r/lossprevention

Been in retail management for about 19 years, the last 8 at a national pet specialty retailer. I’ve held various district sponsor roles and more recently took on a District LP and Safety Sponsor role across 17 stores in three states handling incident reporting compliance, exception based reporting, shrink strategy, and safety programs.

Prior to that I spent several years in specialty retail where I built a solid apprehension record and had 10+ criminal court appearances as a witness.

I’ve done 100+ internal investigations at the store level covering theft, misconduct, harassment, pet incidents, associate/customer injuries, and the usual policy violations.

I just passed my SHRM-CP which I originally pursued thinking I’d go the ER route. But after some honest reflection I think field LP and investigations is where I actually want to be. The problem is I’ve never held a formal LP title and I’m not sure how to bridge that gap.

A few things I’d love input on from people who actually work in this space:

Is it worth going straight to LPC given my experience or should I start with LPQ first?

How much does WZ training actually matter when applying versus being something you pick up after you land somewhere?

With my background but no LP title, what roles should I realistically be targeting and are there companies known for giving people like me a shot?

LOCATION: CALIFORNIA

So this has probably been said before but I’ve made a stupid mistake and have gotten too comfortable at shoplifting on a habit at the grocery store I work at. I got caught by a customer who told the store managers. They haven’t come to me yet but I was told that they’re reviewing footage before talking to me. And I know their loss prevention team will see me stealing.

It’s not large quantities just individual groceries . But I have an assistant manager role. What should be my next steps? And any advice? Is there any recommendations for kleptomania support?

Thank you

Hi!

I've been in LP for a year now, but have been taught to mostly stay in the office and get footage for all incidents. Now my store has pivoted and is saying we need to observe everything via floor walking.

Problem is, I am having a hard time with it. I walk through the store, but no one is really sticking out to me, and I can't find ways to stay in an area long enough to observe someone without them moving and me having to navigate around them, which usually makes them suspicious.

I know a portion of it is in my head, that maybe they aren't observing me like I am them, but it still stresses me out.

I don't know who to follow. I can stand in an area all day and hope someone steals from that area, but then I miss out on the rest of the store. Walking around constantly is what I have been doing, but either am having trouble focusing on people because there's so many, or there's barely people in the store and I feel like there's nothing worth watching, as theft in my store is usually people selecting something, then spending their entire time shopping, then concealing in a different area. We usually catch concealment then have to get selections.

Help please?

Hi everyone, we are a small retail shop. We have cameras, however constantly are missing inventory and having theft issues. We would like to get started with an EAS system but haven't found a lot of information online. What would you recommend we start with? Should we purchase the towers off of Amazon or similar or find a company that service do it all? any advice or suggestions would be so helpful thanks in advance.

I currently work LP I’ve been with the company for over a few years now. I’ve grown a lot the past year, I’ve been wanting to move to a captain role but I feel like my manager doesn’t want me to leave just due to the fact that I help a lot at the store. It makes me feel like I should probably just apply to different LP jobs because I do love working this type of job.

So I guess my question is what company would be good to move to in your personal experience?

Coming from a little under a decade of law enforcement experience, am I a good fit for this? Haven't worked retail since I was a manager for a gaming store 14 or 15 years ago. I check the boxes on the job listing and I've got some supervisory experience as a cop. I feel great about the assessments I did. Just curious if anyone else has made a similar transition. I applied for both the Coach and manager roles.

I was at Target and did self checkout. Asset protection asked to check my receipt after I paid, I obviously handed it over, he made a comment about how expensive the quilt I purchased was but then all seemed good. When I was backing out I saw him by my car, I didn’t realize he followed me.

I googled this and Google AI said this was so he could capture my license plate and call the police? I’ve never stolen in my life, it was bedding items and milk that I purchased with a receipt. I don’t go to Target often. I even used my Target app/phone number at check out for whatever discount might be available so it seems silly to suggest I’d give all that info then steal.

Is this usual behavior and I’m just overthinking? It honestly spooked me a bit thinking they’re going to call the police when I didn’t steal anything.

Anyone have experience with these "caper carts" that scan as items are put into the cart? I think there are a few different brands. Just had them go live and we're freaking out over here.

was caught shoplifting about $9 worth of merchandise around four months ago. I already paid the civil demand, and I’m currently trying to have the store ban removed.

Some time agThey told me that it may still take some time for them to respond to the letter I sent requesting reconsideration. I called politely, and they simply told me to wait.

My biggest concern is that the police were never involved at the time of the incident, and I’m worried that corporate might review the case now and decide to contact law enforcement months later. Is that something companies typically do after this much time has passed?

This happened in Oregon, and no police report was made when the incident occurred.

Anyone who previously or still today works for LP: did you make a career out of it? If so what do you do now? What skills are transferrable that’s helped you up the ladder? Ik a lot of ppl who are lp were former LE or military. Curious to hear about career progression, whether you stayed in investigations/security or moved into something completely different. Thanks in advance

I saw a aura farming post not long ago babbling on about "the humanity" of sending shoplifters to jail which is absolute nonsense. In the very beginning of my career, I've given MANY slaps on the wrists that could've got me in trouble and DID actually... only for these guys to return and do it again.

No they weren't just stealing to eat; electronics, stacks of expensive meats and the list goes on. Last night I stopped a fool who had been stealing packs of expensive trading cards. He pocketed one and tossed the other and wouldn't cooperate and drove off. Mind you, this guy has many priors and once when he was stopped started fighting customers and later got in a fight with LE... all this over trading cards. His FREEDOM... is worth NFL fkn trading cards lol.

So no, I don't feel sorry for these guys anymore. It's just a job to me at this point; I'm not under any delusion that I'm the police or that I'm doing this great work for my company, just that someone has to do it and no one did it would just be a free for all, why pay for anything then?

That said, in LP you can get tossed by your company at any time if they see you as a liability. I've seen people lose 30 year careers JUST for stepping off the sidewalk. How you can be the best thing since sliced bread one minute when you're up and be treated like trash for a simple mistake is a good reason to regret LP. Everyone I teach after I went through my own trials and tribulations I tell them "don't let your ego get you caught up in this sht, you get overzealous and make a mistake they WILL replace you".

I’ve been watching YouTube shoplifting videos and it has me thinking about my shopping habits. If I’m only buying a few things, rather than using a shopping cart, I’ll walk around with my reusable shopping bag, fill it up and then empty it at the register when I pay. I’m kind of freaked after watching the shoplifting videos because this has been referred to as “concealment.” I’ve been doing this for years and I’ve never given it a thought until I saw these videos. LP professionals do you think I have been tracked in stores as a potential shoplifter when I shop this way?

I was recently hired as an asset protection associate full time here in Atlanta and was wondering what the hours would be like. I know several loss prevention associates at Home Depot that set their own hours of course with it being a different company it could be different for me but my kid needs speech therapy in the mornings Monday through Friday

Currently an AP Manager at the big blue company, applied for etl AP at target, pay range shows $83k-$130k. Is that accurate? My current pay is only slightly lower than $130k at my current company but looking for a potential change, definitely don’t want to take a pay cut though. Wondering if it’ll be worth going through the interview process if they won’t be able to offer the upper end of the posted salary range.
Also wondering what the hours and schedule are like?
Currently scheduled 50hrs a weeks mostly morning shifts, set days off

Hi,

Currently preparing for my 2nd interview with Macy’s for the Asset Protection Manager role.
Currently working as an APTL for target in a small format store. I know Macys has recently switched to hands off which is fine by me as I’m used to making stops that way but I was hoping if anybody could shed some more light on the structure of Macys AP, what’s culture like? What’s hours like and anything else that I should know before going into it?

Bonus points if anybody can also highlight the difference between Target AP and Macys AP especially with Roles. APM seems fairly equivalent to APETL.