What is loss prevention?

Shrink has more than one cause

Shoplifting is the part the public sees; employee theft, vendor fraud, receiving errors and damage make up the rest. A security officer affects the first directly and, by being present at receiving doors and stockrooms, some of the second. The officer does not replace the store’s own loss prevention staff, its cameras or its inventory controls; the officer is the visible, mobile part of a system that mostly works in the back office.

What the officer does on the floor

Greets people at the entrance, which is the strongest deterrent a store has. Watches the fitting rooms, the high-theft aisles and the areas cameras cannot see. Walks the lot at opening and closing and escorts staff with deposits. Watches the receiving door during deliveries where the store wants it. When the officer sees a theft, the response follows the store’s policy and the post orders: observe, describe, notify management, call police where the store wants them called, and write it up. Price Protection’s retail officers are unarmed and trained in loss prevention and customer service together, because on a sales floor those are the same skill.

The law that frames it

Texas gives a merchant and the merchant’s agents a limited privilege to detain a person reasonably believed to have stolen, for a reasonable time and in a reasonable manner, to investigate. Whether a store wants its officers to use it, or to observe and report only, is a policy decision written into the post orders before the first shift. Officers do not chase, do not search without consent and use force only in defense. The shoplifter detention answer covers the law.

Uniformed or plainclothes

Most stores want a uniform at the door, because deterrence is the goal. Some want a plainclothes officer on the floor for a period when shrink is concentrated. The uniformed vs plainclothes article compares them, and the loss prevention officers page describes the post.