Why to stores hire tiny security guards to prevent theft when everyone knowthey wont do anything to stoptheft?

Question

I worked at a Giant eagle grocery store and they hired security guards. I saw a punk kid steal some cigars from the tobacco right in front of the security guard.I told the security guard and she asked the kid if he was going to pay for that. The kid pretended he didn't know what he was talking about when his pockets were bulging out so much he looked bull legged. The security guard called the manager and then the manager said just keep an eye on him. the they let the kid leave the store and the kid never bought anything. When I brought some carts in the kid cussed me out and told me to "mind your busness you snitch whiteboy" I told him I'd beat his *** all the way back to the projects and I approached him ready to break his nose and he ran calling me a honky and stuff like that. What the point of having a security guard thats only 102lbs and is a little frail young girl?

Answer 1

Because you don't truly care about shrink, and when you're dumb enough to have a crappy security guard and as a manager, not prosecute anything (though most retail stores cannot do anything because their rules prevent them from searching customers if their loss prevention does not see the customer put the item in their pocket).

I think managers who let stuff go and their shrink get bigger, they should be let go, which, they eventually will when their inventory comes back crappy.

Answer 2

Security is mostly about prevention, not enforcement.  The first level of force is Officer Presence.  The mere presence of the officer prevents the majority of thefts.  The remianing minor incidents aren't really worth someone getting into an altercation over.

Answer 3

Budget cuts.

Answer 4

I stopped way more theft than any uniformed security. They always were looking to stay out of any situation. I used to take it as a personal attack on my store. I got quite a few  thieves thrown in jail when they tried to get violent. The ones that gave up the goods just got thrown out of the store forever. but I was crazy back then...

Answer 5

To avoid discrimination lawsuits....

Answer 6

The point of uniformed, unarmed security officers is to be a visible deterrent to crime.  Most people, on the whole, will think twice before trying to stuff something in their pockets and walk out right in front of a perceived authority figure, regardless of their actual power.  

The point is that probably 70% of the time, just having the female security officer walking back and forth and looking down the aisles keeps people from trying to steal things.  It isn't about the physical size of the security officer, it is a deterrent against one's own conscience.

A security officer cannot legally search someone, unless they witness them taking the item themselves (in NY).  If they do search someone and find an item, it is NOT admissable into evidence as a security guard is NOT a peace or police officer and is not allowed to make a search/seizure (In NY).  If the security officer felt there was a credible crime being committed, she should have called 911 immediately.

Answer 7

No point at all

Answer 8

--- By your own account it wasn't the security guard who made the decision not to prosecute, it was the store manager. I would also note that YOU may have had something to do with that decision not to prosecute for that violation too.

--- Stores have to be VERY careful these days because they can be sued for wrongful prosecution, racial bigotry and bias as well as false imprisonment and/ or arrest.

--- Most stores have policies that say if a guard or manager does not see the thief place the item in concealment themselves then they should not detain the suspect.

--- If a checkout bagger, who has no training in spotting miscreant thieves, proper legal procedures or how to legally hold a suspect, puts the Habious Grab-*** on some innocent church going choirboy, and he's wrong, it could cost them Million$.

--- Though you might not think it there are great complexities to working in private loss prevention jobs. They have to be very careful and almost always their standard operating  procedure is to error to the side of safety, their monetary safety. It's better to let a 50 cent candy bar or a $20 hair dryer go than to grab the wrong person and be sued for $20,000,000.00!

--- As far as I know the size of the security worker has nothing to do with anything. Now that they can use Pepper Spray and Nerve tuned stun guns size is somewhat irrelevant in physical confrontations.

--- A 98 pound male or female guard has more than sufficient power to depress the trigger of a Tazer Weapon or to press the button on a can of 10% OleoresinCapsicum ( Pepper Spray ).

--- The problems arise when someone who is not trained in when its legal to grab someone and when not to, decides they know best and deprives someone of their freedom of movement, etc. and brings a multi-million dollar lawsuit down around their ears!

--- Having worked as a Deputy Sheriff for a good long while I was no big fan of "rent-a-cops" but they do have their places and when properly trained they can save real cops a lot of time.

--- Also, now that they have lots of cameras in stores these days its even better for security workers as everything is caught on video and they can play it back instantly and zoomed in to see what was actually taken, etc.