To not understand why TF some companies don’t employ security guards to help tackle shoplifting in retail?

[Pebblesandshells]

I work in retail in just one store of very well known nationwide chain of supermarkets, and although the stores tend not to be superstores, they are still a fair size in general and are extremely busy.
As in the title, I can’t understand why the stores don’t have any security staff to help reduce the shoplifting. (Some of the much larger stores may have security, but in all the stores I know in my vicinity, including mine, there are none)

As you may imagine, shoplifting is extremely rife, and in our store alone we are dealing with shoplifters on a daily basis. Most of them just blatantly steal a basket of steaks, joints, cheese, alcohol and coffee (although anything that isn’t nailed down is a target) and often walk out with a ‘couldn’t give a fuck attitude’ if they’re seen.

It’s also not just a ‘stereotypical look’ of a shoplifter who will help themselves, (even the wealthy who pull up in their 4 x 4’s are almost as likely to steal, it seems, if they can get away with it, although they tend to try to hide their theft by being more discreet and accidentally on purpose not scanning all their items into the self scanners, then acting all innocent when you point out that they’ve actually got four bottles of wine instead of one)

Our store alone must lose AT LEAST a few hundred pounds a week because of the light fingered brigade , (and that’s only the thefts we know of) so surely if there was constant security, what the store would save in reduced theft would pay for the security guard to be there!

So basically, where’s the sense in having no security, which would in effect pay for itself?

Some people might well steal out of desperation, but in my view, the majority of shoplifters steal purely because it’s too easy to get away with it. .... and they’re arseholes too.

80k per week for a supermarket isn't very much at all.

Also the human element, I'm not saying that theft is right but especially now and in the coming months, some people may shoplift out of desperation

The vast majority of crimes are crimes of desperation, addiction, ignorance or being hampered to do any better because circumstances have been against you your entire life. Our prisons are not, in the main, filled with conniving serial killing psychopaths. If we saw the “human element” in crime and opted to forgive it, we’d have emptied prisons and a more effective and productive criminal justice system. But we don’t, and so I don’t think shoplifters deserve a free pass just in case they’re stealing that leg of lamb to feed their six hungry children.

@Pebblesandshells and@ComtesseDeSpair

As I said, I'm not saying it's right and no, I don't think that we should give shoplifters a free pass, at the very least it may get them/their families some support once police are involved and the reason comes to light, and indeed serve as a deterrent to them and others (if in fact there's any concequences) if they're caught and prosecuted.

What I'm saying is that some people may choose to turn a blind eye because someone is in dire straits, people like that exist. You or I don't have to agree with their stance but it doesn't stop them existing or having that stance.
There's a difference between lifting a basket full of steaks to sell down the pub for beer money and taking a sandwich or box of cereal etc.

But just out of interest, are there different punishments for the amount stolen? For example would you get the same sentence for taking a bar of chocolate as you would a trolley full of steaks?

I suppose the root of the matter is that the supermarkets aren't looking to be moral compasses and make sure that anyone who steals from them is caught and punished - because the cost of doing that probably outweighs the cost of what they lose. Their objective is to make as much profit as possible and lose as little as possible and if what's stolen is worth less than the cost of preventing the stealing then that's what they'll go with.

Even if they do have security guards they can't really do anything, they aren't allowed to stop the shoplifters from leaving the store, a security guard near me lost his job and ended up with a criminal record himself because he broke the arm of a shoplifter.

I used to work in retail. Part of the problem is the police. They won't come out to deal with shoplifters, so there's little point in catching them.

Even on the odd occasion the police did come out, they wouldn't do anything.

Security guards are actually limited in what they can legally do and it's has to be "reasonable force" if it's used. Also would you put yourself in harms way for little over minimum wage? It's ok if you're fairly confident the shoplifter isn't going to give you a black eye the second you walk towards them but many aren't that readable. No one deserves to be in danger at work, no one signs up for that (not even the police).

I work in a larger superstore where we take well over £80000 a week (well over that a day on Fri/Sat/Sun) and we have 4 security guards that are there most of the time. There's only so much they can do and if someone decides to leg it or become violent I don't blame them for not pushing it further. We also have a special call out for all available colleagues to front of store, I've heard it twice this year and it's because either 2 (or more) customers are fighting or someone's attacking a colleague. It's basically used to try and de-escalate the situation by providing numbers until people calm down of the police arrive. It's only used in active situations and not as a preventative as I imagine 15+ colleagues turning up in 10 seconds can be intimidating.

Also, I know you're saying you're looking several hundreds each week, how much are you loosing in waste and other unsaleable stock? That's a far bigger bill in my store and I imagine most stores.

Be grateful you don't live in the US.

I would be interested to know what part of the country you are in, OP. In the Leicester area almost every supermarket, including Sainsburys Local & Tesco Express has security guards, many complete with bodycam. The self-checkout staff at Tesco Extra also wear bodycams. Even Waitrose has a security guard, although by the look of the old boy he would keel over if he had to chase anyone.

This.

Then you have to factor in the lawsuit from the security guards when they get lamped round the head with a tin of beans.

I must live in a really dodgy area - all of the stores near me have security guards, possibly evenings only for some.
Except waitrose, but they have uniformed staff to stand at the door.

Factor in the training costs, certifications and what you could be faced with on a very low wage - it's not worth risking life for.

It's pointless. The thieves go to the places in the store where the guards aren't.

I managed shops for years. The best and safest deterrent to shop lifters is really friendly customer service. You get to know your regular shop lifters. Following them with an accusing look will result in confrontation. Approaching them with a big smile and chatting to them usually makes them get fed up of you and leave. Works in 90% of cases in my experience. You'll never eliminate it. When you get the nasty ones who threaten violence it needs reporting to police as although a single instance will not likely result in anything a picture of bad character gets built for future court cases. This relies on the shop staff who witness the theft be willing to give a statement and go to court though. Which most won't. Hence the nasty shoplifters know they'll get away with it. A security guard doesn't stop these ones.

I worked until recently for another major retailer. They employ security guards. The guards are employed to stand there as a “deterrent”, a very ineffective one. They will do nothing, even when staff members are assaulted, because they could lose their jobs if they touch a shoplifter.

Shops will be seeing an increase in shoplifting I imagine. Our local supermarket does have a secure guard now (small rural town).

I used to work in a small high end outlet shopping place and it’s amazing the amount of posh wealthy (or seeming wealthy) people who will shoplift. We had one lady stuffing 2 designer clutch bags into her coat on cctv. Police did nothing.

There are plenty of petty thieves who are not in the least bit desperate, often the people who are the most desperate would rather starve than steal. The thieves may be greedy, or doing it for the thrill.

I work on public transport. Like you OP, I find that the supposedly respectable people need an eye keeping on them too. They're more subtle, tend towards fraud rather than hiding in the toilet, but they're at it all the same.

A local boots store (not the main one in the town centre, one in a retail park) have had to stop putting out all their cosmetics and skin care. Instead there is an empty bottle with a sticker on that tells you to take it to the till and a colleague will fetch you one. It's the management's way of dealing with shoplifting. The lovely lady on the till told me how terrifying it is when they come in and smash the perfume cabinets but still no security guards and they are told not to approach shoplifters.

My DS worked evenings in a supermarket. On Fridays and Saturdays they had a security guard stationed by the entrance. He worked for an agency and was totally ineffectual according to DS. The supermarkets don't care as the losses are already factored into the cost of the goods so it's the honest paying customers who are losing out.

They could security tag more items surely. Although it makes me feel really u comfortable that they tag baby formula in my Tesco when all the alcohol isn't tagged.

Uncomfortable that should be.

How can they cheat the self-scanner when the items are weighed at the other side? Or is it one of those newer ones I’ve seen that doesn’t have a scale and just relies on honesty?

I think you are assuming that security guards make a difference. In many cases they have a minimal impact on shoplifting. I have heard stories from people I know working in big shops where shoplifters have literally walked straight past the security guards. The more they shoplift, the more brazen they are. Security guards generally catch the idiot teenagers / desperate individuals lifting an odd item like a lipstick or a jacket - low value losses. Because having been caught they tend to be more compliant. Those who walk out with a full basket or even a rack of clothes (one of my friends told me about a group who did this regularly at the local clothes shops) don't comply and stop. And there is absolutely nothing that the security guard can do if they won't comply. They are gone before the police can arrive.

Young lad shoplifted a huge bag of groceries from m&s whilst I was there last week (never seen it there before)
Staff chased him (he was on a bike) and got the bag back.
Probably high value stuff like steaks and alcohol...
Shoplifting has always been pretty rife especially in large stores

My DD works in a supermarket (not one of the big 4 but possibly one like yours) and she does chase shoplifters. She chased one on 5/4 and got back some of the alcohol they were stealing - it's always alcohol so they are now moving it. A passerby got their reg number on his dash cam and as she hurt her finger the police were called. They said they would come the next day so the chap with the dash cam duly turned up to show them and they didn't. They phoned her this week to ask if she was still hurt!

They don't have a security guard, and as someone else said what do they actually do? The ones in the bigger supermarkets just seem to stand or sit near the door looking so disinterested with the bleepers going off around them.

The staff have been told not to chase them but they do as they take it personally if someone is shoplifting from their store. They also recognise the repeat offenders so can sometimes get them out of the store before anything happens. My DD has perfected the 'mum' look so they occasionally will put the stuff back and slink off. Obviously returning when she's not there 🤣