NCJ Number
132429
Journal
Security Management Volume: 35 Issue: 9 Dated: (September 1991) Pages: 115,117-119
Date Published
1991
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Based on surveys and an interview with the manager of national headquarters security for Chicago's Sears Roebuck and Company (Jerry VanderPloeg), this article discusses the extent of employee theft in retail stores and the methods they use.
Abstract
Although the numbers on employee theft vary according to who has conducted the study, there is disagreement in the industry over the accuracy of the numbers. VanderPloeg agrees that employee theft is a major problem, but that there is no way to document what portions of inventory loss result from employee theft. According to VanderPloeg, the primary methods by which the largest amounts of theft occur are through refund scams and the theft of merchandise through the customer pickup area. In a refund scam, employees ring in a fictitious return on the register and then take that amount of money out of the register and pocket it. This will show an unremunerated loss of inventory just the same as if the merchandise had been stolen. The majority of problems occur with part-time workers between the ages of 17 and 25. One security measure that is effective is exception reporting. These reports act as red flags. They signal when an employee is doing something out of the ordinary, such as ringing in a high number of no-sales or voids. Exception reports do not necessarily mean an employee is stealing, but they do suggest the need for an investigation. Given the potential for high-cost volume thefts from customer pickup areas, these areas should be monitored and managed with extensive security measures.