Retail Security Company | RETAIL STORE SECURITY
Security in retail stores is one of the most commonly known types of security with most people in our communities, suburbs, and cities. As almost everyone visits their local shopping centre, with many people also visiting major retail shopping districts to buy various items, do their grocery shopping, or relax.
The Loss Prevention Officer is a security position that is often not so visible to members of the public/patrons unless such patrons have acted on the opposite side of the law (i.e. shoplifting). The licensed security personnel for this type of security work is called a Loss Prevention Officer (LPO) or Loss Prevention Security (LPS).
Loss Prevention Officers could be undercover (not wearing a uniform) or openly uniformed with the intention to deter would-be shoplifters or thieves from stealing. As for the covert Loss Prevention Officer, one of their primary purposes is to apprehend or arrange the arrest of the offending patrons/customer. They can issue an in-store or centre banning notice, and possibly hand them over to the local police authority to process them or charge them to court, depending on the offense.
You can also increase your knowledge of retail loss prevention by reading our follow-up blog on retail loss prevention.
Retail Security Company | BUSY DAYS
Security Concepts Services provides loss prevention security officers; we will always advocate that every major or minor retail store have loss prevention officers, especially during the festive seasons (e.g. Christmas) and on busier days for retailers like from Thursday-Sunday. These busy seasons and days of the week are periods where there is a high number of customers in shopping centres/retail stores. With a genuinely high volume of patrons visiting retail stores, you will attract a number of people who specialize in shoplifting and stealing from retail stores.
The trick is the busier the shopping centre and the retail store gets, the more likely staff members are going to be busy and won’t be able to monitor all customers who are in the store. Therefore, hiring a loss prevention officer is handy in busy days of the week and seasons to help prevent theft, arrest offending patrons, and ban them from visiting your store or centre again.
You can hire a security guard and position them at the front of your centre/store and have them patrol around the store to show presence and deter the would-be thief. However, the advantage of the loss prevention officer over an openly uniformed security guard is the loss prevention officer disguises themselves as a customer, so the shoplifter doesn’t know they’re being followed/watched, and they easily get caught when they engage in criminal activity in your store.