COLUMBUS, Ohio, 31 December 2005 — David Dunn gets paid to watch television screens, over twenty of them during eight-hour shifts. It’s not baseball or football that has him glued to the screen, but customers as they come through the doors to browse through products and (hopefully) pay at the register. Dunn, who asked me to use a pseudonym to protect his identity, is the security manager of a well-known Columbus department store. The months of November and December are his worst nightmare. On average, an American will buy gifts for at least thirty people this time of year and will incur a credit card debt of at least $3,000.
“In the holiday season we usually catch several shoplifters as they get more active. But you can only catch one shoplifter at a time. It’s possible that while I’m watching one, another is getting away,” Dunn told Arab News.
According to the National Association For Shoplifting Prevention, more than $10 billion worth of goods are stolen from retailers annually. That’s more than $27 million per day. There are approximately 23 million shoplifters, or 1 in 11 people, in the United States. About 25 percent of shoplifters are children and a majority of shoplifters are women.
Dunn says he’s seen it all in his eight years. “I saw an old man hide things under his oxygen tank, women hiding things in strollers, or on the bodies of their babies,” he said.
“There are those who will enter the store, grab whatever they want and run for it. Usually an accomplice has a car parked right outside. They don’t care if the sensors are beeping, they will just take the merchandise and split,” said Dunn. Many of the culprits are store employees. Despite all of the security measures, it is still not possible to catch them all the time he explained. “Employees have access to cash registers, stock rooms, fitting rooms where cameras are illegal. Also, we are not allowed to do body searches,” He added.
The Juniors department, which carried clothes for teenagers, is a target for shoplifters. “That’s why we have a camera right at the entrance of the fitting room to remind them, we are watching,” He said.
What is the reaction of shoplifters when they are caught? “I’ve had people deny doing it till we show it to them on tape. Some will pretend that they forgot to pay while some will try to kick you, push you and run away,” said Dunn.
