RILA Report: Asset Protection: Volume 3 – Issue 2

 

Volume 3 – Issue 2   April 7, 2009
Letter from Paul As a seasoned loss prevention professional, the shifting world around us never ceases to amaze me, and my peers never cease to challenge and teach me. Moving forward, I continue to settle my thoughts on the importance of harnessing the ideas of innovation and reinvention. In today’s tremendously challenging and ever-changing business environment, it is important to remain focused and tap into our creativity when it comes to maximizing effectiveness and utilizing every resource. This is a time for leadership, vigor, determination and teamwork. RILA Loss Prevention, Auditing & Safety Conference 2009 As the RILA Loss Prevention, Auditing & Safety Conference approaches, my team and I have evaluated the landscape and we see the importance in supporting the industry in both the here-and-now and in the long term. It has been our goal from the outset to foster an inclusive environment for this year’s LPAS conference, one in which all loss prevention executives can come together as a community to discuss best practices and seek productive and valuable industry solutions and ideas relevant to the present environment as well as the future. In the spirit of unity and cooperation, we have worked to create a feasible pricing model that not a single conference out there can beat. One that stays both within a reasonable budget and still includes all of the incredible offerings we have found to be valuable to loss prevention executives - both retailers and solution providers! Understanding that many of us are in transition we have worked to ensure our LP colleagues seeking new and different opportunities and wishing to stay engaged are able to attend this conference. This year for the first time we are offering the LP executives in transition rate. We understand how important it is to continue professional development and stay connected with the LP community, and we want to help our colleagues continue to build relationships and broaden their knowledge. Additionally we have been sure to incorporate offerings to our valued solution provider partners, by way of providing to them a better ratio of retailers to service suppliers and ensuring that there is more time for networking and time to participate in sessions, breaks and other functions along with retailers. We have also been working to draw in the next generation of talent by opening this conference up to local students and academia at a special rate. We want to ensure that all who wish to learn alongside of us can! We are particularly excited this year about a new training we are offering to your team that has been brought to you for free by our friends at LossPrevention Magazine. The Wicklander-Zulawski Telephone Interviewing Seminar, being held the last day of the conference, will provide invaluable on-site training at the conference in telephone interview and interrogation! We in the loss prevention community understand the growing success of interview and interrogation via the telephone, and we have heard feedback from some of our member companies that their cost-saving effectiveness has not only risen when utilizing telephone interviewing but also their admission rates. We are also pleased to have added an additional cutting-edge general session featuring co-speakers Dr. Richard Hollinger, professor of criminology at the University of Florida, and Jim Lee, chief executive officer and executive editor of LossPrevention Magazine. Through the session entitled “Managing in a Down Economy,” they will present an industry-wide benchmarking study of current crime trends. The results of this study are that of the RILA Current Crime Trends Survey, which will compare data gathered in December 2008 to current data from April 2009. By re-mapping the crime trends that the retail loss prevention industry is seeing, we will have a better sense of what is happening in our space and the best way to combat it. In a town hall setting, attendees will be able to interact with one another, offer thoughts, ask questions, and learn from those around you! This is the opportunity to learn about what is happening in the current economic climate and how it is affecting retail today! Other interactive sessions being offered this year include the Audit Open Forum and Safety Open Forum which will allow attendees to discuss best practices and current trends in a round-table setting. Sessions like Jill Evans’s “Self Scanning: Profit or Loss?” that will give you the opportunity to hear recent survey results regarding self-checkout systems and current shrink-combating methods. Mark Hilinski and Libby Rabun’s “Unlocking the Value in Returns,” will place you in a room with audience response devices that will capture audience feedback in real time and the speakers will directly respond to these trends! There is much to learn and discuss through all of these interactive sessions, and as you continue to lead and support your companies, we plan to support your efforts through great educational content. Finally, with all the events happening in the world around us, it is a good time to sit in on Dr. Larry Barton’s general session on threat assessment. “Retail Threat Assessment: How Teams Evaluate Threats by Employees and Customers” will help you understand how to approach and prepare for threats in your workplace. As loss prevention professionals, we understand the importance of being proactive and prepared for situations. And we will of course, be featuring our esteemed speakers, Marvin Ellison, executive vce president of The Home Depot and Chief William Bratton of the Los Angeles Police Department. For more information on these sessions and more than 40 other education-packed sessions, visit www.rila.org/lp/. Organized Retail Crime The push to fight organized retail crime (ORC) is continuing on Capitol Hill. On February 25, 2009, RILA and the Coalition Against Organized Retail Crime (CAORC) were happy to participate in the re-introduction of three federal bills to combat this growing problem. We have high hopes here in Washington, DC that these bills will be passed this year and look forward to continuing the charge toward achieving this goal. Please help inform your community and those outside the LP space about ORC, and visit www.orcawareness.com to sign up and write your local congressmen and fight ORC. RILA Horizons Committee Meeting Our continued battle against ORC does not just end on Capitol Hill. The RILA Horizons committee met in February to discuss the future of reducing shrink and improving loss prevention methods. The group met at RILA headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, to learn from such guest speakers as those from SRI International and Digital Harbor. These leading thought developers provided our loss prevention executives with the tools that they need to approach the technology that is on the horizon for our industry. From systems and programs that track unusual behavior to improved technology sensing systems, the RILA Horizons committee is eager and energized to seek out and adopt the frontline of technology to deter and prevent losses in the stores. See You in Orlando! In closing, as the 2009 Loss Prevention Auditing Safety Conference in sunny Orlando, Florida, inches closer, we continue to grow excited with the great educational content that the conference will provide our attendees, knowing the value they will find in every experience that they have there! We look forward to continuing all of our efforts to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead, understanding that the perspective we gain and the innovation that is possible when we are asked to rise to the occasion is often when we do our best work. Through education, continued collaboration and invention, we look forward with enthusiasm at all we can accomplish. Paul Jones Vice President, Asset Protection   2008 NRSS Questionnaire Link The 2008 National Retail Security Survey questionnaire is available. RILA is a sponsor of the study. If you are the principle loss prevention officer, vice president or director for your retail firm, please print out the questionnaire, fill it out completely, and physically mail it to the postal address on the last page of the document. All questionnaires must be received by the end of April. The information submitted on your questionnaire is completely anonymous and the data is strictly confidential. A final report will be available in late June. Any questions about this survey should be directed to Richard Hollinger, PhD, at rhollin@crim.ufl.edu. Security Registers at Retail By Scott Goldfine, Editor-in-Chief You may not think 1.44 percent sounds like much. But if you’re a retailer or an electronic security company serving the retail market, 1.44 percent is a very big number and incentive. How big? According to the 2007 University of Florida National Retail Security Survey (NRSS), it adds up to nearly $35 billion in shrinkage for the nation’s major retailers. To combat those losses, research and consulting firm The Freedonia Group reports retailers were expected to spend in excess of $2.7 billion on loss prevention (LP) technologies in 2008, including video surveillance, electronic article surveillance (EAS), intrusion detection and access control systems. Continue to read this article from Security Sales & Integration.   Featured Articles  The Straw that Broke the Camel’s Back By David E. Zulawski, CFI, CFE and Shane G. Sturman, CFI, CPP We were trying to make a decision and someone said, “that’s the straw that broke the camel’s back.” It makes one wonder whether there ever really was the straw that broke a camel’s back? One little piece and snap? We all know what it means, that moment when weight overcomes the strength of resistance. There must be many moments in our lives where there is a tipping point, a moment, where a decision is made based on the weight of an argument, or life situation. What must it be like to make that decision to do something dishonest? Certainly, there are pressures and opportunities which place people in that situation every single day. Read more. Maximizing Business Intelligence By King Rogers, Principal, King Rogers Group, LLC In the last article I wrote for this newsletter, I talked about one of those special moments in one’s career when you could prove a direct positive impact on shareholder value through a contribution made by loss prevention. Sort of staying with that theme, and especially in light of these very trying economic times, this time I’d like to address the multifaceted impact opportunity of maximizing the use of business intelligence (BI) on the performance of the retail business. Read more. Fact or Fiction? Maintaining Credibility By Walter E. Palmer, Chief Executive Officer & President, PCG Solutions, Inc. I was recently browsing various websites when one particular news ticker caught my eye. It reported that “the top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004.” Wow, that was a pretty shocking statistic! Ironically, I was reading the March edition of HR Magazine the very next day when I ran across an article titled “Where the Jobs Are.” The article included a sidebar “Top 10 ‘In-Demand’ Occupations.” Naturally, I was curious to see what these jobs are that, according to the ticker, did not exist in 2004. Here was the list: Registered Nurses General and operations managers Physicians and surgeons Elementary school teachers Accountants and auditors Computer software engineers Sales representatives and managers Computer systems analysts Management analysts Secondary school teachers Since this list was completely incompatible with what I had read the previous day, I decided to investigate. Since HR Magazine is produced by the highly respected Society for Human Resource Management, my first suspicion lay with the web news ticker information I saw. Read more. Community Collaborates to Address Growing Number of Shoplifting Offenses By National Association for Shoplifting Prevention (NASP) To help address the growing number of youthful and consumer shoplifting offenders, one progressive community has engaged in a collaborative Shoplifting Prevention Community Action Plan. The goal of the Orange County New York Community Action Plan is to effectively handle the growing number of adult and juvenile shoplifting offenders (without overburdening retailers, law enforcement and the courts) while simultaneously reducing future shoplifting offenses. Key to the success of their Community Action Plan is involvement by all stakeholders in the shoplifting issue – from parents to local retailers, to law enforcement, to the district attorney and the courts. Read more. Investing in Tomorrow, Tending to Today By Gene Smith, President, Loss Prevention Foundation The Loss Prevention Foundation’s primary mission is to support, nurture and develop the entire loss prevention community. Working with industry leaders, solution providers and the academic community, it is vitally important that we increase awareness, build programs and provide opportunities that foster the growth and development of the loss prevention leadership of tomorrow. But in these challenging times, it is just as critical that we uphold our focus on the loss prevention leaders of today; supporting their efforts and their contributions in any way that we can. That is a commitment that all of us must share as mentors, colleagues, partners and friends. We have to carry the vision and foresight to help those that are just launching their careers, while maintaining the encouragement and fortitude necessary to support those of us that are facing difficult times in a struggling economy. Read more.   Coach’s Corner: What’s Your Stimulus Package Look Like? By Steve Lundeen, Executive Consultant & Coach, Dream Engineering Wouldn’t it be nice if we could get just a sliver of all that bail-out money going around? Hey, a fella can dream, right? Well, yes we can all dream, but we shouldn’t be spending too much time with our heads in the clouds . . . or buried in the sand right now. Are you finding yourself wandering the internet? Spending too much time on facebook? Caught up twittering? For me, my stimulus package is (1) another cup of coffee and (2) how should I be looking at my business right now. What’s my current perspective and is there another way to look at what seems to be a sound business model? Read more. Analyzing “The Loss Prevention Landscape” in your Target Store Program By David Johnston, Director of Business Development, LP Innovations, Inc. As many retailers finalize their year end inventories and post shrink numbers, the results will undoubtedly trigger the assessment and assignment of target store locations. Different approaches will be used by retailers to assigning the “target store” classification to individual locations. Some may base it solely on unacceptable shrink percentages or dollars, while others take a more analytical approach and include a variety of factors. Read more. Hurricane Preparedness By The Commerical Facilities Sector, U.S. Department of Homeland Security As recent years have shown, hurricanes can be devastating to our communities, businesses and our nation. Historically, the Atlantic hurricane season starts in June and lasts through November, with peak hurricane activity occurring between mid-August and late October. In preparation for the season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) would like to remind businesses that Hurricane Preparedness Week is May 24 through May 30, 2009.  Read more.                   Don’t forget to visit our newest exhibitors  at LPAS!	For more information, please visit www.cdc.gov/niosh. See you at Booth #207 at RILA’s Loss Prevention, Auditing & Safety Conference! Inside this issue: - Letter from Paul - The Straw that Broke the Camel’s Back - Maximizing Business Intelligence - Fact or Fiction? Maintaining Credibility - Community Collaborates to Address Growing Number of Shoplifting Offenses - Investing in Tomorrow, Tending to Today - Coach’s Corner: What’s Your Stimulus Plan look like? - Analyzing “The Loss Prevention Landscape” in your Target Store Program - Hurricane Preparedness   RILA Events Loss Prevention, Auditing & Safety Conference May 3-6, 2009 Orlando, FL Supply Chain Security Committee Meeting May 14, 2009 Arlington, VA Trade Committee Meeting May 19. 2009 Washington, DC RILA/Deloitte Tax Conference June 2-3, 2009 Washington, DC Government Affairs Committee Meeting July 8, 2009 Washington, DC Financial Leaders Council Meeting July 14-15, 2009 Arlington, VA Environmental Sustainability & Compliance Conference October 5-7, 2009 Dallas, TX Loss Prevention Partners Be sure to visit our colleagues in combating organized retail crime at the International Association of Chiefs of Police. www.idsafety.org www.investigateid.org