All of us at American Alarm would like to wish our readers a pleasant and prosperous 2018. One thing we have been proud of in 2017 is providing our readers with solid, informative security related content throughout the year.
Here are some of our favorite stories from the past year. We hope you continue reading to stay abreast of best security practices for 2018. Read more →
In 2016, the average inventory shrink rate, increased to 1.44 percent, up from 1.38 percent in 2015, according to the National Retail Security Survey 2017. Shoplifting by outside customers, accounted for 37% of retail inventory loss, followed by 30% in employee theft, 21% in administrative errors and 5% in vendor fraud. This loss cost retailers about $48.9 billion worth of inventory, a National Retail Federation survey found.
Items most commonly stolen include clothing, books, music, jewelry, watches, tires and car parts. “Everyone thinks about little Johnny stealing a pack of bubble gum, but there are also professional gangs that target stores and steal billions of dollars every year,” says Joseph LaRocca, an adviser for the National Retail Federation, in the article. Read more →
When it came to loss prevention back in the day, retailers hired security guards, off-duty police officers, or other such folks to catch criminals trying to rip off their stores. The effectiveness of a retailer’s business security was mainly judged in terms of the number of arrests its security personnel made.
Times have changed, however. Now the name of the game is “loss prevention,” minimizing retail loss rather than making a lot of arrests. To that end, retailers are turning to innovative technology to help them mitigate theft and fraud.
Here are the four trends in “asset protection technology” for 2016, according to the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA).
In 2013, Boston police responded to over 8,000 complaints of property crime, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR). This equates to over 20 incidents per day and doesn’t indicate how many of these reported crimes led to arrests. What’s more, statistics can’t account for shoplifting and other property crimes that go unreported or unnoticed.
It’s no surprise that small businesses are feeling the pinch with profit margins slimming and high-value items disappearing thanks to five-finger discounts. How can you stop the shoplift?
We probably all know someone who pocketed a candy bar or a pack of gum from the local store when they were kids. They probably caught hell from their folks when they did. The truth is today shoplifting is far from a petty crime. In fact, it costs businesses nationwide billions and forces them to consider a business security system upgrade.
Sure, there are still the petty thieves that come in to pilfer what they can and these crimes can add up to some significant losses for businesses. According to the FBI, shoplifting rings are considered major organized crime. We’re talking about sophisticated groups of shoplifters, who case out stores just like banks. They come equipped with floor plans and special foil-lined bags that block the signals of security sensors. Read more →
