Academy Sports open to theives

Science.

 

When I worked at Galyans that turned into Dicks, both physically and philosiphically, we had a security manager that chased a thief out the store and up to Rte 66 which is a 2 lane each way highway (70mph). The guy got sacked cause if the thief got hit by a car the Corporation wold be sued by the s bag's family. We worked the gun counter and were pizzed big time. So we asked what should we do if someone grabs a firearm and runs? No answer. Which means what ever you do, it is wrong. So you don't chase the sumnabit down and he uses the stolen gun to kill someone, its the counter guy's fault. You chase him and he stubs his tow, its the counter guy's fault.
Corporate sux all around. If there were retail worker's unions, this crapp wouldn't happen. But thats a whole other argument.

 

That’s weird.

 

You also have to know the law. I own a retail store, and my staff are trained to observe and report to management. We have cameras everywhere and can quickly see if the person has taken anything. If you stop and accuse the person, and he has dumped the item elsewhere in the store, then you set yourself up for a lawsuit. I have a sensormatic system that will alarm us to stolen goods as well, but we always wait until the person leaves the store before we confront them. If they put it in a pocket inside the store, they can always say they were going to take it out at the till and pay for it. They will always get off on that one. We had a loss prevension officer give the managers with our comapany a talk on how to do this properly. You really have to be careful. I have tackled two shoplifters on the pavement in the parking lot here in my 30 years owning the store. Felt great each time to land on top of somebody on the pavement.

 

It's not the only one...

Foreign, height, protein, leisure, weird, to name a few.

 

I can see it now, they will attach cables to firearms at the counters that will let you handle the firearm but not walk off with it.

I know it is a CYA policy but give the guy a promotion. Hell out here all the independent gun stores workers are packing more heat than a SWAT team.

 

My brother was over loss prevention at academy and he has tackled a few dirt bags in the parking lot before for stealing stuff and he never got in trouble ended up getting promoted to being over all loss prevention. He is now doing the same with Durham’s

 

Einstein got it wrong twice....

 

In the early 80s I was general manager of a big general store in the hippy dippy county of Marin in Northern California. It was 8000 sf of tools for basic living including clothing, cameras, electronics, cookwear, power tools, books, wood stoves, etc. We regularly caught shoplifters and dealt with them. People thought that since we were a "groovy" store we would not take seriously their stealing from us. I had an assistant manager who relished the experience of chasing down shoplifters and tackling them in the parking lot if necessary. One time he came back, a big grin on his face and a shredded, shoplifted shirt he'd torn off the guy's body in his hand. It was a classic "you should see the other guy" moment.

When shoplifters were caught they were brought to the office to cool their heels while the police were on their way. We called in all shoplifters to the po po. People make up all kinds of stories about the hard times that led them to have sticky fingers...some of them maybe true but most probably not. It's not like these folks were starving and stealing food.

After the second time that I was offered carnal services by a female shoplifter in exchange for a get out of jail free card (I did not accept the offers), I decided that one of my female sales staff should also always be there with us in the office as we waited for the police to arrive.

I have a few tales of busting staff members for stealing stuff, but that is for another thread.