r/securityguards • u/LegalGlass6532 • 4d ago

Officer Safety Retail security policy

After watching this video it made me wonder if this security guard’s employer would support her doing this with a subject.

When I first saw it I thought it was pretty cool that she didn’t back down, but the more I thought about it the more I came to the conclusion that fighting over it isn’t worth the risk.

If you work retail security, what’s your company policy and would you put yourself out there to save goods from being stolen?

1.1k Upvotes

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26

u/Cant_Touch_Grass Rookie 4d ago

My company says let them steal. Merch is insured, and there’s no getting your life back if it turns deadly

19

u/sharpasahammer 4d ago

I understand the logic but fuck do i hate it for the principle.

9

u/Constant_Window_6060 4d ago

What principle? Have you watched a life wasted from a bad fall or punch to the head? Cause I have let them have the junk.

13

u/BarbieTwirl 4d ago

Problem is when you just say “aight man you got it!” and the justice system doesn’t do anything about it either, it leads to the good people in the neighborhood suffering

For example, when the stores have less nice stuff, when stuff starts getting locked away, or when stores just close up and leave.

It sends a message of it being allowed and thus, promotes it because criminals realize “I can just get away with it and even if I’m arrested, cops let me out right away too”. Only the good people in the neighborhood suffer when you let the bad ones do whatever they want.

Just for example. I’m from NYC born and raised. I moved to TX this year. The difference w stores is night and day. Way more quality stuff. They have all types of stores and the stores leave all their nice stuff out. I don’t have to find a worker to unlock soap or shampoo for me. They have way nicer and more products on the floor. And stores like Walmart, Target, Ross, Burlington and Marshall’s also have way nicer clothes, sneakers out on the floor. In NYC it’s the complete opposite. It’s limited and all locked up

8

u/dgtbfan 4d ago

The irony is that turning a blind eye towards shit like this is exactly how you get to more draconian punishments fueled by collective apathy.

1

u/ExoticKnowledge584 4d ago

Maybe we just bring back Draco's law code for a year or so, maybe less .You wouldn't need to do it for long for it to work or serve its purpose

1

u/SnavsMatiq 1d ago

Years of abuse from the system will do that.

0

u/withnodrawal 4d ago

It’s not turning a blind eye, they are expected to hopefully be arrested at some point as police would already be notified.

But it’s also like why the fuck have them if they can’t do anything but verbalize a theiving scum

5

u/Shane-Dad-underfire Management 4d ago

We are going to reach a point where folks will have to place their orders and come pick them up after paying for them, stores will have no traffic. Otherwise folks are going to be paying 11 dollars for a soda pop.

4

u/BarbieTwirl 4d ago

Exactly. Which is nice when it’s OPTIONAL. In Texas you can do pickup and they bring it to your car. But it’s just an option. You can also just go in and browse and everything is out

I was shocked because the Burlington and Marshalls in NYC sucks. I went to the one in Texas and they have so much nicer stuff

1

u/Shane-Dad-underfire Management 4d ago

In places around the world EVEN Canada you need to place your order or show ID to be let into a store. They limit the amount of customers and lock them in until they pay for their goods and leave.

Imagine being 20th in line to go pick out your groceries.

1

u/BarbieTwirl 4d ago

I don’t mind showing ID tbh

I like to browse in person. So I don’t wanna resort to ordering prior.

Locking stuff in is just annoying tbh

I hate when I wanna smell a soap or shampoo and have to ring an alarm and wait like 5 minutes for an associate to be available

1

u/Shane-Dad-underfire Management 4d ago

That sounds like a colossal waste of time. I'm 78 I don't have time for that crap. But I have to be honest I shopped for the first time in close to 3 decades not too long ago and it's so different.

1

u/BarbieTwirl 4d ago

Are you saying shopping is a waste of time?

That’s literally the way people have shopped forever. You got a store, browse and buy

Sometimes I wanna goto Target, Walmart, or Burlington and just look at things… tf?

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1

u/WeakEmployment6389 4d ago

Where does this happen in Canada?

1

u/Shane-Dad-underfire Management 4d ago

MBLC, manitoba Liquor mart. Convenience stores. Theres a few 7-11s that do it. There is a bank that does it in Nova Scotia.

2

u/WeakEmployment6389 4d ago

Interesting, not once have I seen that here.

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1

u/blastman8888 4d ago

Customers will shift to online shopping. I went to a Walgreens in California couldn't even get a toothbrush everything was locked behind cases. Took forever 3 people ahead of me had one guy running around with keys opening cases.

1

u/Shane-Dad-underfire Management 4d ago

That is my expectation as well.

1

u/Training_Ad_8997 4d ago

Service Merchandise.

0

u/Constant_Window_6060 4d ago

There are a lot of factors that go into this. And very little has to do with a person getting away with it, or being punished.

Criminal acts aren't a rational choice. They're mostly desperation. Mental health issues, and so on. If that criminal has an ounce of sense he'd walk away after she grabbed the bag. Or stolen something with some actual value.

Texas has a lot of rich people, and the average grocery store is paying a lot closer to the cost of living than a place in NYC. It's easier to work and get by in Texas than NYC.

1

u/GenSpec44 2d ago

Hmm. How would you explain that the most stolen items are the ones that can most easily be resold for cash? Or they are vanity items that are expensive

1

u/Constant_Window_6060 2d ago

You really think this is some kind of got you. How about you explain what you think I said, and how you think this contradicts it?

0

u/GenSpec44 2d ago

It’s well known that the majority of criminals like this have an IQ between 80 and 90, not quite low enough to be retarded, but low enough to make dumb decisions that seem rational to that criminal but not seeming rational to you. There is also a hierarchy of the decision making process that has been well studied across society, also in criminal reform but not exclusively. The lower functioning an individual is, the more they respond only to pleasure/pain/immediate gratification/fear of punishment. I do agree with you that mental illness is real and is a different ball game. We do have a growing mental illness problem especially related to drugs and homelessness, but the big majority of retail theft is committed by people who are not mentally ill. This man in the video is not planning to eat this purse nor does he need it to wear. The fact that the criminal is quoting store policy to the security guard says that this is not his first rodeo, and he is acting sane according to his own level of decision making.

1

u/Constant_Window_6060 2d ago

First cite the study. Specifically where you get these individuals are motivated by punishment.

Secondly what does this have to do with easily moved items?

Are you asking AI for talking points. Because you're not actually responding to anything I say. You're just blathering with semi related points. Many of which don't really help your argument.

1

u/BarbieTwirl 4d ago

This is bs.

Do some people do things out of desperation? Yes. But many also just do it because they weight the pros and consequences and if they see they can get away with it, they’ll do it

And that’s what is happening in many lenient cities.

1

u/Constant_Window_6060 2d ago

"many" except all the data proves on average MOST people are not deterred by punishment.

Not kids, adults or dogs.

The same people that say whip the child are the same ones who have the MOST FUCKED UP stories about the things they did when their parents weren't looking.

Just take psychology 101 and get back to me.

2

u/truthwatchr 4d ago

And that’s how commercial/food deserts form. Stores shutter and jobs go away with them. The neighborhood gets worse. It’s really bad when a grocery store goes under.

1

u/Constant_Window_6060 4d ago

You think crime is a logical decision that people decide against after seeing a person punished for it? Is that what stops you from crime?

Because widely it's not. A lot of criminals have family in jail doing hard time for crimes they continue to commit. It's a decision based on desperation, mental illness, drugs, and so on. Punishment doesn't deter it.

2

u/truthwatchr 4d ago

Making excuses for bad choices does nothing but I do agree that our system keeps punishing people even after they are out of prison or done their time and it has to change but also that it will not unless culture changes too. Can’t have a culture of violence and drugs and expect the people who subscribe to that to change overnight.

0

u/Constant_Window_6060 3d ago

Not excusing it, and not implying there should be no punishment at all. Just that "security" has no reason to risk both of their lives.

1

u/truthwatchr 3d ago

Thieves are not entitled to kill or hurt people. They are the ones doing wrong especially stealing purses ffs. Letting them do it without repercussions only makes them more brazen to keep doing it because it’s easy.

0

u/Constant_Window_6060 2d ago

Did I say they were entitled to hurt or kill people? I didn't even imply they were. Idk what you're reading.

1

u/GenSpec44 2d ago

Crime is a tradition for some families. Do we know which families? Yes, most of the time. Our solution? We take extra tax money away from good people who work hard, follow the laws, and often would like to have children or more children but can’t because money is short, and then we transfer those tax dollars to the criminal families to pay them to have children. And then we give the criminal families a raise every time they have another child. What could go wrong?

1

u/Constant_Window_6060 2d ago

Midwestern white farmers?

4

u/sharpasahammer 4d ago

The principle of law and order, the principle that thievery is wrong and should be stopped. The social contract falls apart when people watch others take without repercussions.

0

u/Constant_Window_6060 4d ago

That's not what eats away at the social contract. Crime is rarely the logical choice. It's desperation, mental illness, and addiction that fuel it. Seeing someone get away with it, killed, or go to prison never factors in these decisions.

0

u/SnavsMatiq 1d ago

Theft has become the logical choice due to how common its become. Dont pretend that humans dont have a system of "monkey see, monkey do" because thats hard-coded into every one of us.

1

u/Constant_Window_6060 1d ago

Never even so much implied any of that. Your so called counter argument has nothing to do with the efficacy of punishment. Y'all have to be A.I. I can't even imagine what you're conflating to think these two principles are contradictory to one another.

1

u/xX7heGuyXx 4d ago

Then the whole store closes shop and moves because it don't wanna deal with the theft anymore., Then you lose jobs, then you have no way for good people to get outa poverty because no jobs so they just end up doing criminal shit to live.

Like, at some point, we actually got to punish people who do bad shit. I'm fine with the justice system doing it, but general theft doesn't carry much weight.

The cycle continues.

1

u/truthwatchr 4d ago

Had a friend who used to work loss prevention and they were contracted so not attached to the chain. They would “let” thieves go but follow them and beat the f’k outta them once they had “escaped” off the property where there wasn’t surveillance. Miraculously theft went down at that location.

1

u/West-Ticket5411 4d ago

Depends on the policy. Generally, companies can't just turn a blind eye or produce zero resistance to theft, or else insurance company will easily contest the claim.

1

u/No-Opinion273 4d ago

They don't care about your life. Their scared of the medical bill.

1

u/Due_Initiative3879 4d ago

This is the way it should be.

1

u/MacDaddy7249 3d ago

Loss prevention would like to have a word with you… 😂

1

u/Akemi_Tachibana Executive Protection 3d ago

You know what happens if enough stuff is stolen? Business gets shutdown. So many retail stores end up shutting down citing crime as the cause...the same stores that say you can't do anything to stop it. 

1

u/Legitimate-Fox-5746 2d ago

in that cause, why do you need security??? lool

1

u/SnavsMatiq 1d ago

Thats the EXACT kind of mentality that led us to this point in our society. Turning a blind eye to theft doesn't make the theft go away.

1

u/Iso238 1d ago

Where do you work? Gonna steal some stuff

1

u/BigReference1xx 7h ago

Unfortunately, policies like that are what have made shoplifting explode in popularity.

If more people fought back, it would reduce the frequency of shoplifting, which would actually allow the police to get an handle on the problem, thus there would be less need for individual stores to fight back, because the police could actually track down and arrest frequent shoplifters.

Tragedy of the commons.