching the point where we will have a low-risk and a high-risk planogram for certain merchandise.

I look at myself, as many of us do nowadays, especially in smaller companies or with smaller departments, as having to be engaged in all parts of the business. In fact, there is no way for a small department of four people to have a significant impact on the company without being actively engaged with our business partners and leveraging internal resources, both from a technology standpoint, but most importantly, from a people standpoint. openings to prevent vehicles from forcing their way in. We use reinforced gates in front of garage doors or pull-down doors. We use very high-security hardware for the perimeter doors.

Inside the building we use roll-down gates over all doors and window areas. We also have a layered approach to alarms, with interior trap zones and more intense coverage in critical areas.

EDITOR: Do you use CCTV? TAGUE: CCTV is an important component

in both our physical security and in the way we manage our business. We have video

34

EDITOR: Before we get to some of your

leadership experience outside of Gander Mountain, talk some more about the firearms aspect of your company.

TAGUE: One interesting thing about our company that many people may not know is we recently opened six Gander Mountain Academies, where we do firearms training.

Since we’re one of the biggest retailers in the firearms industry, we thought it was only proper that we should also lead the way in terms of training. We consider our academies the ultimate in firearms training, with a unique combination of live-fire range, simulators, and classroom instruction provided by highly trained instructors. There really are no other retailers with facilities like these.

EDITOR: Are the academies focused on

outdoor sports or self-protection?

TAGUE: We recognized the growing national trend toward concealed carry and self-defense at home, which has stimulated much of our handgun sales. So, we felt it was both a business opportunity as well as a responsibility to provide skills and safety training for our customers. Because of that, the academies are centered largely around self-protection and handguns, but we offer classes in shotgun and rifle use as well and will expand into the hunting arena down the road.

Then last, but not least, EAS is one of the ways that provides protection for merchandise when theft continues to be a problem.

EDITOR: How are you using remote

monitoring?

TAGUE: We probably use video more broadly than most anybody I know. We have a centralized remote video viewing capability we call our SMART room, which stands for “stores monitoring and remote tour.” In addition to loss prevention use for investigations, other Base Camp associates can and do routinely make use of this capability.

May - June 2012

Our sales audit department can check out an access card and research shortages, check fraud, or other issues. Our merchant team, planogram folks, and marketing group regularly use the SMART room. Our stores district managers have remote video capability, and all of our senior executives have remote video on their computers. They can pop in and look at a store anytime that they want to.

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EDITOR: Do most states require some type of

training for handgun permits?

TAGUE: If you want to get a concealed-carry permit in most states, you do have to get some sort of training. Our academies provide the training to meet those requirements.

EDITOR: Where are these six academies

located and are they associated with your stores?

TAGUE: We currently have academies located in Lake Mary, Florida; La Crosse, Wisconsin; Lakeville, Minnesota; Madison, Wisconsin; Spring, Texas; and Wichita, Kansas. And, yes, they are connected to a store.

INTERVIEW EDITOR: My guess is that the associates

working in the academies and firearms department are seasoned veterans with relatively low turnover, is that true?

TAGUE: Yes, these associates usually have extensive law enforcement or military experience in firearms training. We have some remarkable instructors and are very proud that we even have law enforcement agencies that have decided to use our facilities for their required training.

EDITOR: Are there any other specialized

programs associated with being a firearms retailer?

TAGUE: Because we’re a retailer where it’s okay to come into our store with a gun, there’s a whole different mentality. We have a sign at the front of our store that basically says we welcome our concealed and open-carry customers that are following the local laws.

So, it’s not unusual to see a customer carrying a firearm.

When I was first starting out at Gander Mountain, I remember standing at the front of a store one day when someone walked in carrying a shotgun. I was ready to dive behind the counter. The store manager asked, “How

can I help you?” The guy said, “Which way is your gunsmith?” It was that moment when I realized I was not at Target anymore. It’s a unique environment in that way. But because of that, we are very focused on safety and take our responsibilities as a firearms retailer very seriously.

point. The director there is responsible for compliance of all federal, state, and local laws surrounding firearms.

EDITOR: Since you mentioned Target a

minute ago, let’s talk about your career.

It appears you’ve been in Minnesota your entire career.

EDITOR: That must also impact your logistics TAGUE: Except for eight of the eleven years security program?

I was with Target when I was based in Milwaukee.

TAGUE: We have to think about the entire supply chain, from manufacturer to our distribution centers to our stores. We take EDITOR: How did you get started in loss great steps to ensure the security of our firearm prevention? inventory from receipt and storage at our TAGUE: I was going to college for law central distribution facility to delivery to our enforcement when I started working for Target stores. It puts a whole different spin on our as a store detective in 1976. I really enjoyed that transportation and distribution environment experience. I was promoted to an LP manager compared to the average retailer. in six months, then promoted to an investigator in another six months. I started thinking, “This is kind of fun, and I’ve got a knack for this.”

EDITOR: What about compliance issues?

TAGUE: We are regularly audited by the Bureau After school, I stayed with Target and ultimately of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. moved to Milwaukee as a district LP manager.

I left Target in 1987 to become the director of We have a regulatory compliance department LP at Software, Etc., which is now GameStop. whose sole job is working with that agency, I started the LP program there, which was a as well as OSHA, EPA, and other federal, tremendous learning experience for me. When state, and local agencies. I helped develop that department, which reported to me at one they moved the company to Texas in 1995,

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35

INTERVIEW

When I was first starting out at Gander Mountain, I remember standing at the front of a store one day when someone walked in carrying a shotgun. I was ready to dive behind the counter. The store manager asked, “How can I help you?” The guy said, “Which way is your gunsmith?” It was that moment when I realized I was not at Target anymore. It’s a unique environment in that way. But because of that, we are very focused on safety and take our responsibilities as a firearms retailer very seriously.

I decided to look for another opportunity here in Minnesota. I was fortunate to find a position at Tires Plus. I was director of LP and risk management there for about four years before taking the position here at Gander Mountain in 1999.

EDITOR: It’s really interesting in this

business how difficult it is to get people to leave California and Minneapolis.

TAGUE: I’ve heard that. Recruiters have told me Minneapolis is one of the hardest places to get people to move to and one of the hardest places to get them to move out of once they’ve been here a while. From my perspective, I’ve always felt strongly about my family being here, but also about the outdoors activities here. I grew up with it. It’s part of my DNA. I couldn’t imagine being without it.

EDITOR: The National Retail Federation loss

prevention conference is scheduled for late June in New Orleans this year. Talk about your experience with the NRF. TAGUE: I’ve been involved in NRF for over twenty years. I started off first as an attendee, and then was asked to be a presenter. I presented for several years and really enjoyed the experience, but something happened to me that really confirmed the importance of the conference. I bumped into someone on a plane who looked at me and said, “I know you. You spoke at a conference several years ago, and you really changed things for me. I was just starting a loss prevention program at my company and really felt like I didn’t have a clue. But your presentation on how to start a program really helped me.” That experience

36

cuts across all of the various boundaries. We need content for both specialty and big-box retailers. We need programs for people who are just starting a department and for VPs with mature departments. We need content for small organizations like mine as well as large organizations that might bring twenty or thirty people to the conference.

I always try to look at the conference from the perspective as an attendee. What is meaningful in terms of learning, networking, breaking down barriers, and getting people to refresh their thinking. We’re not only looking for things that are new, but also for those things that are old and have been reinvented or reapplied.

EDITOR: So, tell us some of the things we can

left an impression on me on what a profound impact that one little session had had on someone. I’m sure I wasn’t sharing anything profound, but it was the right information at the right moment for that person. That struck me with how much you can make a difference by participating in these events.

EDITOR: When did you take on a leadership role?

TAGUE: My first official involvement with NRF was attending Sandy Katz’s specialty group meetings that were held in New York in January each year. Then I was asked to join the advisory council about ten years ago.

Sandy had the role of conference planning at the time, and I found a niche helping him out.

When Sandy left the council a few years ago, I took over his role. I credit him for mentoring me in how to help put together a great conference.

EDITOR: A lot of people think that

conference programs just come together naturally. They may not understand the challenges and collaboration necessary to pull together a conference agenda.

TAGUE: As you well know from the many years you were involved, it’s an interesting dance. First of all, you’re working with the conference planning committee, which is a tremendous group of volunteers, but every one of them with the considerable time constraints of their paying jobs pulling at them all the time. In addition, you’re interfacing with the NRF staff working on all the behind-the-scenes details. But at the end of the day, the real challenge is finding meaningful content that May - June 2012

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look forward to at this year’s conference.

TAGUE: First of all, we have new leadership at NRF. Rich Mellor is the new vice president of loss prevention (see page 38). He brings thirty-something years of LP experience to that position. Plus, Vicki Cantrell is the new senior VP with responsibility for all the communities within NRF as well as executive director of Shop.org. They have both brought new energy and perspective to the conference.

The conference will kick off with Stephen Sadove, chairman and CEO of Saks, Inc., talking about LP’s role in transforming the organization. We have sessions on emerging technologies in retail, specifically things like e-receipts, mobile POS, and near-field communication.

We have the annual awards ceremony recognizing law enforcement-retail partnerships, our loss prevention case of the year, the ring of excellence for LP veterans who have impacted the industry, and Volunteers in Action, a tribute to the many loss prevention professionals that make a difference in their communities (see page 17).

And, of course, we have one of the industry’s largest vendor expos that includes our Fusion Center where we bring together key law enforcement partners from local, state, and national levels, including the FBI and Homeland Security, for learning and one-on-one networking. (For more details, visit nrf.com/lp12.)

EDITOR: That’s terrific, Alan. Thanks for all you do to put on this conference and for sharing your story with our readers.

We look forward to seeing you in New Orleans.

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Association In Action

What’s in Store for NRF’s LP Community A

by Rich Mellor

mobile operations from A to Z. In order for us to gauge current mobile threats and emerging technology trends, in April we launched a survey to more than 400 LP industry professionals, hoping to gain further insight into what loss prevention executives and professionals across the country are doing to manage these potential risks. Other divisions within NRF will do the same within their communities, all of us utilizing member surveys, our councils and committees, and educational content and networking opportunities at our events.

fter spending many years as a retailer on the National Retail Federation’s loss prevention advisory council, it is a rewarding experience to now be a part of the NRF team as vice president of loss prevention.

One can only imagine the many priorities for a large retail trade association, but maximizing and delivering member value is a common thread in everything we do. A streamlined effort brought on by our president and CEO Matthew Shay, as well as our entire senior executive team, has ensured NRF’s communities are now carefully linked with each other’s initiatives, bringing about pooled resources and expertise to better serve our member companies.

LP Conference

As we look ahead to NRF’s Loss Prevention Conference & EXPO in New Orleans June 20 – 22, I am convinced this event will be one of the most talked about conferences of the year. On Wednesday at the show, we will welcome Stephen Sadove, chairman and CEO of Saks, as our keynote speaker. During his session he will discuss how loss prevention and asset protection strategies play an integral role in transforming an organization and help the company meet its overall financial performance goal. As is often the case around the industry, Sadove has a very keen interest in his company’s LP operations, and I’m sure it will shine through when he addresses the attendees.

If you’ve never been, our annual LP conference is one of the premier events for LP professionals, bringing together the industry’s leading experts, senior retail loss prevention executives, and even law enforcement personnel from the local, state, and federal levels. For full details about the conference, visit nrf.com/lp12.

Mobile Technologies

At NRF we continuously strive to stay on top of trends, provide thought leadership in multiple instances, and advocate for our members and retailers in general. As an industry that helps drive the innovation and cutting-edge technology that consumers love so much, we are forced to stay ahead of the curve as well as recognize issues and potential pitfalls in virtually every element, including loss prevention. And, when it comes to mobile technologies, LP teams have their work cut out for them.

In addition to the many great opportunities retailers with mobile platforms are now afforded because of savvy shoppers, mobile

After spending many years as a retailer on the National Retail Federation’s loss prevention advisory council, it is a rewarding experience to now be a part of the NRF team.

Other Initiatives

We’re also looking forward to the upcoming release of our eighth annual organized retail crime (ORC) survey. Still a brutal problem that retailers grapple with every day, many retailers have created specific divisions within the organization to address the issue of organized retail crime. The ORC survey not only serves as a benchmark for industry professionals, but also as an important tool used to communicate the severity of this issue to our local and federal legislators, as well as to the media.

Specific to our Retail Means Jobs campaign and as we work to boost the concept of “retail as a career,” our LP education committee in recent months has been hitting the ground hard pushing for specific loss prevention degree programs at select colleges and universities around the country.

There are a lot of great things happening at NRF. We know we will have exciting news to report throughout the year as we develop these and other important initiatives further.

technologies can also present operational difficulties at various levels, including unforeseen vulnerabilities and risks within retailers’ point-of-sale systems, digital receipt operations, and through issues with touchless payment processes and consumers’ personal property.

Additionally, because of increased demand for certain technologies, many third-party companies sometimes rush to deploy these capabilities, leaving LP professionals to seek out risk mitigation solutions after deployment once an issue presents itself.

It is because of this rapid growth in mobile platforms that NRF is utilizing our own experts from within the organization who deal with mobile in their communities to regularly meet and discuss

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Mellor joined the National Retail Federation in November 2011 as vice president of loss prevention, where he is responsible for directing initiatives ranging from the annual LP conference and LP advisory council to NRF’s investigator’s network. Mellor is an experienced LP executive with such companies as Helzberg Diamonds, The Bon-Ton Stores, Macy’s, and Woodward & Lothrop. He had been an active member of the NRF LP advisory council for more than twenty years, which includes his tenure as chairman from 2002 to 2005. Mellor can be reached at 202-661-3057 or mellorr@nrf.com.

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Certification

by Gene Smith Smith is president of The Loss Prevention Foundation, the not-for-profit organization charged with the responsibility of managing certification. He was formerly president of the industry’s largest executive search and consulting firm. During the past fifteen-plus years, Smith has provided career counseling for thousands of industry professionals nationwide. He can be reached at 704-837-2521 or via email at gene.smith@losspreventionfoundation.org.

Who Is Getting Certified?

W

Gayle Divis-Buck, LPC, LP Mgr, Kroger Robert Dworkin, LPC, LP Professional Brian Finnicum, LPC, Reg. LP Mgr, Sterling Jewelers Maureen Fuller, LPC, LP Field Mgr, Big Y Foods Anthony Hayes, LPC, LP Mgr, Rite Aid Lance Incitti, LPC, Sr Search Consultant, Retail Placement Solutions Shawn Jenkins, LPC, Reg. Dir of LP, Rite Aid Carl Johnson, LPC, CFI, Reg. LP Mgr, Big Lots Darren Jackson, LPC, Dist Ops Mgr, Home Depot Kelley Jones, LPC, Reg. LP Mgr, T-Mobile USA Joe Kertis, LPC, CFI, Reg. LP Mgr, Finish Line Darcy Layman, LPC, Idaho LP Mgr, SUPERVALU Paul Leasum, LPC, CFI, Reg. LP Mgr, Sterling Jewelers Jeffrey Levitt, LPC, CPP, Sr Mgr AP, Panera Bread Jason Locklier, LPC, LP Manager, Rite Aid Petur Magnusson, LPC, Sec. Mgr, Norvik Hf. Laura Miller, LPC, LP Dist Mgr, Farm Fresh (SUPERVALU) James Morris, Jr, LPC, LP Dist Mgr, Rite Aid Thomas Nystrom, LPC, LP Dist Mgr, Rite Aid Farrah Parrott, LPC, CFI, LP Mgr, Rite Aid Rick Pfeifer, LPC, LP Sr Mgr, Ascena Retail Group Eric Pidgeon, LPC, CFI, Sr Mgr, Corp. LP, Tween Brands Tina-Marie Pilate, LPC, AP Div. Mgr, Wegmans Food Markets Timothy Rang, LPC, LP Mgr, Rite Aid Darren Short, LPC, LP Dist Mgr, Rite Aid Robert Simmons, LPC, LP Field Mgr, Western Reg., Columbia Sportswear Robert Sinning, LPC, Div. LP Mgr, Cub Foods Matthew Speidel, LPC, LP Professional Adrian Strayer, LPC, Reg. LP Mgr, Weis Markets Aaron Wichmann, LPC, CFI, Reg. LP Mgr, Sterling Jewelers

hile earning one’s certification is certianly self-satisfying to the individual who has taken the iniative to test themselves against the benchmark established by our industry, the board of directors at the Loss Prevention Foundation also believe those earning their LPQ or LPC certifications should be recognized by their peers. Following are both LP executives as well as young professionals who have recently earned certification.

Vice Presidents and Directors Kevin Ach, LPC, Sr Dir, Pricing Compliance and Ops, Office Depot Ken Amos, LPC, DVP of LP, Walgreens Lee Bland, LPC, Dir of LP, Stage Stores David Brandt, LPC, Dir of LP, Walgreens Mark Gaudette, CPP, LPC, Dir of LP, Big Y Foods David George, LPC, CFI, VP of AP, Harris Teeter Keith Harmon, LPC, Dir of LP, Rite Aid Richard Holter, LPC, Dir of LP, Heartland Automotive Services Octavio Jara, LPC, Dir of LP, McDonald’s Frank Johns, LPC, Chairman of the Board, LP Foundation Henry Johnson, LPC, CFI, Dir of LP, Family Dollar Stores Paul Jones, LPC, Global Dir AP, eBay Patrick Kerby, LPC, Dir of LP, Advance Auto David Lund, LPC, CFI, VP of LP, Dick’s Sporting Goods Kevin Lynch, LPC, Exec. Dir, Bus. Dev., ADT Security Services Michael Mays, LPC, Dir of LP, Cub Foods Wayne McBrian, LPC, Dir of LP, Brookstone Christopher McCray, LPC, Dir Field AP, Best Buy Michael Miller, LPC, Dir of LP, Walgreens Mark Mnich, LPC, Dir of LP, Giant Eagle Walter Mulhall, LPC, PHR, CHS, Dir of LP, Austaco LTD Taco Bell Mark Neapolitan, LPC, CFI, Dir of LP, Sterling Jewelers Andrew Palmer, LPC, Sr Dir, Pharmacy LP, Rite Aid Steven Palumbo, LPC, CFI, Dir of Ops-Security, Tiffany & Co. Adam Parker, LPC, CFE, CPP, Dir of LP, Lamps Plus Dan Provost, LPC, VP of LP, Staples Libby Rabun, LPC, VP of LP, AutoZone Robert Sinning, LPC, Div. LP Mgr, Cub Foods Thomas Stein, LPC, Sr Dir of AP and Risk Mgmt, Ollie’s Bargin Centers Paul Stone, LPC, VP of LP, Best Buy William Turner, LPC, Sr Dir Retail Ops, Nike/Cole Haan Kevin Valentine, LPC, CFI, VP of LP, Sterling Jewelers

Recent LPQ Recipients Robert Balla, LPQ, Sprint Hedgie Bartol, LPQ, Axis Communications Amanda Blair, LPQ, Pep Boys Emile Boules, LPQ, CVS Caremark Deborah Giordano, LPQ, Pep Boys William Grider, LPQ, Ross Stores Joseph Harris, LPQ Marichelle Higashitani, LPQ, Best Buy Canada Carlos Johnson, LPQ, jcpenney David Kline, LPQ, Town Shoes & The Shoe Co. Timothy Larson, LPQ, Sears Holdings Jenny Ly, LPQ, Banfield: The Pet Hospital Freddie Panen, LPQ, Philippine National Police Christopher Prejean, LPQ, Cabela’s Wendy Rosasco, LPQ, Pep Boys David Scott, LPQ, Goodwill Industries of San Diego County Christopher Shea, LPQ Adam Smith, LPQ, Southern Wine and Spirits Felix Soto, LPQ, Coast Guard Exchange System Amanda Troxell, LPQ, Rite Aid Don Walker, LPQ, Academy Sports + Outdoors

Recent LPC Recipients William Alford, LPC, CFE, Pres., International Lighthouse Group Anthony Berger, LPC, LP Manager, Rite Aid Paul Borosavage, LPC, AP Dist Mgr, Rite Aid Paul Braun, LPC, CFI, Reg. LP Mgr, Sterling Jewelers Johnny Custer, LPC, CFI, Dir Crime DataShares, Verisk Crime Analytics Joe Davis, LPC, CFI, Sr Mgr, LP South, T-Mobile USA Jennifer Dayss, LPC, CFI, Reg. LP Mgr, Sterling Jewelers Albert DiLorenzo, LPC, Reg. LP Mgr, Coast Guard Exchange System

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feature

How

N T

to Investigate ORC

By Amber Virgillo

HOW NOT TO INVESTIGATE ORC

ORC

—Just the mere acronym conjures up a myriad of passionate opinions about many debatable “facts” describing organized retail crime. Here are two of the issues often debated.

1. How big of a problem is ORC really?

Can we label it with a dollar amount?

According to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 2011 Organized Retail Crime Survey, ORC losses total an estimated $15 to $30 billion annually. However, the caveat is given that precise measurements of the “true scope” of the problem are difficult to determine.

Just recently at the Food Marketing Institute asset protection conference in New Orleans, Eric Ives, supervisory special agent of the FBI’s organized crime/major theft division, told the attendees that the U.S. Department of Justice has no idea how big a problem ORC actually is to the retail market.

Obviously major stakeholders in the fight against ORC aren’t in agreement about how big a financial problem it is—just that it is a major problem that needs addressing.

2. Isn’t this just shoplifting with a sexy name?

This debate seems to be settling down a bit with organizations like the NRF and LERPnet trying to assign definitions to the elements of ORC. Also, there are retailers showcasing their efforts to defend their shelves against ORC by hiring task forces to combat the “growing epidemic.”

Laura Baverman of The Cincinnati Enquirer took an in-depth look at ORC in an article that was picked up nationally by USA Today. In the article “Retailers Reining in Sophisticated Theft Rings,” Baverman reports, “This [ORC] illegal activity is nothing like shoplifting, an opportunistic crime by one person.” She quotes Detective Brian Kane of the Covington Police Department, referring to people that make up ORC rings, “It’s a job.

They get up in the morning and that’s what they do.”

But there are still those in the industry that lump stealing retail goods…no matter what happens after the theft…as shoplifting with a sexy name. “Back in the old days you didn’t have labels like ‘ORC.’ You just had people stealing stuff,” says an LP professional with more than forty years’ experience.

“Stopping the opportunist and stopping the ORC professional comes down to the same

42

principles we all know and implement— customer service, employee awareness, and having solid prevention techniques across the board.”

The divide on this particular debate seems to be closing. The NRF spends a whole section in its 2011 ORC survey defining the activity, elements, members, and tools of the trade ORC rings use.

“It really took people like Paul Jones and King Rogers talking about ORC on a larger scale to start getting the industry to take notice and differentiate ORC groups from the average opportunist,” says Joe LaRocca, senior advisor of loss prevention for the NRF. “Over the past five years, the conversation has begun to change about ORC,” suggests Mike Battles, CFI, regional LP manager for Stage Stores, who currently oversees district LP managers in Texas and the company’s ORC efforts. “It’s no longer asking if it’s a real problem, but we now see local and national groups being formed to help support

the author’s opinions, personal views, or experience on the subject.

In general the interview responses led to these five recommendations of how not to investigate ORC. Don’t…

■ Go in cold to law enforcement and ask for help.

■ Hand detectives a loose-leaf folder of papers.

■ Stay in your office.

■ Take the law into your own hands.

■ Ignore your role in the problem.

Go in Cold to Law Enforcement and Ask for Help Going in “cold” to law enforcement and asking for help is like showing up for a blind date with an engagement ring; it only makes sense if you’re desperate, and you probably won’t be successful.

When talking with law enforcement personnel, they readily admit that taking property-crime cases to prosecution isn’t their top priority. “District attorneys never really

“I have been on both sides—law enforcement and retail. It comes down to collaborating together because sharing and learning from each other are key components to success. It’s important to find common ground and set the stage for a long-term mutually beneficial partnership. Don’t show up just when you need something. Get involved and support local community events because the more you’re involved, the more people will be aware of your commitment to solving the overall crime problems, not just those that interest your company.”

- Mark McClain, CFI, Director of Asset Protection Investigations, Walmart the anti-ORC efforts across the country.”

Instead of discussing the ongoing debates on the ORC topic, this article series will discuss two entirely different issues at hand: ■ Part 1—What are the dos and, perhaps more importantly, the don’ts for LP professionals investigating ORC? ■ Part 2—Given the increased focus on ORC by retailers and the advancement in vendor solutions to detect and prevent ORC, why is ORC statistically getting worse and what more, if anything, can retailers do internally about the ORC problem?

This article’s findings are the result of more than thirty retail and law enforcement interviews expressly asking for opinions and thoughts on the topic. It does not represent May - June 2012

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want to prosecute property crimes because it is the lowest on the priority list,” says a FBI representative that works with ORC cases.

“Let’s face it. They are dealing with terrorism, major white-collar crime, as well as homeland security issues. There is only so much time in a day.”

But for heads of ORC task forces or LP professionals responsible for making a dent in their company’s theft problem, the industry needs law enforcement partnerships to prosecute successfully.

“The biggest mistake LP professionals can make is going in cold and unprepared to law enforcement,” advises David E. Zulawski, CFI, CFE, chairman and senior partner at Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates. “A

HOW NOT TO INVESTIGATE ORC great way to build these relationships is to start with a mutual contact to make an introduction.”

“I have been on both sides—law enforcement and retail. It comes down to collaborating together because sharing and learning from each other are key components to success,” says Mark McClain, CFI, director of asset protection investigations for Walmart. “It’s important to find common ground and set the stage for a long-term mutually beneficial partnership. Don’t show up just when you need something. Get involved and support local community events because the more you’re involved, the more people will be aware of your commitment to solving the overall crime problems, not just those that interest your company.”

Minia Morales, a divisional LP manager for Rent-A-Center, believes educating law enforcement on ORC is critical when starting to build the initial relationship.

Morales points out that there are still some law enforcement agencies that don’t fully understand the scope of the problem and believe the ORC problem is just petty shoplifting. “Law enforcement doesn’t see the value of working with retail loss

prevention and our backgrounds, but it is incumbent on us to educate them on behalf of the profession,” says Morales. “This education helps build the partnership you need when conducting an investigation.

Having a preexisting relationship and level of comfort goes a long way and helps achieve results.”

Morales adds, “It’s not one-sided. We need law enforcement as much as they need us. And it’s not about ego. It’s about a partnership built on respect and mutual trust.

If you have to conduct trash pulls, stationary surveillance, and inventory recovered product, just do it. This is a partnership and retailers should be sincere partners in fighting crime, not drawing lines on what we won’t do to advance the investigation.”

Every retailer interviewed for this article emphasized building solid relationships with law enforcement. This is not a new topic in the ORC discussion, but it was interesting the lengths that retail ORC task forces must go to increase the odds of successful prosecution or for law enforcement to even take the case.

“It’s a constant battle to combat the perception with many police departments that ‘retail never prosecutes,’” says Jason Adams,

LP Magazine | May - June 2012

CFI, GAP Inc.’s national manager of ORC. “At GAP Inc. we are very consistent with prosecution. But as retailers we have to do our part to make it a priority and an easy next step for our law enforcement partners.”

Adams adds, “It’s always our preference to present gift-wrapped cases on a silver platter to our law enforcement partners. We have strict guidelines on when and how to partner with law enforcement. Every police partner is so critical that we try our best to do everything we can to make their jobs easier.”

The law enforcement-retail partnership is seemingly a fragile relationship at times. While retailers must engage these vital partners, it definitely changes the rules once they are involved. Retailers must be able to engage these law enforcement contacts and trust them with their multiple weeks, months, and often year-long investigations because once they are involved, it changes the rules immediately.

“While it is important to engage law enforcement as early as possible in the process, we have to be mindful that it changes the rules,” says Brad Dykes, the new director of loss prevention for Cabela’s. “I would definitely bring them in early rather than risk not having the necessary information when

43

HOW NOT TO INVESTIGATE ORC them to drop their entire case load to immediately go over your investigation.

Being proactive, making an appointment, and being cognizant of the volume of work that they are tasked with is very important.” As we continue to educate the law enforcement sector on how professional retail LP people are, it’s paramount that we are diligent when it comes to documentation, organization, and thoroughness.

“Presenting your case to law enforcement is a make or break phase of the investigative process,” explains Adams. “It’s critical to ensure the presentation is organized and essentially gift-wrapped for your audience.”

Adams’ case files are always equipped in chronological order with: ■ Case summary—the what, when, how, why of everything that has happened in summation style, ■ Internal reports filed depicting the case, ■ Police reports filed, ■ Witness statements, ■ Video evidence, ■ Investigative notes, and ■ Suspect information sheets.

“As LP professionals we need to understand how over-burdened police are with current case loads,” adds Adams. “Put together the case in a structured way that truly conveys the financial loss, the safety implications, community impact, and, if applicable, any other crimes that are above and beyond the retail variety, such as human trafficking and drugs.”

In addition to the case file documentation, it’s always important how you put that file together. In most cases chronologically is the best way to go according to ORC task force leaders. Mike Battles recommends compiling two case files—one case file to present to law enforcement and another to continually update with appropriate information that can be used to periodically Hand Detectives a update law enforcement’s copy so each file is Loose-Leaf Folder of Papers comprehensive and up-to-date.

We’ve all seen him—the totally A twenty-year industry veteran, Battles’ unorganized coworker with mustard case files are organized chronologically by on his shirt, hair a mess, who looks like known incidents and separated by tabs into he just woke up. Would you trust that the following sections: coworker with your most delicate project?

■ Summary and table of contents, Probably not. The same principles apply ■ Photos when possible, when working with law enforcement— ■ Police reports, organization rules.

■ Known loss reports with amounts, “If you show up and throw a loose-leaf folder on their desk and expect them to jump ■ Inventory lists, at your case, you will not be very successful,” ■ License plates and suspect pedigrees, and ■ CD sleeves for video evidence. said Adams from GAP. “Also, don’t expect

it comes to prosecution.” One of the benefits of involving police early is law enforcement’s leverage for potentially turning a suspect into an informant.

“If you start a case and decide to operate independent of police, that may be a good thing or bad thing depending on the police contact,” says Zulawski. “You need to ensure your contact can see the whole picture and isn’t going to feel you are stepping on his toes.” Zulawski points out the importance of knowing your police contact. Some officers might not mind being brought in on the tail end of an investigation while others want to know what’s going on from the beginning.

Rich Milburn, CFI is a former twenty-year veteran of law enforcement working on ORC cases with retailers. He offers a different perspective, but agrees that bringing in law enforcement changes the rules.

“It’s true that retailers must bring cases to law enforcement on a silver platter,” confirms Milburn. “They must have everything documented soup to nuts. But the retailer needs to know the detective is already well-versed in ORC, or it is a waste of time. Retailers must be aware that once they drop that case file into law enforcement’s hands, it changes the rules so everything better be complete.”

Stage Stores’ Battles adds, “The bottom line is we can’t accomplish what either one of us want—successful prosecution—without the other. Sometimes it takes the retailer educating the police about updated changes in legislation. Our laws can change quickly and could have important impact on your cases. Don’t rely on the police to always be up-to-date on every legislative change simply due to the sheer number of new laws passed each legislative session.”

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The information in these case files should tell a compelling story, explaining the details, suspects, and incidents leading to the logical next step of action by law enforcement.

“Try to demonstrate the full loop of the crime,” says Debra Lussier, senior manager, central investigations team, for The Home Depot. “It is helpful when the full loop of the crime is demonstrated through reports, video clips, policy examples, et cetera. Resources are very slim for law enforcement, so retailers must make the link from relationships and suspects to dollar amounts and impact to your community so they accurately present it to their superiors.” The Home Depot has twenty-two people on its ORC task force with a small team in every major city to cover its 2,000 stores.

“A great example is when our team helped educate law enforcement on UPC switching,” explains Lussier. “At first glance, the transaction seems legitimate. But when we’re able to present all the supporting documentation, they understand, and it makes total sense to them.”

Organization of the details is of utmost importance, but according to Mark VanBeest, CFI, director of investigations at jcpenney, timing is also critical. One of the worst lessons to learn is not having your case information organized and ready when your suspect is detained…and they end up walking away uncharged.

“Organization and case preparation is key,” explains VanBeest. “Your case file must be presentation ready at all times. You never know when it might be time to convey all necessary information in a succinct way if you catch a break in your case or suspect is in custody.”

Not only is organization important, it’s important to understand how law enforcement writes reports and why.

“We are taught to write reports on a fifth-grade level so everyone can understand what occurred,” says retired law enforcement officer Milburn. “Keep complicated policies simple so when detectives need to translate it to a prosecutor, it can be understood and ultimately communicated to a jury or judge.”

“Loss prevention investigators should make sure that law enforcement is presented with all the pertinent case facts organized in a clear and concise manner so that all that is left to do is act,” says GAP’s Adams. “Remember every interaction with law enforcement shapes continued on page 46

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HOW NOT TO INVESTIGATE ORC continued from page 44

future interactions, and if you show up with too many folders, you probably won’t garner much future support.”

Stay in Your Office

Loss prevention professionals are not sales people…or are we? To investigators, the idea that they are in a sales role is like nails on a chalk board. But essentially, all LP professionals are in sales—especially ORC investigators trying to make friends with law enforcement, prosecutors, and other retailers.

Yes, your office is nice and cozy. You can see all your stores via remote monitoring.

But are you serving your ORC efforts best by staying in your little domain?

Probably not according to the retailers

and understand each other’s problems so we can help each other as a community. It’s not about just retail. It’s about supporting your community as a whole. There is no better way to make those connections than in person.”

According to Battles, “These events help educate law enforcement on our level of professionalism and our commitment to fighting crime. They will only know that by meeting us in person, attending networking events, and getting involved with Internet communication boards and email distribution networks. These initiatives help broaden your contacts so you can learn which detectives and others already support fighting ORC.” “Of course networking is key,” says Milburn. “If you attend a networking function and aren’t meeting someone you don’t know, you’re wasting your time. It’s

“It is most important when establishing an ORC team to put specific guidelines in place, especially around searching vehicles or houses, GPS tracking devices, or trash pulls. Conducting investigations in a safe way and not putting the team at risk is of paramount importance to Cabela’s. We ensure everyone abides by the applicable laws and engages in appropriate surveillance activities. The only way that can be done is by establishing those policies up front and communicating them effectively.”

- Brad Dykes, Director of Loss Prevention, Cabela’s and law enforcement representatives interviewed. Their advice is to get out into the community, shake some hands, meet people, share information, and support your company by supporting your community.

“LP investigators should pretend they’re in sales because good networking can build relationships to help solve crime in the community as a whole, not just for your organization,” says Dave Zulawski.

A fantastic example of networking and building relationships in their community is the work that Stage Stores has done over the past few years. “At Stage Stores we host our own networking meetings twice a year,” explains Battles. “At the first one we had twenty people attend. Now we have more than 130, including area LP professionals, local, federal, secret service, and even postal inspectors in surrounding jurisdictions.

We’re able to meet, get contact information,

46

always helpful to place a call after you’ve met them face-to-face and exchanged business cards.”

Networking in person is not the only way to broaden your ORC efforts. Sharing data is also extremely important to the overall ORC conversation. There are numerous local ORC groups that have become quite successful over the last few years with attendance growing exponentially each year. There are national information-sharing databases as well, such as the Law Enforcement Retail Partnership Network (LERPnet2.0).

“While we have retained the brand name as LERPnet, LERPNet2.0 is an entirely new technology platform and nothing like the original system,” says Kevin McMenimen, managing director of LERPnet2.0. “Retailers need to see the new system with its added functionality and features. Driven by an advisory board of more than twenty top May - June 2012

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retail companies, we have many of the major retailers represented as subscribers with the new system, which is evidence that it’s totally revamped and engineered to address the evolved needs of retail and law enforcement.”

“Information-sharing systems such as LERPnet help identify national trends and enable us to work more efficiently at the national level by helping us tie cases together,” explains jcpenney’s VanBeest. “We also believe it vital to our efforts to network with local groups to share data. Sharing data at the grassroots level gives retailers a more eye-level look at organized theft groups where most investigations are initiated.”

“I agree it’s absolutely important to network and information share in your local community,” adds McMenimen. “But it’s also as critical to be proactive in your investigations so trends and patterns are visible across the nation and that data is highlighted and alerts you to crime patterns that are headed in your local direction.

LERPnet allows that to be possible in surfacing the national trends while supporting the local investigation efforts.”

Networking and sharing information are always valuable tools. To take that strategy a step further, jcpenney implemented a shared practice among other retailers that helps law enforcement contact them directly with no middlemen.

“Another important step retailers can take is something we implemented from our friends at Walmart,” says VanBeest. “We created a for-law-enforcement-only email address and phone line. So no matter what law enforcement needs, whether it is local, state or federal, all they have to remember is one email address and one phone number.

This direct line of communication goes straight to our investigations team, so we can respond very quickly. I would recommend this for any retailer because it’s been a valuable tool for relationship building with detectives and police regardless of jurisdiction.”

Take the Law into Your Own Hands

As an industry, LP professionals are often caught in the proverbial catch-22. After budget season concludes, they are often left asking themselves pointed questions such as: ■ How do I maximize resources for my increasing responsibilities without sacrificing quality work? continued on page 48

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HOW NOT TO INVESTIGATE ORC continued from page 46

I f I’m responsible for shrink, audit, safety, and internal theft, how can I get everything done with a smaller team?

In some instances these types of questions lead to LP investigators stretching that envelope a bit too far, even crossing into law enforcement’s domain. According to those interviewed, instances of LP people going “rogue” have definitely declined over the years as ORC legislation has passed and task forces formed with accompanying policies.

But there was also plenty of evidence that it still occurs, although little agreement on what “going rogue” truly means.

“When it comes to LP people taking the law into their own hands, I think that it’s important that LP understands relevant laws so they don’t violate any that would compromise the investigation,” says Rent-A-Center’s Morales. “There are many different companies with varying policies and procedures. For instance, at one company you’re not allowed to conduct trash pulls, at another that’s okay because once it is abandoned on the curb, it’s public property.

Of course, you always have to think safety first, and it is my preference to partner with

■

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law enforcement on everything we do because it makes the most sense.”

Morales concludes, “In my opinion, examples of rogue activity would be risking their safety by speeding through red lights following a suspect, taking pictures through windows of a private residence, or using certain type of equipment that only law enforcement has access to use.”

An industry executive for a small specialty retailer shared some firsthand knowledge of retailers allowing police to use their GPS tracking system when the police are lacking funds to purchase state-of-the-art equipment. Other questionable activities he talked about were LP people entering pawn shops to purchase stolen merchandise, approaching known fences in order to gain evidence, conducting surveillance on suspects’ private residences without law enforcement accompanying them, and LP agents meeting suspects in parking lots to ascertain what they have stolen and who they are working for.

Law enforcement also puts LP professionals in awkward positions since they want the cases wrapped up on a silver platter.

Lieutenant Chris Neville of the Wilmington Police Department agrees, saying he has no

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problem with retailers handling a majority of the case since police departments are so strapped for time and resources.

“Some LP people could be crossing the line and putting their safety at risk by approaching fences or conducting controlled buys,” says Home Depot’s Lussier. “Our role is to gather evidence in safe and ethical ways that tells the most compelling story of events to law enforcement. That includes knowing what to leave to the experts, such as approaching an actual fence. However, Home Depot has highly skilled and highly trained personnel who will sometimes conduct controlled buys, but we always partner with law enforcement to ensure all elements for a successful prosecution are being met.”

Marco Alfredo Mitrowke, who has more than thirty years’ experience in the LP industry, believes passionately in ensuring the safety of LP people, retail customers, and law enforcement. “LP professionals are not cops,” says Mitrowke. “We cannot act like law enforcement. Don’t get me wrong, there are some ORC task forces out there doing good work because they have hired former law enforcement that are highly trained in the continued on page 50

HOW NOT TO INVESTIGATE ORC retail environment stays profitable and safe. necessary skills.” Mitrowke goes on to explain “Ultimately, it comes down to awareness,” says Lisa LaBruno, vice president, loss the fundamental principles about educating prevention and legal affairs, for the Retail LP people that LP is not about catching bad Industry Leaders Association (RILA). “Loss guys. It’s about being partners in the overall prevention professionals need to know business strategy. where the lines are both professionally and “It’s also about being safe,” adds ethically. It’s their responsibility to educate Mitrowke. “There have been too many themselves and develop policies to ensure incidents recently as crime continues to ramp up of violence that has only been exacerbated compliance before putting themselves and their companies at risk.” by loss prevention people instead of calmed As LP professionals, we face many ethical down. We have a responsibility not only to questions, and investigating ORC is no our companies, but the public around us to different. keep everyone safe. The issues of liability to “I definitely believe LP people can go the companies we serve certainly outweighs too far when investigating ORC,” says Jerry the visions of glory in some big take down.”

Thomas, regional LP manager at HMSHost.

Retailers agree that the safety of their “I hear a lot that LP people must help stretch customers and associates is of critical the arm of law enforcement because we importance. How are they ensuring that, don’t have to play by the same rules that despite organizational pressures, ORC law enforcement does. But the question is investigators are taking appropriate steps to keep everyone safe? Most retailers interviewed always—just because we can do something described strict policies and guidelines as well that law enforcement can’t, does that mean we should?” as intense training for investigation staff.

It is no question we are ushering in a “It is most important when establishing an new era of ORC legislation, standards, ORC team to put specific guidelines in place, especially around searching vehicles or houses, definitions, and ultimately how the marketplace will treat this crime and the LP GPS tracking devices, or trash pulls,” says agents investigating it.

Cabela’s Dykes. “Conducting investigations “Retail professionals conducting in a safe way and not putting the team at ORC investigations now have a greater risk is of paramount importance to Cabela’s. responsibility because they are treading We ensure everyone abides by the applicable new ground as the landscape is constantly laws and engages in appropriate surveillance changing on how we investigate and prosecute activities. The only way that can be done is ORC suspects,” suggests LaRocca. “Everyone by establishing those policies up front and needs to ensure they work closely with their communicating them effectively.” general council and internal department “We always strive to build strong and leaders to craft company policies and sustainable relationships with our police procedures dealing with these case elements.” department partners,” says Adams. “We Mitrowke agrees stating, “As an know that we can’t do our jobs without them, industry we are at a crossroads. It should so building a foundation of mutual trust is be a requirement for professionals to be essential to any program’s success. At GAP Wicklander-Zulawski certified and certified we have strict guidelines for investigation decisions that happen in the moment, such as from the Loss Prevention Foundation. These are ways to advance not only your own when, how, and where we follow a suspect. career, but this entire profession. No longer To ensure none of your ORC team crosses will we be perceived as ‘wanna-be cops,’ into the ‘rogue’ category, retailers need but as true business partners that care about best-in-class training for their investigative profit-and-loss statements, meeting earnings team. Make sure that strategic direction and the bottom line.” is provided on what is acceptable and not acceptable when investigating ORC cases.

Making impactful arrests and recovering Ignore Your Role in the Problem merchandise is great, but safety and Let’s consider for a moment the proposed maintaining brand integrity should be your enormity of the ORC problem. When we start top priority.” talking about billions, it’s difficult to relate.

Of course, the retail trade associations feel Ponder these illustrations: ■ A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive. very strongly about safety and ensuring the continued from page 48

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billion hours ago man had not yet walked A on earth.

■ A billion months ago dinosaurs walked on the earth.

Okay, so a billion is a lot. Is the retail industry really saying that flea markets, pawn shops, online auctions, and fraudulent returns are responsible for a $15 to $30 billion problem? Given the illustration above, it seems unlikely.

In the May-June, 2011, eBay column in LP Magazine, David George, vice president of asset protection for Harris Teeter Supermarkets, wrote a compelling description of the retailers’ potential role in proliferating the problem of ORC that asks the question, “Are we to blame?” George describes a process where retailers are actually generating the demand needed to keep these ORC rings in business. He contends that we are focused on preventing merchandise leaving through the front doors, but are not considering the potentially stolen merchandise that is coming in through the back doors.

As an example, George has implemented an anti-ORC buying program that has virtually eliminated the possibility that his organization would purchase stolen merchandise. “Although the Harris Teeter program reduces demand for stolen goods, we can’t do it alone,” says George. “It’s going to take all of us to put integrity first and take a stand to do the right thing rather than simply buying from the cheapest, unreliable, and low-quality source. We need to buy from reputable suppliers and at Harris Teeter, we accept nothing less.” In the May-June, 2011, issue he laid out exactly how to build your own anti-ORC buying program.

Part two of this series will explore this program in more detail and other ways retailers could be propagating the ORC problem along with actions retailers can take to help prevent the problem internally.

In the meantime, knowing that ORC generates tremendous discussion and debate, we invite readers to visit the magazine website and social networking sites to offer your opinions on the subject.

■

AMBER VIRGILLO is a contributing editor for LP Magazine.

She can be reached at 770-335-4891 or AmberV@LPportal.com.

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The Lesson of Avon: Willful Blindness W

is yet another reason why the global security team should be independent of the audit team. Conflict of interest anyone?)

The problem started with revelations from an audit report in 2005 that called into question payments being made to Chinese officials as part of Avon’s Asian expansion. That report was swept under the rug and never reported to the board of directors; that is, until an internal investigation was conducted in 2008 and more issues were raised by an employee of the China operation.

The result of this investigation has been a drop in Avon stock price, the expense of $225 million and counting, and the reputation of an American icon that will be hard to regain. As if that were not enough, a federal grand jury is now contemplating criminal charges against more key executives.

It is not apparent that these executives physically made these questionable payments or even approved them. The reason they are the subject of a federal grand jury is a little thing our lawyer friends like to call “willful blindness.”

e have all heard the excuses: ■ T hat is the way business is done here.

■ W e can’t impose your corporate values on our overseas partners.

■ I f we did that, we would not be competitive.

And, of course, the most condescending message of all: ■ Y ou just don’t get it, do you?

The list of excuses goes on ad nauseum. At some point in our careers, we may have even believed these excuses were valid. As a result all of the resources we spend to write elaborate global ethics policies and increase awareness of the complex web of laws regarding corruption and bribery are often treated as a kind of “unattainable utopia.”

Executives beware.

You can be liable in overseas bribery cases even if you were not directly involved in approving illegal payments or even if you did not attempt to hide evidence of bribes.

Under willful blindness, you can be found guilty of simply taking steps to avoid learning of wrongdoing.

Executives Beware

Yes, executives beware. You can be liable in overseas bribery cases even if you were not directly involved in approving illegal payments or even if you did not attempt to hide evidence of bribes. Under willful blindness, you can be found guilty of simply taking steps to avoid learning of wrongdoing.

While this is undoubtedly difficult to prove, it should be enough to gain the attention of occupants of corner offices throughout the world. Ensuring your company is ethical and compliant in the exciting and profitable world of global trade is serious business. To be successful in the new world economy requires the attention of serious global security professionals and the use of independent reviews of operations. If your company does not employ either one, then your company may have already succumbed to willful blindness.

In March of this year a shareholder lawsuit was filed alleging that the head of internal audit who left the company in 2006 was the beneficiary of a hefty severance package. The purpose of this package may have been to ensure he keep quiet about the growing allegations of wrongdoing in Avon’s global operations. In turn he has threatened to disclose damning memos to the Security and Exchange Commission that would, of course, further erode investor confidence in the company. In other words the drama continues for us global security junkies.

Stay tuned.

Four-Year Investigation

That may have been exactly what the executives at Avon thought. In case you missed it, earlier this year Avon fired its vice-chairman after a four-year investigation. In 2011 the fallout included four key executives, including the head of global internal audit and security. (As an aside, I think this case

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Feature

How to Maintain an Engaged Working Relationship When You and Your Boss

Work Remotely

By Bruce Tulgan

Working Remotely

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uilding and maintaining strong working relationships with your managers is critical to your success in any job in any organization. That’s a tall order under the best of circumstances. It’s even more challenging if you and your manager work in locations remote from each other.

Most managers and non-managers alike are so busy juggling their various responsibilities that they don’t usually make enough time for regular structured conversations, even if they are working side-by-side. Instead, most conversations probably occur ad hoc—during group meetings, in emails and voicemails, in passing, or when there is a big problem that desperately needs attention.

I call this phenomenon “management on-the-fly” or “management by special occasion.” There is no systematic logic to the timing of management conversations, in fact they

are random, incomplete, and often too late to avoid a problem or solve one before it grows out of control.

The only alternative to being subjected to management on-the-fly is for you to get in the habit of having regular one-on-one conversations with every manager you answer to, even if you are working side-by-side with that manager. If you are remotely located from a manager for all or significant portions of your work time, then it is even more important, despite how challenging it might be, that you develop a regular, structured dialogue with that person.

Take the Initiative

I’ve heard countless stories from very determined individuals who’ve had to stalk their bosses from remote locations, calling every fifteen minutes until the boss finally answers. Or texting, faxing, Facebook messaging, scheduling two-way web-cam conferences, or even showing up at the boss’s location to try to get some one-on-one time. I hope you are not in that situation.

The best situation is for you and your boss to work out a protocol for a regular schedule of one-on-one meetings whenever you can. Here are some best practices that you can apply if you don’t work in the same location as your boss: ■ Keep each other informed about when you’ll both be at a central location, such as the organization’s headquarters, so you can schedule in-person, one-on-one time.

■ Schedule occasional in-person meetings when it is convenient for you to visit your boss in his or

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her remote location or when it is convenient for your boss to visit you where you work.

■ If you have access to web-cams, schedule a regular one-on-one meeting via the web.

In the absence of in-person meetings or two-way web-cams, make good use of regular telephone conferences and various forms of electronic mail, such as instant messaging and email. Unfortunately, too often when people communicate primarily via telephone and electronic mail, they neglect scheduling regular one-on-one conversations and, as a result, their communications tend to be disorganized, incomplete, and random. Here are some best

Exactly how often, for how long, and when you meet with your boss is likely to be a moving target.

You will have to evaluate your situation on an ongoing basis and adjust as necessary. One way or another, however, you can’t wait around to be managed on-the-fly or by special occasion anymore. practices for using telephone and electronic mail to communicate regularly with your boss: ■ Schedule regular one-on-one telephone calls, then honor them.

■ Prepare in advance of the one-on-one call. Send your boss an email recapping what you’ve done since your last one-on-one, the steps that you followed to get those things done, and any lingering questions or issues you have about those actions. Then outline what you plan to accomplish next, the steps you plan to follow, and any questions you may have about these upcoming actions.

■ Ask your boss to respond to your email in advance of your one-on-one conversation to help you prepare even further, for example, by including any other items in the agenda that he or she would like to cover.

■ Send your boss a reminder via email or text message 30 or 60 minutes before the scheduled meeting.

■ Immediately following the call, send your boss an email recapping what you both agreed on in your conversation—the actions you need to May - June 2012

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take, the steps you plan to follow, the date and time of your next scheduled phone call, and the promise to send an agenda prior to the next meeting.

I’m often asked this question: “My boss works across the hall from me, but our entire relationship is conducted by telephone and email.

What should I do about that?” My personal view is that conducting face-to-face conversations, at least once in a while, is much better than conducting your management conversations solely by telephone and email. I suggest following the same best practices outlined above, plus once in a while, walk across the hall and try for a face-to-face meeting. You can poke your head in and ask, “Did you get that email I just sent you?”

The Importance of Documentation

Even if most of your communication is through telephone and email, that’s better than

nothing. And there is an advantage—you are creating a paper (or electronic) trail. Save those emails and you’ll have record of your ongoing dialogue with your boss about your work. If the emails are organized and thorough, then you might be able to print them and use them as check-lists, or use them as the basis for crafting work-plans, schedules, to-do lists, and other tools to help guide you in your work.

One of the hidden advantages of remote work relationships is discovering, tapping into, and leveraging the power of ongoing documentation.

Just by documenting your ongoing dialogue with your boss in advance emails and follow up emails, you are tracking your own performance, giving yourself written records every step of the way. Over time, you find you have records going back months or years that reflect your assignments and performance of tasks, responsibilities, and projects. By communicating remotely with your boss in writing, you might find that you more often are working from a written plan and regularly updating your goals and timelines, routinely checking things off a to-do list and taking notes every step of the way. You will find you are constantly taking more thorough, organized, accurate notes, and then referring to those notes in subsequent conversations with their boss. In fact, you might find that you are keeping such close track in writing that your managers start to rely more on your written records than the manager’s own system.

If you are working remotely with a manager and you want to be considered meticulous and

Working Remotely trusted by your boss, then you need a tracking system to document your own performance on a daily basis. Tracking your own performance in writing will add so much clarity to your management relationship. Simply talking about expectations and performance is not enough.

Writing down the details allows you to confirm with each boss, every step of the way: “I want to make sure I understand. This is what I’ve written down. Please take a look. Is this your understanding, too?”

Tracking in writing is a very powerful way to create a psychological commitment in both you and your boss to the expectations that you have agreed upon together. You and your boss are also sharing the experience of creating a written record that can be referred to later so you won’t have to wrestle with competing recollections.

Knowing that every expectation is included

being tracked in writing consists of concrete actions within your control, not simply a bunch of numbers that are disconnected from the day-to-day expectations spelled out for your performance.

Beyond all that, your written records help you evaluate for yourself, and make the case to your boss, whether or not you deserve any special rewards or detriments due to your performance. Those written records become even more important in the event of a formal dispute because you will have a much easier time confirming, for yourself and your boss, whether or not you are being treated fairly in relation to your performance. If you ever need to get help from someone in HR, you’ll be in a much stronger position if you have kept a detailed contemporaneous record of all of your regular conversations with your boss.

That documentation provides a paper trail to

tracking your boss’s feedback in writing will help you help your boss revise and adjust your marching orders.

For example, if your boss says, “You did a great job on A, B, and C, but on D, you failed fully to complete items D3, D4, and D5 on the to-do list,” you will know that your next goal is to focus on D3, D4, and D5. You need to talk through D3, D4, and D5 in detail with your boss right then, noting every single detail about what you will need to do to complete those items. In fact, that would be a good time to make a written step-by-step checklist for yourself for D3, D4, and D5 to use as a guide for completing and quality-checking your work.

Later, you can use that same tool as a point of reference to guide your discussion with the boss when the two of you review your performance of D3, D4, and D5.

In order to make sure your performance is

in a written record creates a lot of pressure on you to live up to the commitments you make.

But it also puts important pressure on your boss to make sure that each and every time you are given an assignment, the expectations are spelled out clearly and the performance

support your version of the facts.

accurately and fairly measured, you need to be asking and answering, in ongoing conversations with your boss, the following questions: ■ Did you meet every goal that was set? Did you do all the tasks that you were required to do? Did you go the extra mile?

Evaluating Performance

Tracking is also the key to taking charge of your own ongoing performance improvement.

The constant self-evaluation that comes from

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Working Remotely id you complete the tasks according to the D guidelines and specifications provided? Did you follow standard operating procedures? Did you go above and beyond the quality standards?

■ Did you meet the deadlines set in advance? Did you get the work done even faster?

If you have been helping your boss monitor, measure, and document your concrete actions on a regular basis, answering these questions should simply require a cumulative summary of your regular tracking. That is the most important data your boss can ever have about your true performance. Of course, your boss may also have additional data in the form of daily, weekly, quarterly, or annual reports that detail all sorts of performance information—from attendance to hours worked, customer complaints, sales data, and so on. Yes, your boss will use this information, too. The key is to help your boss ■

understand what all those numbers really say about your actual performance; how they are tied…or not tied…to the real, concrete actions within your control.

Together with your boss, spell out expectations for your performance in terms of concrete actions that you can control. Keep track

in writing as you complete each to-do item and meet each requirement, as you achieve each goal and beat each deadline. Regularly report to your boss exactly how and when your concrete actions met or exceeded the expectations you set together. Help your boss document exactly how and when your concrete actions met expectations every step of the way.

If you prefer to keep track using electronic tools, all you need is a database and a scheduling program that allows you to create a data record

Don’t forget to consider what day and time is best to meet with each boss. With some managers you may be able to schedule regular meetings at fixed days and times.

But if your boss has an irregular schedule, then the best practice is to finish each one-on-one conversation with that boss by scheduling the next one.

for each boss and/or for each separate work matter. As soon as you receive a new assignment or a change to an existing assignment, enter the information into the electronic record. Create templates for each of your managers, and for ongoing tasks, responsibilities, and projects.

The advantage of electronic tools is that they usually force some logic and organization into your documentation system. Also, your notes are captured digitally and are automatically dated and time-stamped. You can also cut-and-paste key email correspondence, including the back-and-forth messages between you and your boss that help document your performance, and keep that text right in the notes section of the appropriate record in your tracking system.

Whether you use a notebook or an electronic tool, you need to capture certain key pieces of information:

■

xpectations—Goals and requirements that E were spelled out; instructions given or to-do lists assigned; standard operating procedures, rules, or guidelines reviewed; deadlines set and timelines established. continued on page 58

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Working Remotely continued from page 56

oncrete actions—Your actual work as C you complete each to-do item, achieve each goal, fulfill each requirement, and meet each deadline.

■ Measurements—How your concrete actions are matching up against the expectations. Have you met or exceeded requirements? Did you follow instructions, standard operating procedures, and rules?

Did you meet the goals on time?

When you are keeping track, remember that you are creating a contemporaneous record of your work performance. Never write down anything personal about a boss, a coworker, a customer, a vendor, or anyone else. Focus on keeping notes about your work, and your work alone. Use specific, descriptive language, such as, “Followed interviewing guidelines to interview three job ■

applicants,” or “Submitted final report for XYZ project three days before the deadline.”

Don’t use vague language or broad “naming” words like “slow,” “successful,” “good,” “sloppy,” “incomplete,” or “difficult.” Stick to clear descriptions of concrete actions in terms of goals, guidelines, and deadlines.

Frequency of Communication

If you are working with a boss for the first time, you should meet more often.

How often you should engage in conversations with any given manager depends ■ If you are working with a boss on a new partly on the nature of the work in which you project, you should meet more often. are engaged with each of them. How often you ■ If you are working with a boss on a project should meet with a particular boss will also be with especially high stakes, you should meet determined by his or her particular style and more often.

■ If you are working with a boss on a project preferences and also by what works for you.

Every situation is different, but most of the where there is a lot of uncertainty, then you time the short answer is that you should be should meet more often. meeting one-on-one with each boss more often The last thing in the world you want to do than you are currently. is make bad use of a boss’s time by meeting more often than necessary or wasting time during those meetings. Keep your management conversations brief, straightforward, and to the point. As long as you conduct these one-on-one conversations regularly, there is no reason they should be long and convoluted.

The goal is to make these conversations focused, efficient, brief, and simple. Prepare ■

One of the hidden advantages of remote work relationships is discovering, tapping into, and leveraging the power of ongoing documentation.

Just by documenting your ongoing dialogue with your boss in advance emails and follow up emails, you are tracking your own performance, giving yourself written records every step of the way.

in advance so that you can move the conversation along swiftly. Once you’ve gotten into a routine with each boss, fifteen minutes every week or every other week should be all you need. Like everything else, it’s a moving target. Over time, you’ll have to gauge how much time you need to spend with each boss. continued on page 60

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Working Remotely as well as you think as they are. All you really know is that no problems have come up on If things are not going well on a particular your’s or that boss’s radar screen. Spend those assignment consider meeting with your boss every day for a while. Don’t make the mistake fifteen minutes verifying that things are indeed going as well as you think they are. And if in of spending hours on tearful inquisitions, fact they are, then you still need to work with indictments, or confessions. Keep these meetings short and consistent. There’s a strong your boss to find out if you can make things go chance that things are not working out because even better.

You’ll be shocked how much you can get you are not getting enough guidance, direction, done in fifteen minutes. Take any boss you and support. Once you spend more time with have not spoken with in detail for a while. your boss talking through the work you are doing, you are likely to work through solutions Spend fifteen minutes asking probing questions about the details of your work, and you will for 99 percent of problems. find some surprises. You’ll be darned glad you If things are going very well with your had that conversation. And you should be in a work, you may only need to meet with your hurry to have another one. boss every other week. But if you don’t spend Don’t forget to consider what day and at least that much time with that boss, then you time is best to meet with each boss. With don’t actually know whether things are going

continued from page 58

some managers you may be able to schedule regular meetings at fixed days and times. But if your boss has an irregular schedule, then the best practice is to finish each one-on-one conversation with that boss by scheduling the next one.

Exactly how often, for how long, and when you meet with your boss is likely to be a moving target. You will have to evaluate your situation on an ongoing basis and adjust as necessary. One way or another, however, you can’t wait around to be managed on-the-fly or by special occasion anymore.

BRUCE TULGAN is an adviser to business leaders all over the world, speaker, and seminar leader. He is the founder of RainmakerThinking, Inc., a management training firm. Tulgan is the author of the classic Managing Generation X as well as It’s Okay to be the Boss, Winning the Talent Wars, Not Everyone Gets a Trophy, and eleven Manager’s Pocket Guides. He has written for numerous publications, including The New York Times, USA Today, Harvard Business Review, and Human Resources. This is his eleventh article for LP Magazine. Tulgan can be reached at brucet@rainmakerthinking.com. His V-log is available monthly for free at rainmakerthinking.com.

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Solutions Showcase Axis Communications

The Many Paths to IP Video Surveillance: It’s Never All Or Nothing

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ompared to other industries that rely heavily on video surveillance, retail as a whole is the last to adopt IP-based technology. It’s no surprise, really, since retailers and their loss prevention managers have a longstanding history and major investment in analog CCTV. Most LP professionals know about the benefits of IP video, including much better image quality, functionality, intelligence, and scalability, but haven’t made the switch from legacy analog because of cost and complexity concerns. Unfortunately, these legacy system users are missing out on major LP and operational efficiencies.

But fortunately, “going IP” is not an all-or-nothing proposition.

Thanks to innovations in IP video, there are several migration paths to network video. And the good news is that even though retailers might be a little late to the IP game, those leading the way are in a unique position to benefit from network video surveillance in ways that other industries could only dream.

Video Encoders— The Easy Path to Network Video

Just like everything in our lives today, the shift from analog to digital is inevitable. Fortunately, the technology shift in video surveillance does not force LP managers to choose between either IP or analog. It’s possible to combine the two.

Video encoders, sometimes referred to as video servers, contain a compression chip and an operating system so that incoming

analog video can be converted into digital video, and then transmitted and recorded over the computer network for easier accessibility and viewing. If chosen with care, a video encoder can allow a system with analog CCTV cameras to provide many of the features and functionalities otherwise reserved for IP-based systems…all without scrapping working analog cameras.

Not only do encoders provide benefits like improved video quality (contrast, color, saturation, de-interlacing, and noise filtering), video intelligence (motion and audio detection, people counting, etc.), power-over-ethernet capabilities, and local SD card storage, but they allow users to create a future-proof and scalable platform for new IP-based, HDTV-quality cameras to be added at their leisure and within budget.

Video encoders come in a variety of form factors, from single-channel to 84-channel blade chassis, and have a wide range of quality, just like surveillance cameras. Important features for LP include high-efficiency H.264 encoding, integrated audio, full frame rate video (30 frames per second), local storage, PTZ support, and intelligent video functionality.

AXIS Camera Companion— Living on the Edge for Simple IP Surveillance

While IP video surveillance is prevalent in the big-box and major retailers with 32-plus camera installations, it has historically been too costly and complex for those smaller camera count installations found in the majority of stores around the country. But for those LP professionals and retail owners who have had enough of poor-quality analog systems or are looking to install a brand new surveillance solution, the power of in-camera “edge” storage is changing the face of the industry.

AXIS Camera Companion is the market’s easiest video surveillance solution for small systems up to sixteen cameras.

The system consists of standard IP cameras, SD cards, a free software client, cabling, a standard router/switch, and optional mobile applications. That’s it. No central storage is LP Magazine | May - June 2012

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required. Not even a computer is needed following the additional set up, as the entire solution runs within the camera.

In short, the camera is the recorder. So say goodbye to the DVR. With AXIS Camera Companion, all video is recorded on SD memory cards in the cameras. Food for thought—a 32GB SD card typically stores two to four weeks of HDTV-quality video, which is more than enough for most LP application.

With no central DVR, NVR, PC, or server, each camera is a smart, independent video recording device with no single point of failure. So even if the network happens to go down, the cameras continue recording as long as they have power.

AXIS Camera Companion delivers crisp, clear HDTV image quality for reliable identification of people and incidents. It’s also easy to access the system over the Internet to view live or recorded video from home or anywhere with an Internet connection.

And Axis cameras aren’t the only way to enable AXIS Camera Companion. Video encoders that support edge storage also allow existing analog cameras to be tied into the simple AXIS Camera Companion system.

What’s better is that AXIS Camera Companion was developed with a focus on ease-of-use and ease-of-install. The interface is simple and intuitive, with easy access to the most common activities, such as viewing live video, searching through recordings, and exporting videos and snapshots at the touch of a button.

Like an encoder solution, AXIS Camera Companion is scalable and future-proof, making adding new cameras to the system a snap. Best, if you want to step up to a larger or more complex IP solution in the future, you can reuse all your installed network cameras and video encoders, as well as the network equipment.

If you’re looking for a one- to sixteen-camera count system for one or two sites, AXIS Camera Companion and innovations in edge storage create a compelling solution.

In a hosted video system, retailers contract with a video surveillance service provider to install the system and then stream video data to an offsite data facility. This data facility is run by the hosting provider, who follows the same standards and auditing procedures as cloud vendors used in our everyday lives in the form of email, entertainment, HR and CRM operations, and online banking.

The service provider often charges a low monthly fee to have the surveillance video streamed and stored at the hosting provider’s facility.

Hosted video accomplishes three main things for the retailer.

First, by storing video in the cloud, the most expensive and maintenance-heavy part of a CCTV system—the DVR—is eliminated. Second, the cost of surveillance is switched from a capital expense to an operational one. And third, video from all the different dispersed locations is available under one platform and accessible anywhere at any time. Users can virtually travel to multiple stores all around the country while sitting in front of the same desktop, PC, or mobile device.

The security ramifications of a hosted system is a given—the stores are safer with video evidence. But just think about all the different operational efficiencies that can be attained through hosted video. The franchise owner or corporate executive who has responsibility over many stores can confirm consistent branding across stores. They can monitor and compare customer queue lines and employee response across different stores. They can engage in remote investigations instead of jetting around the country. They can even use video pulled from Albuquerque as a training tool in Albany.

And for those who need redundant storage to stream the highest quality HDTV video or would like it simply for peace of mind, Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices can be found today for as little as $200 for 2TB worth of storage. These NAS devices can also be used in an AXIS Camera Companion solution for the same reasons.

Remember, with today’s technology, you always have options. IP video is for everyone today. You just need to find the recording solution that fits your goals.

Hosted Video— Multiple Sites, One Window to Success

While AXIS Camera Companion is perfect for one or two sites, what about the retailer or franchise owner with multiple stores to secure with a few cameras at each location? For those surveillance users, new partnerships in the industry are helping to ditch the DVR by bringing the power of hosted video to LP.

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Solutions Showcase Palmer, Reifler & Associates, P.A.

To Promise Or Not to Promise…

That Is the Question

By Natt O. Reifler, Esq. and Michelle G. Hinden, Esq.

A

lmost all states have statutes that protect retailers by providing a civil remedy that allows for the recovery of actual damages arising from incidents of theft.

Actual damages are in addition to any civil statutory (penalty) damages the retailer may be entitled to and generally include restitution.

In a previous article from our firm, it was explained that even if merchandise is recovered in merchantable condition, there are actual damages. Likewise, and even less likely to be contested, when the retailer is not able to recover the merchandise or the assets taken by the theft offender, the retailer suffers actual damages. When a retailer suffers actual damages, the retailer has a right to request reimbursement for actual losses sustained in addition to any available civil statutory (penalty) damages.

A promissory note is an unconditional written promise, signed by the theft offender, to pay a sum of money to the retailer.

Generally, when a theft offender is apprehended, it is beneficial for the retailer to obtain a verbal and written admission from the theft offender. If the theft offender is an employee, it is advisable to also get a signed promissory note for any restitution amounts owed. It is also helpful to notify the theft offender of the retailer’s intention to request civil statutory (penalty) damages and/or restitution from the theft offender whether through an in-house process or through a civil recovery law firm. If a promissory note is freely and voluntarily signed by the theft offender, a request for restitution and/or, if available and mentioned as an exception to the promissory note, civil statutory (penalty) damages can then be made by the retailer.

Is a promissory note required? No, but it can be useful in strengthening the retailer’s civil restitution claim. The purpose of a promissory note is to contractually bind the theft offender to his or her promise to pay the retailer back for any actual losses the retailer sustained. If a promissory note is well drafted and the promissory note is breached, a retailer could be entitled to pursue the agreed upon amount listed in the promissory note, any statutorily prescribed interest rates, court costs, attorneys’ fees, and any other amounts allowable by law.

Criminal Prosecution

If the police are contacted and the theft offender is prosecuted, a theft offender may generally choose to remain NATT O. REIFLER, Esq. is a partner in the Law Offices of Palmer, Reifler & Associates, P.A. His responsibilities include the overall supervision of the legal department and its team of dedicated collectors. Reifler also consults on compliance issues, serves as a legal liaison to our clients, and advises on the firm’s day-to-day activities.

Reifler graduated cum laude from Stetson University College of Law and joined the firm as an associate in 1997. Within three years he became a partner and took a more active role in supervising civil recovery activities within the firm. Prior to that, Reifler worked both as a commercial realtor and was also the director of operations for the Florida operation of his family-owned retail business.

Reifler received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and is licensed to practice law in the State of Florida.

LP Magazine | May - June 2012

MICHELLE G. HINDEN, Esq. is a senior associate attorney in the Law Offices of Palmer, Reifler & Associates, P.A. where she represents clients in structuring and negotiating settlements, in mediation, and, in small-claims court.

Hinden received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Central Florida, her juris doctor from Florida Coastal School of Law, and is licensed to practice law in the State of Florida.

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Solutions Showcase Palmer, Reifler & Associates, P.A. in compliance with the terms listed in the promissory note by making payments to the retailer’s civil recovery law firm during the criminal case process. The amount of restitution paid to the retailer’s civil recovery law firm during the criminal case process should be treated as a set-off to reduce the restitution amount ordered in the criminal court matter. If the criminal court orders an amount lower than the promissory note amount, a retailer may elect to continue to pursue the remaining balance of the promissory note.

If the theft offender is not criminally prosecuted, a retailer may elect to request any restitution and/or civil statutory (penalty) damages it may be entitled to. Should the theft offender refuse to make payment after demand has been made, a retailer may elect to pursue civil litigation.

While having a promissory note may be beneficial, it is important to note that while clearly distinct from the criminal prosecution of the theft offender for the wrongful act(s), some jurisdictions have prosecution policies that seem to blur the civil/criminal distinction. For this reason, it is important for the retailer to find out the local policy in the jurisdiction where the store is located. While the majority of states and jurisdictions follow the statutes and supporting case law that specifically allow for a civil matter to be pursued regardless of whether or not there is a criminal matter, it is important to check with your local courts to ensure that the local judge and/or prosecutor agrees with this position.

If successful pursuit of criminal charges takes precedence over the enforcement of a promissory note, the retailer may elect to forego a promissory note and instead choose to obtain a written admission statement from the theft offender. If the retailer elects to forego the promissory note because of a local prosecution policy that discourages same, the retailer should determine whether a statement expressing the theft offender’s willingness to repay the admitted theft amount could hamper a prosecution.

When a theft incident takes place, it is important for the retailer to have proper procedures in place that will help strengthen the retailer’s chances of recovering the damages it may have sustained.

Generally, absent any unusual prosecution policy, having the theft offender indicate a willingness to repay is helpful.

The retailer should keep well-documented evidence of such losses in the event that the retailer elects to pursue a civil restitution claim for any difference in restitution that is not ordered in the criminal matter.

Proper Procedures

When a person is apprehended for shoplifting in a store, the retailer may suffer actual damages in addition to civil statutory (penalty) damages. When a theft incident takes place, it is important for the retailer to have proper procedures in place that will help strengthen the retailer’s chances of recovering the damages it may have sustained. In many instances, the signing of a promissory note by an internal theft offender can help to strengthen the retailer’s position and improve the chances of recovering money owed by the theft offender to the retailer.

Retail’s Civil Recovery Law Firm Law Offices of Palmer, Reifler & Associates, P.A. is a leading civil recovery law firm that has been practicing in the loss prevention/asset protection industry concentrating on recovering theft losses for retailers for over twenty years. The firm represents many national and regional retailers in the various aspects of civil recovery for theft, including the recovery of damages and/or penalties and, when applicable, restitution from theft offenders, whether dishonest associates or shoplifters at the initial phase or in a follow-up capacity, the structuring of retail in-house civil recovery programs, and the defense of claims or regulatory issues against retailers.

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Solutions Showcase ALPHA

Alpha High Theft Solutions.

Proud to Be an American-Made Company!

I

n the last six years more than six-million jobs have been outsourced overseas and away from America. Today only about eleven-million people still manufacture things in the United States—the lowest number since 1941. American products can’t always compete on low price, but we can still lead on quality, safety, service, durability, and speed to market.

Alpha has been manufacturing in the U.S. for more than thirty years. Our 210,000-square-foot Canton, Ohio, manufacturing plant is strategically located in the Midwest, which allows for optimal delivery to our customers. Last year alone, more than thirty-million units were produced and shipped to some of the top retailers in the world. The plant directly provides more than 200 jobs for engineers, quality staff, customer-service representatives, global project leaders, and more, not to mention utilizing more than fifteen local molder/contractors who provide raw materials, components, and finished goods.

There are many benefits to having full-line manufacturing in the U.S. By producing from start to finish, Alpha is able to meet our customers’ needs with end-to-end manufacturing control, ensure the quality of our products, ship products with 99.9 percent accuracy, and manage inventory. Other benefits include quicker time to market updates, fewer delays due to time zones, and more eco-friendly production.

In February of this year, the Canton facility was rated fourth out of 2,405 companies

by FM Global in their annual Risk Report, putting us at the top of the loss prevention industry for safety, quality systems in place, storage, evacuation plans, and more.

We were also ranked 46 out of the top 100 of all mid-sized U.S. manufacturing plants in “Quality Leadership”

by Quality magazine, a ranking based on criteria such as contribution of quality

to profitability, shareholder value, and the number of quality programs. Canton is proud to boast that their plant has had “zero lost-time accidents” in the past six years. Additionally, Canton ranks number one among all other Checkpoint sites.

“Our Canton team is extremely passionate about the quality of products we produce, and proud of the safety ratings we have consistently achieved,” says Gale Essick, director of manufacturing in Canton.

The local community also benefits from the generous Canton team. Many are actively involved in regional activities, such as volunteering with the Akron/Canton Regional Food Bank, collecting for “Coats For Kids,” and participating in the “Pathways Giving Tree.”

We’ve all experienced the effects of our country’s economic downturn, including high unemployment rates and people questioning the security of their future. Our commitment to continuing to produce a multitude of American-made solutions for our industry stems from our desire to have a positive impact on our economy in terms of growth, innovation, and domestic job creation.

“We will continue increasing our U.S. manufacturing in the future,” states Larry Yeager, vice president and general High Theft Solutions manager of Alpha. “Why? Because competitors may approximate our products or attempt to replicate our services in low-cost countries, but they cannot replicate our people. Our workforce is an important component of the truly sustainable, competitive advantages we have.”

Alpha recognizes the opportunity and responsibility we have in revitalizing the American manufacturing industry. We are proud to be the only company in our space that manufactures in America.

LP Magazine | May - June 2012

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Solutions Showcase InstaKey Security Systems

Improving Fuel Dispenser Credit-Card Information Security

D

ue to emerging concerns surrounding credit-card data theft and tampering, Susser Holdings Corporation needed a new security solution. On one level they needed to upgrade or replace their fuel dispensers to meet current regulations, but they also needed an improved physical security lock that controlled personnel access.

receive master keys for specific geographic areas, and key alike all fuel dispensers by location.

In lost, stolen, or unaccounted for key situations, InstaKey’s lock hardware technology enables immediate rekeying of locks up to twelve times on-site by store personnel. This technology also allows independent rekeying between the store, area master, and corporate grand master key levels. “The customer now can rekey only at the level of the misplaced key without replacing all keys,” says Vegeais.

By InstaKey offering a revolutionary rekeying technology, fuel supervisors now have a cost-effective solution that can resolve company-wide rekeying costs when a key is compromised. By tracking all of the key-holder information, Stripes locations can also quickly audit and/or rekey in a fraction of the time it used to take to change out all the locks.

“We were very pleased to see these two vendors work in conjunction for us on this project,” said Craig Scotton, senior director of petroleum services, Susser Holdings.

In March 2011 at the SPECS (store planning, equipment, construction, and facilities services) convention in Grapevine, Texas, Craig Scotton, Susser Holdings senior director of petroleum services, found InstaKey Security Systems’ KeyControl™ program to utilize for their Stripes® convenience store locations.

At Susser Holdings’ request, Petroleum Solutions, a Houston-based fuel management distributor, was already researching new lock technology for these fuel dispenser upgrades. Upon review of InstaKey’s KeyControl program, “We felt this was the most cost-effective and secure solution available,” said Mike Vegeais, director of business development.

With InstaKey’s KeyControl program, the key blanks themselves are only available through highly controlled licensed distribution channels and not available on the open market. Each key blank is individually serial numbered and tracked from the first day of production, through all key issuances, and until the day it is deactivated by the enduser.

InstaKey’s patented SecurityRecords.com™ Internet-accessible software tracks the key-holder assignment history for real-time accessibility. The database also provides rekeying exception and key compliance reporting that can be managed by the customer’s operations, facilities, and security departments, or any InstaKey representative.

Petroleum Solutions and InstaKey Security Systems personnel worked in conjunction to develop, coordinate, and install the new rekeyable cabinet lock technology during each dispenser’s encrypted PIN pad upgrade. Also, in order to provide a simple single-key solution, Susser Holdings elected to have a corporate grand master key for all locations, vendors to

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Susser Holdings—Corpus Christi, Texas-based Susser Holdings Corporation is a third-generation, family-led business with approximately 1,100 company-operated or contracted locations. The company operates over 540 convenience stores in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma under the Stripes banner. Restaurant service is available in more than 325 of its stores, primarily under the proprietary Laredo Taco Company brand. The company also supplies branded motor fuel to over 560 independent dealers through its wholesale fuel division.

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Solutions Showcase WG SECURITY PRODUCTS

Sentinel—The Future of EAS Today

By John Werner, Director of Technical Services

W

alarm. A Sentinel tag cannot be removed without the signal being deactivated first and that can only be achieved with a specific Sentinel detacher (called a Sales RAD) located at the point of sale. If a tag is removed without proper signal deactivation, the tag will alarm. Sentinel can also be catered to work with wireless headsets, so alarms can be silent in the store, but fed into the ears of your employees directly.

The beauty of Sentinel is its simplicity. Since there are no pedestals to worry about, no floor cutting or drilling is required. It takes very little time to set up, which makes its installation a breeze for both us and for our customers. Sentinel is extremely efficient at power consumption compared to legacy EAS systems. There are also minimum service requirements with Sentinel—no false alarms or phasing issues that are common with legacy pedestals. Once installed, the system is programmable from the floor. No climbing ladders and no annoyance to shopping customers if service is needed. The design of Sentinel readers is sleek and compact and with its location being above the merchandise, it can be considered an invisible system.

hile there remains a need for EAS in the retail world, it is a sad fact that many EAS technologies in the market today remain stagnant and sadly out-of-date to cope with the menace of shoplifting in the new millennium.

The fact is that shoplifters are becoming more organized and more technologically savvy in their approaches to theft, leaving most retailers scratching their heads when faced with increasing shrinkage numbers.

Most EAS has evolved at a snail’s pace in comparison.

In my twenty-five years in the EAS world, I have witnessed first-hand the apathy of many in the industry in terms of technological improvement to EAS products.

As long as companies keep making money selling equipment that is easily defeated, there really is no motivation to improve performance. Because of this, many stores use equipment that is so outdated they may as well not have any security of any kind.

After spending fifteen years at industry giant Sensormatic, I became director of technical services at WG Security Products in San Jose, California. When I made the move, I witnessed a company that made technological innovation a priority, and I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of it. WG transformed EAS tagging with their 58KHz ferrite technology, which has since become an industry standard. We developed the world’s first 4-alarm smart hard tags. Our pedestals feature not only robust performance, but aesthetics that can’t be matched. And now comes a pinnacle in theft prevention—Sentinel.

Revolutionary Technology

Retail and Beyond

Sentinel is a revolutionary technology that represents the next step in EAS technology. This unique technology is designed to contain merchandise within a designated area, without the use of cables or lock-up. Sentinel is comprised of a series of readers, called RADs (Radiate and Detect) installed on walls near the ceiling throughout the store, thus eliminating the eyesore of pedestals for your customers.

These readers communicate with specially designed tags via radio frequencies to ensure that tagged items stay within the designated area. If a tag leaves the range of the RADs, the system will alarm at the point of exit of the store. If a Sentinel tag is tampered with in any way, this disrupts the radio signal and causes the Sentinel tag itself to

While the retail applications are obvious to any retailer with an eye for high-end security and invisibility, Sentinel is also a terrific monitoring system. Hospitals, warehouses, correctional and government facilities, or any environment where items, or even people, need to be tracked and secured, Sentinel is an answer. Sentinel software is customizable for every tracking need.

Sentinel has been installed at several airports in Europe to amazing results, and it is primed to make a splash here in the U.S. Along with Sentinel, WG is perfecting RFID plus EAS technology. We have introduced the Protection with Class collection, a series of elegantly designed tags that combine aesthetics with performance. Our service department will release later this year mobile applications for remote tuning of pedestals.

When it comes to technological innovation, no company can match WG Security Products. Many companies look forward to the future. The future of EAS is already here in the present at WG—The Innovators in EAS-RFID-CCTV. For more information about Sentinel and other state-of-the-art products, contact WG at info@wgspi.com or visit www.wgspi.com.

Follow WG on Twitter: @wgspi.

LP Magazine | May - June 2012

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Industry News

by Robert L. DiLonardo

Retail RFID: When and How, not Why or If

DiLonardo is a well-known authority on the electronic article surveillance business, the cost justification of security products and services, and retail accounting. He is the principal of Retail Consulting Partners, LLC (www.retailconsultingllc.com), a firm that provides strategic and tactical guidance in retail security equipment procurement.

DiLonardo can be reached at 727-709-6961 or by email at rdilonar@tampabay.rr.com.

R

FID Journal Live’s 10th anniversary conference and exhibition was held in early April. I’ve attended them all and have seen the cycle of interest and enthusiasm rise and fall multiple times. This year, the industry seems to be enjoying a groundswell of growth led by the publicity behind a growing number of successful long-running pilot programs, especially in the retail apparel market segment.

The highlight of the conference was the all-day session featuring speakers covering all aspects of the retail applications, along with the Retail and Apparel Pavilion in the exhibit hall, where several vendors showcased hardware and software products devoted to inventory control and security products.

Seven Years of Efforts

The primary message from the retail practitioners, academic researchers, and technology providers who addressed the gathering is that RFID works…by any definition of the word. The seven years of effort in standards development are now paying off.

■ Hardware design, durability, functionality, and accuracy are measurably improved because they have evolved around the standards set by GS1 and EPC Global.

■ Read rates are significantly higher—up to 30 to 40 thousand per hour.

■ Tag detection performance is significantly better, thanks to strides made by reader manufacturers and inlay antenna designers.

■ RFID tag demand is high enough so that prices have dropped somewhat.

■ Application software is abundant and robust.

■ Implementation processes have been honed.

Best of all, the retail pioneers, such as Bloomingdale’s, Dillard’s, Walmart, jcpenney, American Apparel, and the Metro Group in Europe, have achieved their initial goals of getting better visibility to merchandise inventory, streamlining the item-level stock count process, and obtaining a significant return on the investment.

Following are some of the major takeaways from the retail sessions.

Deployment Rules

Dr. Bill Hardgrave, now dean and Wells Fargo professor at Auburn University’s College of Business, spoke passionately about his “Big 4” RFID applications for retail, and provided a list of ten deployment rules to live by. “Nothing else matters if inventory accuracy is poor,” he said. “First and foremost, get that right.” Subordinate to inventory accuracy are identifying and reducing out-of-stocks, loss prevention, and locating merchandise.

Beyond those four applications, he mentioned dressing room controls and price-change management as future places where RFID

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will ultimately be of value. A few of the more significant deployment rules are listed here: ■ Pick your use case first. What is important to your organization? The use case should drive the technology choice, not vice versa.

■ Don’t try to answer the question, “Does the technology work?”

It works according to Dr. Hardgrave. Of course, there are varying definitions in this case for the word “works.” Don’t get hung up on technological definitions. Focus more upon whether or not the system works by meeting your goals, including obtaining an ROI. ■ There are two prominent pilot strategies—isolating merchandise categories or isolating stores. Pick one or the other, depending on your company’s strengths.

■ Run the pilot by collecting baseline data (say for two months), assess the impact (two months), and collect similar data in control stores.

This methodology will allow you to compare before and after, as well as user against non-user. Make sure your sampling is statistically significant, so that the data is strong enough to allow for the conclusion to be advanced over a wider sample (rollout).

Insight from Bloomingdale’s

Roger Blazek, vice president of shortage control for Bloomingdale’s and its Omni Channel business, is an early adopter of item-level RFID. The Bloomingdale’s case study has been used to champion the technology in the retail industry. He provided an interesting insight into the experience at Bloomingdale’s, as well as a couple of thoughts for the future of RFID as a shortage-control tool: ■ Do frequent inventory item file updates reduce inventory distortion?

The main goals for the pilot were to improve the accuracy of the on-hand inventory, planning and inventory management, and store execution; that is, getting the right product into the hands of the customer and thereby improving financial results. The pilot was so successful that more cycle counts became so important to the business, “The stores wouldn’t let us take it out,” he said.

■ Is there any correlation between RFID counts and shortage rates?

Since RFID is not being used directly as a theft-prevention method, there doesn’t seem to be a direct correlation to shortage results.

An integration of RFID and EAS is not a main focus, but is under discussion. With additional software controls in the handheld readers, Blazek can envision a day when the RFID counts could displace the current methodology for conducting the fiscal year-end physical inventory.

■ Enterprise-wide rollout. Macy’s, the corporate parent of Bloomingdale’s, has recently announced an enterprise-wide rollout continued on page 70

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Calendar continued from page 68

of RFID in some categories to be in place sometime during the third quarter of 2012.

May 2, 2012 Georgia Retail Association LP Council Retail Crime Conference Americas Mart, Atlanta, GA www.georgiaretail.org May 20 – 23, 2012 Food Marketing Institute Internal Auditing Conference Loews Portofino Bay Hotel Orlando, FL www.fmi.org June 17 – 22, 2012 Association of Certified Fraud Examiners 23rd Annual Fraud Conference & Exhibition Gaylord Palms Resort, Orlando, FL www.fraudconference.com June 19 – 22, 2012 National Retail Federation Loss Prevention Conference & EXPO Ernest N. Morial Convention Center New Orleans, LA www.nrf.com August 5 – 8, 2012 National Food Service Security Council Annual Conference and Exposition Hyatt Regency Inner Harbor Baltimore, MD www.nfssc.com September 10 – 13, 2012 ASIS International 58th Annual Seminar and Exhibits Philadelphia (PA) Convention Center www.asisonline.org September 12, 2012 Retail Council of Canada Loss Prevention Conference International Centre, Toronto, ON www.rcclpconference.ca October 8 – 10, 2012 RETECH Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach, FL October 15 – 17, 2012 Loss Prevention Research Council 8th Annual Impact Workshop University of Florida campus Gainesville, FL www.lpresearch.org October 30 – 31, 2012 ISC East 2012 Jacob Javits Convention Center New York, NY www.isceast.com

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Future Deployment

While there are no cases of a full RFID deployment in retail—meaning all items in all stores—a few of the pioneers in the specialty apparel retail market who control their manufacturing process will reach that state in the next year or so. Because they sell brands, department stores will take a little longer.

According to the most recent estimates, about 1 billion items of apparel will be RFID tagged in 2012, about 1 percent of the 100 billion items of apparel that will be manufactured worldwide. Approximately 20 billion apparel items are manufactured for a handful of the world’s largest global retailers.

As unit sales approach 10 billion per year, it will make more economic sense for the world’s apparel manufacturers to adopt RFID tagging protocols. Coupled with the expected future advancements in reader performance and the continued reduction in tag costs, roundtable panel experts in both the U.S. and Europe predict that a tipping point in critical mass should be reached in about two to three years. I hope they are right. It’s been a long-time coming.

ASIS 2012 Sessions to Explore Retail Security The ASIS International 58th Annual Seminar and Exhibits (ASIS 2012) will open September 10 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia. The four-day conference and exhibition is the most comprehensive education and networking event and leading trade show dedicated to security.

Once again this year, the seminar will present more than 200 educational sessions across twenty-two focused tracks.

With the colocation of the (ISC)2 Security Congress, registrants of both ASIS and (ISC)2 conferences may attend both groups’ education sessions and exhibits.

“As organized retail crime groups continue to develop in both impact and complexity, it is vital to leverage all investigative tools available to solve these high-value cases,” states Joe Davis, director of field loss prevention for T-Mobile.

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According to Davis, who will present an educational session at ASIS 2012, cellular communications is one of the most useful sources of information. “By understanding what data exists and how to go about obtaining visibility to it, investigators are positioned to sometimes solve those ‘unsolvable’ cases.”

Outside of the classrooms and general sessions, ASIS 2012 also offers a robust showcase of the latest security products and services. The challenge for many will be in navigating the more than 700 exhibits across 230,000 square feet to find the best solutions. ASIS offers tools for attendees to use to make the most effective and efficient investment of time while in Philadelphia.

Attendees can review session and exhibitor information and make appointments with manufacturers or service providers ahead of arrival with the online planner. Attendees are also encouraged to download the ASIS 2012 mobile application. This will put the very latest information on education and the show floor right in the palm of their hand.

Attendees will find information on some of the newest and most innovative technologies and service offerings featured in the ASIS Accolades competition, which identifies “Security’s Best” prior to the opening of the seminar. One of the most popular sessions at the seminar each year is “What’s New on the Floor?” Presented on Tuesday, September 11, this session explores some of the new and innovative physical and information security products that can be found on the show floor. Security industry veterans Ronald Lander, CPP, and Howard Belfor, CPP, SST, lead this informative session.

“There will be a greater emphasis on product interoperability in addition to the introduction of a larger number of mobile applications aimed at remote management, field data collection, and forensics,” states Belfor. “Some of the most significant advances since last year will be in the area of data analysis—whether metadata or analytics associated with captured video or other security-related monitoring.”

For the latest information on education, networking, and exhibits at ASIS 2012, visit asis2012.org. If you are not currently a member of ASIS, you may join prior to ASIS 2012 and receive a $100 education credit, which can be applied to the ASIS 2012 registration. Learn more at asisonline.org/joinnow.

People on the move Karl Suhanyi was appointed AP Zone Manager at 7-Eleven.

Sean Branning was appointed Area LP Manager at Family Dollar.

Jim Skawinski, JD was promoted to Director of LP for Pacific Sunwear.

John Murphy III was named Business Development Specialist at American Citadel Guard.

Kirby Sabey was promoted to National LP Manager, North America and Australia for Fossil Corporation.

Jon Young was promoted to Senior Regional LP and Safety Manager at PetSmart.

David Seidler was appointed LP Manager at Apple.

Joseph Ortega, CFI was promoted to Director of LP for Gap Inc./Old Navy.

Dennis Douress was promoted to Regional LP Manager at RadioShack.

Ascena Retail Group has appointed Brian Bazer and Hector Person Assistant Vice Presidents, LP and Risk Management.

Genesco has announced the promotion of Allison Ernst and Brian Palmer to LP Managers.

Bryan Strawser was named Vice Chair, Disaster Response and Preparedness Committee for RILA.

Wayne Barnes was appointed Regional Investigator at ANN INC.

Tony Norton was appointed Director, LP and Safety at Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland and East Central Ohio.

Ross has appointed Eric Mendez, Dwain Turner, and Carlos Vazquez to Area LP Managers.

Nancy Schuneman, CFI was appointed Regional LP Manager at The Gymboree Corporation.

T.J. Szymanski was named Regional LP Manager at rue21.

Fiona Dudeney was named Regional LP Manager at Bed Bath & Beyond.

Shaun Gilfoy, CFI was appointed Director of LP for BevMo!.

Nicole Baber and Chuck Fowler were named LP Managers at Bloomingdale’s.

Marc Lambert, CFI was promoted to Senior Regional LP Manager at Brookstone.

Robert Sanchez, Jr. was appointed Regional LP Manager at Carter’s/OshKosh B’gosh.

Anthony Rodriguez was named Corporate LP Manager of Programs and Initiatives for The Children’s Place.

Chris McDonald was appointed Senior VP of LP for Compass Group North America.

CVS Caremark has announced the appointments of Ken Warfield to Area Director and Timothy Kneidel, CFI and Kirt Lovett to Regional LP Managers.

Dick’s Sporting Goods has announced the following appointments: Jeff Byrnes, Tony Hayes, LPC, Brit Hehn, and Robin Johnston to District LP Managers.

Michael Mills was appointed LP Analyst at Delhaize America.

Harvey Hillebert was named Regional LP Manager at Dollar General.

Brian Plovanich was appointed District LP Manager at Donna Karan/Fendi. eBay/PayPal has announced the appointment of Kathy Free to Director, Global AP Data Analytics and Tools and the promotion of John Mearls to Director of Global AP Investigations and Anti-Counterfeiting Operations.

Ken D. Gladney, CFI was appointed LP Coordinator at Half Price Books.

Brian Thompson was named District LP Manager at Hastings Entertainment.

Jared Tedeschi was appointed Branch LP Manager at HMSHost.

Rebecca Lay was promoted to District LP Manager at jcpenney.

Kohl’s Department Stores has announced the following changes: Pete Trexler, CFI appointed District LP Manager; and Sam Honeycutt, Denny Jenner, Stephen Leach, and Elisha Toye, CFI promoted to Regional Directors of LP. Limited Brands has promoted Jennifer Avery, CFI and Margie Manto, CFI to Area LP Managers and Christopher Vaval to Regional LP Manager.

Sears Holdings has promoted Chris Lopez to Operations Manager and Brian Sturch to Regional Director of LP. Dan Lottes, CFI was appointed Regional LP Manager at Sephora.

Matt Higgins, CFI was named Regional LP Manager at Spencer Gifts.

Allan Watters was promoted to Senior VP of AP for Sports Authority.

Lee Bland, LPC was promoted to VP of LP for Stage Stores.

Doreen Pavese, CFI was appointed U.S. LP Manager for Swatch Group.

Oscar Arango was promoted to Director of AP for Target Canada.

Tally Bonlender was appointed Regional LP Manager at LP Innovations.

Tyson Roberts, LPQ was named Market Investigations Manager and Linda Campbell National Manager of Investigations, ORC for Toys“R”Us.

Stephen McIntosh, CFI was appointed Regional Manager of AP at lululemon athletica.

Johnny Custer, LPC, CFI was appointed Director, Crime Data Shares for Verisk Crime Analytics.

Macy’s has announced the following promotions: Sheryl Mason to District Manager of Investigations; Jason Hugues, Joe Kinsey, Michael Hooper, and Darren Adkins to District Directors of LP; Nick Publin to Director of Central Investigations; and Jimmy Hernandez and Chase Seitz to Regional Training Managers.

David Wood, LPQ was named LP/Risk Manager, West Coast Distribution for VF Corporation, Outdoor Coalition.

Nadine Eller was appointed Market AP Manager at Walmart.

Mark Albert was appointed Northeast Regional LP Investigator at Wireless Advocates.

Sean Califf was named District LP Manager at Marshalls.

Doug McKendry was appointed Territory Manager, LP at Nike.

Chris Holbert was named Regional LP Manager at Eddie Bauer.

Mike Triesch was promoted to Regional LP Manager Northwest for Nordstrom.

Joshua Dykstra was promoted to LP Operations Manager at Express.

Orchard Supply Hardware has named Tim Robinson and Bobby Spurce Regional Operations and LP Managers and Jeff Berk, LPQ Distribution LP Manager.

LP Magazine | May - June 2012

To stay up-to-date on the latest career moves as they happen, sign up for the magazine’s weekly e-newsletter or visit the People on the Move page in the Community section of the magazine website, LPportal.com.

Information for People on the Move is provided in part by the Loss Prevention Foundation, Loss Prevention Recruiters, and Jennings Executive Recruiting. Send information on promotions and new hires to peopleonthemove@LPportal.com.

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ClickIt Inc. Jim Paul Director of Sales

Gulfcoast Software Solutions Tim Lindblom Executive Vice President

Palmer, Reifler & Associates Jeff Welch Executive Director

Alpha Diane Wise Global Marketing Manager

Corporate Safe Specialists Ed McGunn President/CEO

InstaKey Security Systems Cita Doyle Director of Sales & Marketing

The Retail Equation Tom Rittman Vice President, Marketing

American Dynamics Carol Vardaro Marketing Specialist

LockUp Emma Mann Marketing Director

Intelligent Loss Prevention Joerg Niederhuefner Director of Business Development

Security Resources, Inc. Kris Vece Business Development

Axis Communications Jackie Andersen Business Development Manager, Retail

Enabl-u Technologies Division ISO Crime Analytics Kevin McMenimen, LPC President

Milestone Systems Trenton Thoms Retail Sales Manager

Tyco Integrated Security Kevin E. Lynch, LPC Executive Director

Checkpoint Carlos Perez Senior Director, Global Marketing

Evolution Robotics Colleen Lindsey Marketing Director

LP Magazine | May - June 2012

73

Parting Words

How Did We Get So Lucky?

Jim Lee Executive Editor together in a partnership for success. With names like that how could anyone doubt their passion for safety.

■M ark Stinde speaking about leveraging technology to support the sales, customer service, and profit of 7-Eleven, and Rite Aid’s Bob Oberosler explaining how to build a diverse and productive LP team. These two executives are so good that they could have done each other’s presentation.

■P aul Stone of Best Buy and Frank Johns of the LP Foundation were exceptional in discussing ethics and compliance issues.

What do you do when someone makes allegations against you?

What do you do when you are told to stop an investigation?

■W alter Palmer, Stan Welch, Ken Amos, Libby Rabun, Brand Elverston, Dave Zulawski, Chris McDonald, Cheryl Blake, and Dennis Klein, all leaders in the industry, giving of their time and expertise to help young and first-time attendees feel special and passionate about their profession. Way to go people.

Since I began this column by reminiscing a bit, allow me to speak about two professionals in this business that do not get enough credit for their contributions—Pete Schmidt and George Luciano.

Pete is an executive with 3VR. Over the years he has become an accomplished expert in video and analytical intelligence. He was not always a vendor. Pete started his career at Montgomery Ward after attending Indiana University majoring in police administration. One of the early leaders in LP with Wards, he was a special breed back then with a college degree on his resume. Pete was the top LP executive with three companies before moving into the vendor world with Security Tag and helping all of us get “inked with EAS.” It’s always good to see and speak with Pete at these conferences.

George Luciano is retired…sort of. I say “sort of” because he has retired at least three times that I know of. So, maybe he is, or maybe not. George was a founding partner of Civil Demand and Associates, which has been around for over twenty-five years. However, George has been around longer than that. He was the top LP executive at Zody’s, Clothes Time, and Petco, as well as a consultant to many in LP. I will tell you that a lot of that consulting was without payment, but with much passion. I personally experienced this when, as an LP executive, I needed help on some problems, and George was there. There are many who have been lucky to know and get to appreciate this man.

Thanks to George and Pete, and all the other unselfish leaders, for giving back to our industry.

As a young person in loss prevention…yes, at one time I was…one of my greatest thrills was to attend my first national conference. It was a big deal for me. St. Louis was the city, and my good friend Jim Giese and I bought weekend tickets for three baseball games. We arrived three days before the conference began and found that the players had gone on strike, and all games were cancelled. We walked around a lot, ate a lot, and waited with great anticipation for the conference to begin.

When the first speaker took the podium, we were pretty fired up and feeling very important to be there. How impressed I was as the leading practitioners and vendors of retail made presentation after presentation. This was really cool. I felt a part of something big and good.

As a young person in loss prevention…yes, at one time I was…one of my greatest thrills was to attend my first national conference. How impressed I was as the leading practitioners and vendors of retail made presentation after presentation.

This was really cool. I felt a part of something big and good.

That was a lot of years ago, but I suspect that the young people attending conferences today have the same feelings I had then—cool, big, impressive leaders. It’s an on-going challenge to make conferences special and enlist the top executives to take the lead on making presentations. The recent RILA conference achieved that goal. Here are some of the highlights for me: ■M ark King, CEO of TaylorMade Golf, making the pitch to everyone to “lead or lose…be willing to make radical changes.”

■C hris Canoles of The Home Depot telling the story of the Joplin, Missouri, tornado and admitting they thought they had the best of plans, but you can always make them better, so don’t become complacent.

■T he story of Lowe’s senior vice president of distribution, Steve Szilagyi, and the vice president of LP, Claude Verville, having many challenging and adversarial moments until they came

74

May - June 2012

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