[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Do you ever get tired of outgoing sales associates cheerfully greeting you when you enter a store and then following you around, interfering with your browsing, constantly asking if they can assist you? Well, they are not always out to make a sale or earn a commission, but rather to keep you from shoplifting.

“They try to overwhelm you with good customer service,” says Criminology Professor Richard Hollinger. “The main purpose, of course, is to see if you can be helped. But the more subtle, underlying reason is to let you know if you are a shoplifter you have been seen, we know you are in the store, so please leave if you’re interested in stealing from us.”

Hollinger directs the Security Research Project in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society, and is a leading expert in loss prevention. The project is best known for its annual National Retail Security Survey, which for the past 14 years has polled the vice presidents of security and loss prevention at all the major retail department stores, discount chains, specialty stores, pharmacies and major grocery stores in the US. The survey receives regular funding each year from Sensormatic/ADT, a major manufacturer of electronic security tags and home security, as well as from the National Retail Federation and ASIS International, a professional association of security officers. Individual retailers also support the program from time to time.

Richard Hollinger

Most [people] think they are going to get caught the first time they steal, then they think they may be caught the second time. By the third time they think they are never going to be caught.”

— Richard Hollinger

In an industry that loses more than $30 billion a year to theft, the yearly assessment has become a way to identify the best practices for preventing loss. “Retailers nationwide lose about $15 billion a year due to employee theft, $10 billion to shoplifting and the rest to vendor fraud and administrative error,” Hollinger says. “None of the property crimes people worry about, such as convenience store theft, bank robberies and household burglary, even come close to these numbers. And compounding the problem is that we all pay for this loss in terms of higher prices.”

In October 2002, Consumer Reports published a story, “The Crime Tax,” highlighting the results from the National Retail Security Survey and proposing that the cost of merchandise would go down if the problem could be controlled. Hollinger says one of the best ways to combat theft is to hire honest employees, keep them as long as possible, and pay them equitably.

“You have to have a very dedicated and alert sales staff, which helps both prevent shoplifting and employee theft,” he says. “A dedicated employee doesn’t have a grudge against the employer so they are less likely to steal. They also are most willing to challenge and counteract shoplifters.”

Hollinger, who earned his PhD in sociology from the University of Minnesota in 1979, first became interested in loss prevention in high school, while working at a grocery store with a rampant level of employee theft and shoplifting. “At this particular grocery store, it was fairly normal to ‘graze,’ or eat your way around the store. Everyone did it, and when I asked if it was wrong I was told no, that it was a fringe benefit. I later found out the manager was stealing whole cartons of merchandise and reselling it and the head casher was embezzling. So it was a den of thieves.”

According to the 2003 survey, the furniture market has the highest rate of employee theft, followed by liquor/wine/beer and cards/gifts/novelties. The markets with the lowest employee theft were camera/photography and auto parts/tires. In contrast, the markets with the highest percentage of loss due to shoplifting were specialty apparel and men/women/children’s apparel. Furniture had the lowest percentage of shoplifting loss, followed by camera/photography and liquor/wine/beer. Graduate student Lynn Langton and Hollinger are presently conducting the 2004 survey.

The Security Research Project also recently completed a shopping center security project and a study of pharmacists who use and steal drugs. In February, a paper Hollinger wrote about a project in which he observed shoplifters in an Atlanta area drug store was published in Justice Quarterly, entitled “Who Actually Steals.” Graduate student Rich Asbell is working on a project, Shopping While Black, which examines racial profiling and harassment in retail stores.

Hollinger says thieves generally have just one thing in common. “Most think they are going to get caught the first time they steal, then they think they may be caught the second time. By the third time they think they are never going to be caught.”

—Buffy Lockette

Grants through the Division of Sponsored Research
December 2004 Total: $2,975,773

October 2004: Total $2,975,773
BAMIA A A AFRICAN & ASIAN LANGUAGES U S DEPT OF EDUCATION $3,000 COLLOQUIAL ARABIC, PART OF THE GLOBAL STUDIES RESEARCH AND CURRICULUM
DERMOTT S F ASTRONOMY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $7,000 HOST INSTITUTIONAL ALLOWANCE
GONZALEZ A H SARAJEDINI A ASTRONOMY SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE INST NASA $18,606 DARK MATTER CONSTRAINTS FROM THE MERGING CLUSTER 1E0657-56
EYLER J R CHEMISTRY FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $13,532 DISSERTATION ENHANCEMENT ACTIVITIES OF MR. JOSE VALLE FOR THE FALL SEMESTER
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION RESEARCH & ENGINEERING COMPANY $24,503 JOINT RESEARCH INTO CHEMICAL ASPECTS OF PETROLEUM
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION RESEARCH & ENGINEERING COMPANY $16,150 JOINT RESEARCH INTO CHEMICAL ASPECTS OF PETROLEUM (AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO AGREEMENT #57821)
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $1,288 SOFTWARE RESEARCH SUPPORT
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $360 MILES COMPOUND CONTRACT
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $1,263 MILES COMPOUND CONTRACT
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $451 SOFTWARE RESEARCH SUPPORT
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $312 MILES COMPOUND CONTRACT
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $794 MILES COMPOUND CONTRACT
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $414 MILES COMPOUND CONTRACT
KRAUSE J L CHEMISTRY U S DEPT OF ENERGY CHICAGO OPERATIONS OFFICE $95,476 MOLEDULAR- AND NANO-WIRES: PROPERTIES AND CONTROL
MARTIN C R CHEMISTRY BROADLEY-JAMES CORPORATION NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $117,832 PHASE II: MINIATURE REFERENCE ELECTRODE WITH AN INVARIANT LIQUID JUNCTION POTENTIAL
MCELWEE-WHITE L A CHEMISTRY NASA J H GLENN RESEARCH CENTER $80,744 IMPROVED CATALYSIS FOR FUEL CELLS, FUEL REFORMATION AND EFFICIENT HYDROGEN PRODUCTION TASK 1: BIMETALLIC CATALYSIS.
MCELWEE-WHITE L A CHEMISTRY UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA U S DEPT OF ENERGY $78,098 FUEL CELL AND HYDROGEN RESEARCH
MICHA D A CHEMISTRY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $148,225 QUANTUM DYNAMICS OF MANY-ATOM SYSTEMS: DENSITY MATRIX THEORY AND COMPUTATIONS
REYNOLDS J R CHEMISTRY U S AIR FORCE AFOSR $216,246 VARIABLE GAP CONJUGATED POLYMERS
ROITBERG A E CHEMISTRY U S DEPT OF ENERGY CHICAGO OPERATIONS OFFICE $90,352 MOLEDULAR- AND NANO-WIRES: PROPERTIES AND CONTROL
STEWART J D CHEMISTRY PFIZER INC $158,928 CHIRAL ALCOHOLS BY ENZYMATIC KETONE REDUCTIONS
TAN W CHEMISTRY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $26,793 GOAL I: ADVANCED SEPARATION PROCESSES
TAN W BENNER S A CHEMISTRY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION CORNELL UNIVERSITY $61,314 NANOSCALE ARRAYS FOR DIRECT RNA PROFILING IN SINGLE CELLS & THEIR COMPARTMENTS
CHANNELL J E GEOLOGY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $76,340 MESOZOIC PALEOMAGNETISM IN ADRIA AND AFRICA: SOLVING A PERSISTENT PUZZLE IN ALPINE TECTONICS
CHANNELL J E GEOLOGY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $3,870 MESOZOIC PALEOMAGNETISM IN ADRIA AND AFRICA: SOLVING A PERSISTENT PUZZLE IN ALPINE TECTONICS
MARTIN J B GEOLOGY DEPT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECT $55,523 HYDROGEOLOGY OF OLENO STATE PARK AND NITRATE LOADING FROM THE RIVER RISE, A FIR
MUELLER P A GEOLOGY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $95,128 TECHNICAL SUPPORT FOR A NEW ICP-MS LABORATORY FOR EARTH AND OCEAN SCIENCE RESEARCH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
SAPIENZA C M INST ADV STDY OF COMMUN PROCES NATL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NICHD - CHLD HLTH & HUMAN DEV $334,250 EXPIRATORY MUSCLE TRAINING IN PATIENTS WITH PARKINSON'S
ALLADI K MATHEMATICS MISCELLANEOUS DONORS $2,030 SUPPORT OF RESEARCH & EDUCATION IN APPLIED MATHEMATICS
DELEENHEER P MATHEMATICS NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $68,911 MODELS IN MATHEMATICL BIOLOGY: A FEEDBACK PERSPECTIVE
PLEASANTS J M ORAL HISTORY WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICTS ST JOHNS RIVER $26,190 ST. JOHNS RIVER WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
AVERY P R PHYSICS UNIV OF CALIFORNIA NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $118,108 U.S. CMS RESEARCH PROGRAM
AVERY P R PHYSICS CALIFORNIA INST OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $68,261 ITR: ASE; INT: DMC: ULTRALIGHT: AN ULTRASCALE INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR DATA INTENSIVE RESEARCH
AVERY P R YELTON J M PHYSICS U S DEPT OF ENERGY CHICAGO OPERATIONS OFFICE $83,516 TASK B: RESEARCH IN EXPERIMENTAL HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS: CLEO AND CMS
DORSEY A T PHYSICS FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY NAT HIGH MAGNETIC FIELD LAB NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $34,904 MICROWAVE SPECTROSCOPY OF 2D ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS IN TILTED MAGNETIC FIELDS
HIRSCHFELD P J PHYSICS U S NAVY $110,717 THEORY OF DEFECTS IN CUPRATE SUPERCONDUCTORS
KONIGSBERG J MITSELMAKHER G PHYSICS U S DEPT OF ENERGY CHICAGO OPERATIONS OFFICE $137,200 TASK H: EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH IN COLLIDER PHYSICS AT CDF
MEISEL M W PHYSICS FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY NAT HIGH MAGNETIC FIELD LAB $5,000 DR. JAMES SAULS, VISITING SCIENTIST TO UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
MITSELMAKHER G KORYTOV A PHYSICS U S DEPT OF ENERGY CHICAGO OPERATIONS OFFICE $25,700 TASK G: EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH IN COLLIDER PHYSICS AT CMS
MITSELMAKHER G KORYTOV A PHYSICS U S DEPT OF ENERGY CHICAGO OPERATIONS OFFICE $130,640 TASK G: EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH IN COLLIDER PHYSICS AT CMS
RAMOND P SIKIVIE P PHYSICS U S DEPT OF ENERGY CHICAGO OPERATIONS OFFICE $149,680 TASK A: RESEARCH IN THEORETICAL ELEMENTARY PARTICLE PHYSICS
STANTON C J PHYSICS RICE UNIVERSITY U S NAVY $44,288 OPTICAL CONTROL AND OPTO-SPINTRONICS IN FERROMAGNETIC III-V SEMICONDUCTORS FOR Q
KREPPEL A D POLITICAL SCIENCE EUROPEAN UNION $5,671 EUROPEAN MODULE-REF. W04/0024-EUROPEAN UNION AND EASTERN EUROPE: YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW
BURES R M SOCIOLOGY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $222,565 ADVANCE FELLOW/PRESERVATION AND CHANGE: THE SOCIAL CONTEST OF SPATIAL PATTERNS IN A SOUTHERN CITY, 1900-2000
KIMBALL R T ZOOLOGY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $15,600 ATOL:COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH EARLY BIRD:A COLLABORATIVE PROJECT TO RESOLVE THE DEEP NODES OF AVIAN PHYLOGENY

 

Photo:
Candace Hollinger

[an error occurred while processing this directive]