Theft in sales areas.
Theft in sales areas
Let's take retail outlets, for example. Their small (and not so small) daily losses can make trading simply unprofitable. Today, every eleventh person on the planet is a shoplifter. Over the past five (relatively prosperous) years, 10 million people have been detained for shoplifting. The so-called «shoplifting» is common in all countries, regardless of the standard of living and political system. Recently, the problem of theft has become increasingly urgent. What do they steal? First of all, things that are lying around. The first position in terms of volume of losses is alcohol. Then, by a wide margin, come small goods: cigarettes and blocks of chewing gum, packets of fast food, all sorts of small things, perfume, jewelry, tights, stationery. At the same time, if losses from theft are less than 0.3% of turnover, then the enterprise is in perfect order. If they steal about 0.3-0.5% of the turnover, the situation is serious. If the losses from theft are from 0.5 to 1.5% of the turnover or more, then it is time to take serious measures. Who steals what? Usually, professional thieves, customers and staff of the retail outlet are guilty of this. Each category has its own product preferences and methods of «work». As for theft itself, it can be conditionally divided into four groups.
These are:
1.Theft of goods from the sales area by customers.
2.Theft of goods from utility rooms and the sales area by unscrupulous personnel.
3.Theft of goods from the sales area as a result of collusion between staff and customers.
4.Theft of goods by managers using forged documents and by collusion with suppliers.
Psychologists say that 80% of people are not inclined to steal, but if life forces them to, they will steal. 10% will never touch someone else's property under any circumstances. The other 10% only look at what is lying around. In general, shoplifting for millions of people is a peculiar way of adapting to the outside world, caused by stressful circumstances. Experts predict a surge in crime in the next year or two. And the only reasonable solution here is to protect goods with a set of anti-theft measures, an important element of which is video surveillance. This is someone you can't come to an agreement with or enter into a criminal conspiracy with. Among the typical tasks assigned to the video surveillance system, the following can be distinguished:
1.Operational surveillance of the protected area, buildings and premises.Video cameras can be installed openly or covertly, for example, camouflaged as fire alarm sensors, depending on the task at hand. The operator is responsible for detecting the intruder and taking appropriate measures.
2.Addition to the existing security system.The video camera can be used together with the access control system to increase the efficiency of checkpoint functions. For example, when passing through a checkpoint with a low access level and the absence of an operator, it is possible to remotely establish the identity of a person using a photograph stored in the database. The system provides monitoring, recording, and response to unauthorized access at night.
3.Possibility of control by the manager.First of all, the staff should know that their manager (director) can watch them. A modern video surveillance system allows for the ability to output video cameras to computer monitors of authorized company employees, both via a local network and via the Internet.
4.Psychological impact on the offender. Video cameras, even non-working ones, can have a deterrent effect, performing a preventive and warning function. Sometimes, along with working cameras, dummies are installed, which can to some extent scare off intruders.
5.Documenting events at the facility.Video archive material may serve as important evidence during the investigation.
