SECURITY Update
This Virgina Beach store is one of 366 state stores throughout Virginia that have undergone security camera upgrades recently. "The quality is amazing, incredible," according to Jama Smith, special agent in charge from the Bureau of Law Enforcement for the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
"And the percentages [between the different types] don't vary that much," said Bill Bregar, president of Loss Prevention Systems, a retail-security consulting firm. According to the Global Retail Theft Barometer, an annual report produced by the Centre for Retail Research (with funding from Checkpoint Systems), the overall "shrink rate" – losses from shoplifting, employee theft and administrative error – for United States retailers was 6% in 2011, with over 44% of it coming from employee theft and over 43% coming from shoplifting.
Quality Up, Price Down Luckily, however, the technologies retailers have to combat this crime continue to evolve – and in the case of cameras, the price of technology is actually dropping. "The quality of cameras, even from five years ago, has really improved – and they are much cheaper. There's been a huge race to the bottom, when it comes to price," said Loss Prevention's Bregar. That said, he warned, "There is a lot of junk out there, though. You want to stick with reputable brands." The Virginia ABC, for example, spent about $1 million on completely new systems, 8 to 20 cameras per store, plus new digital recording devices, for each of its 336 locations. The new camera systems in the Idaho SLD stores
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are equipped with audio for the cameras over the cash registers. "These are great for customer service," said Lowe, who pointed out that if a customer complains, he can find the transaction and watch – and listen – to the whole thing. The SLD might even use video of actual transactions in its employee-training programs. "We coach our clients to bring cashiers into the back office, show them a snippet of themselves waiting on a customer and point out what a good job they did," said Loss Prevention's Bregar. "There are two reasons to do this: one, the employee feels good about the positive feedback, and two, they realize, 'Holy cow, they're watching.'"
Visible Cameras A Deterrant Likewise, the Virginia ABC makes no bones about its new camera systems. "We are very open about having cameras. They are obvious in the stores," said Smith. "Our number-one concern is the safety and security of our employees and we think visible cameras serve as a deterrent to robberies." The robbery rate at Virginia state stores does seem to have gone down since the cam- eras were installed in 2010: from seven robberies in 2009 to four in 2011 and one, so far, in 2012. Meanwhile, the Virginia ABC stores' losses from shoplifting, measured
StateWays s www.stateways.com s May/June 2012
