Being a former LP, here’s the truth.

For those who don’t know, LP stands for loss prevention. It is the whole department that is in charge of security in a store, including cameras, training employees on shoplifting, and the people who call the police when they have caught a shoplifter. I worked in LP for about seven years. I think it is time to share some tips and how to not get caught.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>First, cameras are the first thing LP look at when they are suspicious of a shoplifter. If you grab an item and put it in your pocket or bag, they will send someone out on the floor to track you. If you store employees are trained correctly, they will stay behind you and to your side as the customer. They have been trained on how to tell if you are stealing. If you take items into the fitting rooms, count them before and count them when you come out. This is if you are trained right. If you are a newer employee, they will still send someone to watch you. If you then take the items out of the store, they will approach you as you leave the store and ask you to come back into the office. They will try and scare you into giving them back the items. If you refuse, they will call the police. (If you are the driver, they will also impound your car right then and there and call a tow). This is when you will be banned from the store. Depending on where you live, if you are a repeat offender, you will be served papers to appear in court. If convicted, you will usually be given community service or a fine.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>Second, most of our calls came right around lunch time everyday. This is because all of the cameras and alarms that a store has are linked to one unit in the loss prevention office. If alarms are going off, someone is stealing and they will be on camera. What I mean by this is that if alarms go off at the door, they know that it is most likely a shoplifter. They already have someone inside the store who has cameras on the floor where they can see you and your car and license plate number if you have parked in the front of the store. If you park in the back of the store, you are probably under a camera. That is where most of our problems were, people hiding items in their car and then coming back into the store. Don’t do that. They know about it.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>Third, if you have been caught and your name is in the system, there is a high chance that you will be tracked from the moment you come into the store. Some of our repeat offenders were so blatant that they didn’t even hide it anymore. They would walk into the store, which would trigger an alarm for us, they would look right up into the camera and smile. Do not to this. They were so blatant that we would have a camera on them the whole time they were in the store. I would sit there and watch them hide the items. I knew exactly where the items were. When they left, with change room tags on the items, the alarm would go off and then they were caught. It is that easy.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>Fourth, if you do happen to get caught. Do not fight. I had a guy try to hit me once. He was already in trouble for shoplifting, but then when he tried to hit me, he got charged with assault. He was charged with assault because he had met the criteria. The criteria is threaten to hit, saying they will hit you, saying they will kill you, trying to hit you. Yell at the employees all you want. It doesn’t matter, you are getting caught either way. At this point, they already have enough evidence to prove that you were stealing from them so trying to get away isn’t going to get you out of it. Also, the loss prevention people are trained to talk to people who steal.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>Lastly, don’t do it. I have seen so many lives ruined by shoplifting. Repeat offenders who kept stealing even though they knew they had already been caught. Wake up people. Shoplifting is a serious crime.