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Security Services: Best Practice Casebook Last year, the Crime Survey for England and Wales recorded the highest level of shoplifting for 13 years and, indeed, a 3% uplift on the prior 12 months. With a much higher percentage of shopping now being transacted online, perhaps in-store shoplifting is a more attractive way for a ‘professional’ criminal to avoid leaving a digital footprint? Security professionals are responsible for continuously analysing the loss prevention equation and identifying triggers, signals and barriers to communication, all of which can be logged, tracked and pattern-analysed for better outcomes. In terms of retail security, things have changed quite substantially and, in addition to the accepted ASCONE (Approach, Selection, Concealment, Observation, Non- Payment and Exit) method, the importance of intelligence analysis and planning cannot be overstated as part of the loss prevention mix. The powers of retail security professionals are among the most poorly understood by the casual observer. Does anyone outside of the profession really understand the limited parameters within which a retail security professional is often required to work? What about the ‘rock and a hard place’ legal situations which can mean that loss prevention specialists have to take decisions that could lead to shoplifters being allowed to walk away from the premises with products for which they haven’t paid? Not surprisingly, this doesn’t make them feel good as practising professionals. Security officers have come into this business to be a force for good, but it’s little wonder that the general public harbours negative perceptions of these officers when the former doesn’t have an understanding of the limited options at the latter’s disposal when it comes to chasing after, detaining or restraining a suspected shoplifter. A high-profile example happened in one of the larger supermarket chains and involved stolen glass bottles that resulted in a fatal injury during the detention situation. More recently, a security officer was suspended from working for a well-known High Street retailer as a result of being deemed to have used excessive force in detaining a shoplifter who, unbeknown to the officer involved, was pregnant. The female was given a six-week jail term having pleaded guilty to her crime. Even searching a suspect can pose problems, with the risk factor stretching from negative PR to allegations of sexual assault being made. Mobile technology Set against this backdrop, what’s the on-duty security officer supposed to do? It’s not yet Addressing Modern Challenges Recent high-profile security incidents have served to remind us all of the need for constantly questioning our security focus and addressing the balance between expenditure versus public safety in a period where we’re experiencing peaks in threat levels. Assuming that public safety is in hand, organisations also need to look at ways in which loss prevention is managed, as Jon Felix observes in detail widely implemented, but mobile technology simply must be embraced to allow our professionals to document evidence in the fastest and most accurate way possible. Recently, we carried out an analysis exercise to look at the barriers to loss prevention procedures which can serve to prevent the accurate and timely documentation of evidence. It was clearly evident that the deployment of staff with mobile technology had the potential to eradicate a number of time-consuming tasks from the overall process. Taking time-stamped photos on the shop floor, for example, eradicates the need for a security officer to find someone to cover his or her station, go to the back office and accurately recall and document time, dates, description and methods. This ‘digitisation’ of evidence facilitates easy information sharing with neighbouring security teams for collaboration, pattern analysis and effective case building for litigation purposes once the offender has left a clear trail of digital evidence behind them. Indeed, a given offender could well be lulled into a false sense of security in their mission, reassured that the security officers on the premises are otherwise engaged with mobile Jon Felix BSc (Hons) MDIP MBCI MSyl: Security Consultant at CIS Security 57 www.risk-uk.com