Archived Target v. Walmart Security

[TiedAndDropped]

Here's an article about Walmart security problems that uses Target as comparison. Some really interesting info.
Walmart’s Out-of-Control Crime Problem Is Driving Police Crazy

 

[Bosch]

Why not? It worked so well for employees healthcare to have the state do the job, security would work just as well. And profits go up!

 

[anathema]

4 people in the APO would be nice...

PD hates responding to retail theft, in my experience. They're at odds with us because our focus is stopping theft as it's happening instead of deterring it from happening in the first place. The article seems to state the opposite though, not sure how true that is. I think presence is the most important factor, so even though we do that better than Wal-Mart, we really only half-ass it and make apprehensions the priority. But from what I've heard, Wal-Mart can have tons of people walking the floor at any point, where you'd be lucky to have 1 at Target.

idk, basically.

 

[HRZone]

Thanks for sharing, good read. I think they were right why we have less issues with crime but it's also our clientel. Socioeconomics - Our most common shopper is a middle class white woman. While my store gets plenty of families, its rarer for men or groups of men to shop here alone.

Doesn't help that Wal Mart is known as a place to buy cheap cigarettes. I rarely ring up people on food assistance, at wal Mart you see it all the time.

 

[anathema]

I mean, that's going to depend more on location than anything. The middle class white woman is a common shoplifter here. Many don't see it as a big deal, regardless of what their job or status is. Opportunists come in all shapes and sizes.

 

[Frontlanegirl]

Thanks for sharing, good read. I think they were right why we have less issues with crime but it's also our clientel. Socioeconomics - Our most common shopper is a middle class white woman. While my store gets plenty of families, its rarer for men or groups of men to shop here alone.

Doesn't help that Wal Mart is known as a place to buy cheap cigarettes. I rarely ring up people on food assistance, at wal Mart you see it all the time.

Also depends on the location of the store and how close they are to a large city. Let's just say we clientele that will travel to our store to commit their crimes. They will travel up and down the freeway system. I had someone with coupon fraud who traveled close to two hours from another store to do a return.

 

[HRZone]

Also depends on the location of the store and how close they are to a large city. Let's just say we clientele that will travel to our store to commit their crimes. They will travel up and down the freeway system. I had someone with coupon fraud who traveled close to two hours from another store to do a return.

That's the funny thing at our store in the burbs. When something doesn't belong we can sniff it from a mile away.

For what it's worth I'm not saying we don't have crime at target. But our clientele is very different from wal Mart. I have seen guest roll their eyes or say "excuse me" but I have not seen people come to blows with one another.

 

[commiecorvus]

I haven't seen any articles about Target being used as a meth lab while it seems to have gotten to be a running joke about Wal-Mart.

 

[aspiringETL]

Whenever I see the cops come in for a shoplifter he always jokes around and smiles like "we meet again <ap guy's name>, what kind of shenanigans did someone pull for my attention today?". When I see cops show up at Walmart they look like they hate life.

 

[mrknownothing]

I haven't seen any articles about Target being used as a meth lab while it seems to have gotten to be a running joke about Wal-Mart.

A couple Walmarts near me have actually had meth labs on the premises.

 

[pellinore]

The way that Target handles things is different than Walmart. Our store is designed to help deter theft.....shelves look neater (that's why we always zone)...we generally have TMs that appear to ask guests if we can help them....we have brighter lighting, wider aisles, fewer areas that have lots of display boxes, our shelving units don't go to the ceiling (so it is harder for people to shoplift and hope they aren't being seen) and Target presses charges.....( on TMs that steal and stupid guests, too) and word gets around.

While not all theft is stopped, it sure can be tempered because of how Target tends to work.
At my store we're constantly being reminded that "theft is a crime of opportunity" so, "stop the guest from having that opportunity."

 

[On6]

Just being honest here. Target isn't much better than Walmart as far as security goes. It's just Walmart has a much larger sample size, and in general much more high volume stores than Target. High volume stores come with high theft usually.

That Walmart mentioned in the article is paying for off duty coverage, at a overtime rate most likely, so I don't see why the chief would be upset about staffing levels. That officer would be at home if he wasn't working special duty at Walmart.

Just as a comparison my store is pretty high volume, one of the highest in the company, and we get a off duty officer stationed in our parking lot on weekends. I believe it's partially paid by Target and the other retailers in our shopping center. During 4th quarter it's everyday.

 

[Frontlanegirl]

I haven't seen any articles about Target being used as a meth lab while it seems to have gotten to be a running joke about Wal-Mart.

Hmmm....we do have guys who come in purchasing scales and vacuum sealing bags. Thought it was odd the first couple of times and then realized what they must be doing.

 

[Kartman]

Our store is designed to help deter theft.....shelves look neater

I'm trying to figure out how a neat shelf deters theft...

 

[On6]

I'm trying to figure out how a neat shelf deters theft...

It actually does.

It won't deter all theft but a well maintained store gives the appearance that workers are paying close attention and actually care. It doesn't really scare off the professional boosters but to the opportunist it makes them think twice.

 

[carramrod]

In my experience, most cops don't have a problem responding to retail theft calls, within reason. I work in multiple stores covering various different cities, and there are only a couple cases I've seen where the cops honestly seemed annoyed to be dealing with us, and both times it was older cops who were probably just trying to slog through to retirement and didn't want to have to actually deal with arrests. Most of the cops I deal with love us because a lot of the people we apprehend have warrants, previous criminal histories, drugs, etc. I'm from an area that has a huuuuuuuge problem with heroin (I've been threatened with needles on two separate occasions) and a lot of the local PD's are really into the "broken windows" policing, arresting small offenses to reduce larger ones.

From talking to the cops I deal with, they love us because when we call them, it's always for something that actually warrants police attention, like shoplifters. We don't call the cops for other things, like panhandlers, disorderly people, or homeless loiterers. We have uniformed security in our more troublesome stores, and our managers are competent and move 99% of the troublemakers along without having to call the cops. Apparently Wal Mart likes to call the police and have them remove the loiterers/homeless/drunks rather than simply having a manger go over and tell them to leave, and this is what annoys the cops. 99% of the people our managers have to eject just grab their shit and roll out because they don't want any more trouble. Then again, we're a more upmarket grocery store and we generally don't get the same clientele that the Walmarts in our area get, so we don't have as many problems.

One of the Walmarts in my area must be a test store for their new AP operations though, because it's a virtual fortress when you walk in, and it's actually pretty impressive. They have at least one uniformed contract security guard at every door, an off duty police officer, plus four or five of their new "customer hosts" (basically Walmart employees wearing yellow vests tasked with security roles) wandering the front end, and (from what I hear) between two and six undercover APA's working at a time. Its crazy to see, and I wonder how well it actually works for deterrence.

 

[TPSpower]

In my experience, most cops don't have a problem responding to retail theft calls, within reason. I work in multiple stores covering various different cities, and there are only a couple cases I've seen where the cops honestly seemed annoyed to be dealing with us, and both times it was older cops who were probably just trying to slog through to retirement and didn't want to have to actually deal with arrests. Most of the cops I deal with love us because a lot of the people we apprehend have warrants, previous criminal histories, drugs, etc. I'm from an area that has a huuuuuuuge problem with heroin (I've been threatened with needles on two separate occasions) and a lot of the local PD's are really into the "broken windows" policing, arresting small offenses to reduce larger ones.

From talking to the cops I deal with, they love us because when we call them, it's always for something that actually warrants police attention, like shoplifters. We don't call the cops for other things, like panhandlers, disorderly people, or homeless loiterers. We have uniformed security in our more troublesome stores, and our managers are competent and move 99% of the troublemakers along without having to call the cops. Apparently Wal Mart likes to call the police and have them remove the loiterers/homeless/drunks rather than simply having a manger go over and tell them to leave, and this is what annoys the cops. 99% of the people our managers have to eject just grab their shit and roll out because they don't want any more trouble. Then again, we're a more upmarket grocery store and we generally don't get the same clientele that the Walmarts in our area get, so we don't have as many problems.

One of the Walmarts in my area must be a test store for their new AP operations though, because it's a virtual fortress when you walk in, and it's actually pretty impressive. They have at least one uniformed contract security guard at every door, an off duty police officer, plus four or five of their new "customer hosts" (basically Walmart employees wearing yellow vests tasked with security roles) wandering the front end, and (from what I hear) between two and six undercover APA's working at a time. Its crazy to see, and I wonder how well it actually works for deterrence.

I would enjoy working LP at a store like that. Seems like it would be a lot of fun and constant action.