Recently, I went into a department store in Canada to buy a pair of shoes to attend a funeral. When I got to the men’s shoes department, I tried on a pair of shoes that I liked, but the clerk didn’t have that particular style of shoe in my size.
As a result, the clerk told me that the store was having a sale on shoes, so I should go to another area in the store to see if I find a style which I liked that fits me.
The other shoes were in the center of the store so when I got to the area, I saw a man leaning on some boxes. He was watching me, so I ignored him and I began to try on different styles of shoes to see which style might fit me.
The man walked away for a while, but a few minutes later he came back to the area where I was, and he began to watch me in a very suspicious manner. It was very clear that the man was a store detective, and he had me on his radar.
I tried on several pairs of shoes but I didn’t find a pair that I was comfortable in, so I bought a tie and a shirt instead, and I left the store.
According to the National Association For Shoplifting Prevention, retailers lose $25 million in stolen goods each day in the United States. An estimated $13 billion; which is charged back to the consumers in higher costs for products.
Shoplifting is at a crisis level, and retailers have a legal right to hire store detectives to aggressively do surveillance in the stores to arrest the thieves.
However, store detectives should be trained to keep everyone, who enters a department store, under surveillance regardless of:
- Race
- Culture
- Age
- Gender
- Class
Studies show that people shoplift, for the following reasons:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Sadness
- A need the get things for free; even when they can afford to pay for the items
- Some people feel they deserve a gift or a treat for their accomplishments in life
- The loss of a job, divorce, or the loss of a loved one
- An addiction to shopping
- As a result of an impulse control disorder
Store detectives should be trained to understand the psychological profile or motivations why people shoplift because it is unethical for the detectives to harass minorities. Or to investigate a particular race, culture, social class or gender.
Anyone who walks into a department stores can be a potential shoplifter . Similarly anyone who walks into store can be a genuine customer who is honestly there to buy items he or she is willing and able to pay for at the cash register.
As a result, it is the store detective’s ethical responsibility to develop a dignified surveillance system to sort out who is shoplifting, and who is a sincere shopper.
Bani
October 26, 2011
I could not agree with you more. most of the retail store detectives normally limit their surveillance to the suspicious looking shoppers. this would be the shoppers who seem shifty, wierdly dressed or even those who are from the minority cases. What people do not get is that those who are often guilty of shoplifting are those who seem least likely to have done the deed. For instance, I have a friend who is a habitual shoplifter, she shoplifts small things, just for the thrill of it. The key reason that she has never been caught is that she is well known in this town and she never bothers to hide what she steals. She basically holds it in her hand, therefore even when she is caught she just claims that she was absent minded.
However, at one time she had to watch as some shop attendants ransacked some lady’s bags on suspicion that she had stolen a scarf…but it turned out that the lady was innocent. The scarf in question was tied around my friend’s wrist.
The flaw in those guys surveillance methods was just too big. The most innocent looking are often the guity ones. Anyone who into a retail store is a possible shoplifter.
halfjadhe halfkyuk
November 1, 2011
@Bani__Funny that to be honest. I also feel that class is more of an influence in shop surveillance compared to race. I remember this one time I went into a toys shop. I looked around and fiddled with stuff for a whole hour. Later on I went and got a cousin to come and see the stuff I had found and help me make judgement about whether a certain joystick/sidewinder set was nice for computer gaming. I could tell that the owner of the shop was bit careful about me. (I didn’t quite look like the buying kind). He turned aggressive and actually insulted me once or twice. Asked me to leave.
I tried coming back an hour later hoping he could have forgotten but he saw us at the entrance and yelled from far off. It was so embarrassing considering other kids were inside the shop doing the exact same stuff I was doing and he played along. I only later came with my dad and oh you should have seen how he smiled and welcomed us. My dad paid in cash for the stuff and I was amazed at how people are good at faking smiles.
Bani
November 10, 2011
Hehe….sorry for your experience halfjadhe.