I used to work in Loss Prevention for Target. I’m sharing some info I know

I’m not condoning theft. I’m just sharing. <br><br>1. If you get caught shoplifting from target and it’s your first offense (regardless of the value of the items stolen) they will not press charges. They will just give you a civil demand for the value of whatever you stole + $50 in Targets opinion for their time to apprehend/detain/arrest you and disrupt your day. <br><br>2. Cameras. There are so many cameras in target. Cameras on the ceiling, in the shelves in some departments (mainly electronics), in some of the products we sell (those with RFID sensors), on the poles near various department entrances/exits in the store, in the parking lots... Literally everywhere. If you shoplift in Target you will be identified in the camera room. There are always people watching the cameras during business hours (sometimes just one person at 2 am, but it’s still being watched.) <br><br>3. Detention. If we see you conceal an item in the store, we will follow you until you leave without paying. Sometimes we will approach you in the store, sometimes we will wait for you to leave, and sometimes we will approach you in your car. If we approach you in your car, there is a camera recording your license plate as we speak to you (we - one male and one female, in case you thought we were homophobic or something). We have civilian/rent-a-cop looking “security” guards that will do all the talking if you are caught. They are the ones who will detain you, write up your report, pat you down for needles, guns, knives, and whatever else could be considered a dangerous weapon. They won’t put their hands in your pockets or on your body, but they’ll lift your shirt, pat down your back, frisk your pant legs, and sort of squeeze your arms and lift your jacket half way down your arms (sometimes all the way down, it depends on the guard). <br><br>4. Arrest. We have off duty police officers who work for Target in plain clothes. They are the ones who will place you in handcuffs, read you your rights, inform you that you’re under arrest, and take you to jail in their personal vehicle. Your car goes to impound. <br><br>5. No one is allowed to take merchandise with them into the stockroom. We have cameras in there too, and we have metal detectors (but we don’t always use them). You will be stopped, they will ask you what’s in your bag, and they will make you either take whatever it is back onto the sales floor or throw it in the trash. <br><br>6. Management doesn’t have keys to the doors. If you try to run past the doors, it will set off an alarm, and the alarms will not turn off until someone with an access card scans it to shut it off. The employees who work overnight (11pm-8am) have access cards, so they - or security - will just shut off the alarm and watch you run away from the camera room. <br><br>7. DO NOT try to run because you think you can out run people. You can’t. We have people placed all around the store who are watching the cameras. If you run towards the grocery entrance, they know exactly where you are and where you’re headed, and they’ll probably intercept you by the time you get to the exit, or they’ll be waiting there for you. If you run towards the main entrance, they’ll have the cameras zoomed on your face and be able to pick you out of a crowd in the parking lot, or they’ll be waiting there for you. If you run through the store, they’ll be waiting for you at the next exit. We have employees placed all through the store, there’s always someone watching. <br><br>8. If you’re in, say the dollar spot, and the employees are all the way on the other side of the store near the food, we have radios and earpieces. All employees carry radios, and if one employee sees you conceal an item, they’ll call LP and we’ll put an ear piece in and watch you from the camera room until someone is in position to apprehend you. <br><br>9. DO NOT try to bribe your way out of a ticket. Offering a bribe is considered another crime, so now you’re going to jail for two crimes. <br><br>10. If you have to use the restroom, inform an employee where you’re going and give them your basket/cart. The camera room will zoom in on the bathroom you entered, and they’ll be watching the cameras in the hallways, so don’t think you can conceal items in the bathroom and try to leave without paying. <br><br>11. Employees do keep our phones with us everywhere we go. If we see you conceal an item, we’ll put our phone on silent and text the camera room. They’ll put an earpiece in and they’ll direct other employees to apprehend you when you leave. <br><br>12. Sometimes the lights above the exit doors will flicker. It’s usually when an alarm goes off in the camera room. It’s not always a shoplifter, sometimes it’s just an employee or customer who doesn’t have their discount applied correctly, or the scanner has an error and it won’t scan the items. That’s what the lights are for. It alerts us to check the people leaving, because they may be stealing. <br><br>13. Please be considerate to LP. We have families we have to feed and provide for. It’s not our fault you got caught. The security guards don’t get paid enough to be yelled at, so be respectful and courteous. <br><br>14. We get drug tests. All the time. If we test positive for illegal substances, we can’t work in LP. But we’re still human, so we may not always be completely sober at work, but we’re never high enough to not be able to do our jobs correctly. <br><br>There is a whole lot more info I could share, but it’s been 6 years since I’ve worked in LP so I may have forgotten some details. I just want to say that it’s really not worth it at all. I have seen so many people get in trouble for stupid shit, and it’s just not worth the risk. And if you think you can outsmart employees and get away with it, think again. <br><br>I only once had someone steal something without me catching it, but that was because I wasn’t working that day and they stole something from the actual warehouse. But I still identified him and pressed charges because I have eyes and ears everywhere. You’re not gonna outsmart LP. <br><br>We’re not lazy bitches sitting at a desk in the camera room doing nothing. We are ALWAYS watching, ALWAYS paying attention._employee: hey, why are you in the stockroom? Shoplifter: oh, I was just looking for a book. (This happened to me once, and I died laughing.) Me: Oh? What kind of book? Shoplifter: Uh, the kind with words and pages. (Again, this happened to me, and it was hilarious.) <br><br>I had an LP coworker who caught someone trying to steal handcuff keys. They didn’t have any cuffs on them, but they had the keys. We detained them, patted them down, found a gun, handcuffed them to a bench, put cuffs on their legs and arms and we just let them stay there until the cops came. <br><br>I remember another time, we caught someone trying to steal $130 worth of stuff, and we saw them conceal it so they knew they were in trouble. This woman actually tried to run from us and it was hilarious. We chased her down the liquor aisle and I literally slipped on some nonexistent oil and fell, and then the shoplifter fell when she tried to jump over me, so then we both got up and I grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to the stock room, threw her in a room, and called the cops. They didn’t show up until 3 am, and they didn’t get there until we had already left for the day (our shift ended at 2am). The shoplifter was so pissed that she had to sit in that room for an hour, cussing at me through the door. I didn’t care, I was just doing my job. <br><br>I remember when I was a teenager working on the sales floor, and before that as a cart girl, I always thought LP was a joke and I secretly condoned shoplifting because it was “hard” to steal from a big corporation. But the truth is, it’s not hard to steal from a big corporation. They will prosecute you, and they will have evidence, so don’t even try it. <br><br>Target pays the LP officers/camera room people a lot, considering it’s a retail job. I made $50,000 a year, plus medical insurance, dental insurance, life insurance, health savings account, disability insurance, 20% off store merchandise, free gym membership, free single vision glasses/eye exams/contacts, education deduction, adoption financial assistance, a free Christmas tree every year, and so much more. <br><br>I loved my job, and I took pride in it. I’m not saying you have to take pride in your job, but I did. <br><br>Edit: wow, didn’t expect this to get so many upvotes. Thank you, kind strangers.