Six Ways to Spot a Shoplifter

Often times we'd notice people shoplifting in groups. It could be just one person doing the stealing, but the others would act as a distraction, calling attention to a floor employee away from the scene while the other pockets the items. Sometimes it'd be a whole family of 8 that would come in. Very sad to see.

Sometimes we'd notice someone hanging around a section a little too long. It doesn't take that long to find the cold medication you're looking for. If we saw someone hanging out for too long, we'd ask them to let us help find what they're looking for. If they hover for too long, it's like they're thinking of a plan of attack on the spot.

Sometimes they just look nervous. It's hard to explain, but they don't act like a normal shopper would. Shifty eyes, walking up and down isles without a basket or anything. It's hard to pinpoint what to look for, but it's a gut instinct. At this point I'd just customer service them by asking how they are and smile. If they were planning on stealing anything, they know I'm watching.

It's harder to do with automatic doors, but the best shoplifters wouldn't wait around, they knew exactly what they were going to grab, walk in, grab it, walk out. By the time your brain just told you what you saw, they're already gone. Again, harder to do now with automatic doors that are slow and some places like Walmart where they greet you and sometimes check your receipts but they still have that chance. And it's a chance not worth it.

Again it's hard to judge, but if you walk into a store with a really big coat or have a huge purse, I'm going to keep an extra eye on you because you have all that room to steal stuff. Especially if you're wearing a big coat in the middle of summer.

It's like when you're playing I Spy as a kid. You'd watch them look around the area casually but when you spotted the items you wanted to mention, they're focus would dart anywhere else. That tells me where you were before shifting your eyeline quickly was what you were going to describe. Same with shoplifting. You're hanging around a section of a store too long then, all of a sudden, that area isn't interesting to you anymore. That gives me a red flag that something happened.