Blog Archives
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Mock robbery training gone awry
By Curtis Baillie - Thursday March 8, 2012
Recently there was a civil lawsuit in New Jersey settled in favor of the plaintiff while the case was in trial. The case was about an unannounced mock robbery training exercise conducted in a hospital pharmacy setting on Christmas Eve 2007 by senior hospital staff members. The hospital claimed the action taken was a "safety drill." The pharmacy staff had no idea of what was about to happen to them and the case gained national notoriety as it was reported on extensively by the news media such as: MSNBC – "A New Jersey pharmacy technician who says she was traumatized when a masked gunman burst into her store demanding OxyContin is suing her employers for arranging the mock holdup. Babette Perry says in a lawsuit that she was not... -
Do security pros have to use Miranda rights?
By Curtis Baillie - Friday February 10, 2012
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense." These very powerful words were mandated in 1966 by the United States Supreme Court (384 U.S. 436). In March 1963, Ernesto Miranda was arrested for a petty theft and questioned by the Phoenix police for approximately two hours without an attorney being present. During that interrogation, Miranda admitted to the theft and also to the kidnapping and rape of then 18-year-old Patricia Ann Weir. In my consulting business, I'm often asked about the need... -
Dallas Police won't respond to shoplifting cases under $50
By Curtis Baillie - Thursday January 19, 2012
On January 5th a new Dallas Police Department policy was put into place where they no longer respond to retailer’s calls for shoplifting under $50. There are some exceptions, however. If the thief has an existing warrant out for their arrest, they will respond, but only act on the outstand warrant. If the retailer wants to trespass the thief from their property, the police will respond, but will only issue a trespass notice. In order to prosecute the retailer must fill out, notarize and mail an “Application for Complaint and Sworn Affidavit” to the Dallas Prosecutor’s Office. Here’s the crux of the new policy: If the store has an arrestee that can be identified and does not have warrants, DPD will not dispatch officers. If... -
Defending against a lawsuit
By and Curtis Baillie - Tuesday December 13, 2011It’s very costly for a retailer to defend themselves against a security related lawsuit, but if ignored the monetary awards and damage to the company’s reputation can be staggering. Consider a case from a few years back. The victim was brutally stabbed in a parking garage of a mall. The killer was eventually convicted of murder and sentenced 25 years to life. There were a number of parties named in the ensuing lawsuit. One of which was the retailer (defendant) who hired an attorney to represent them who in-turn retained a Security Management Consultant to investigate, review and write an opinion about the case. Here are some of the plaintiff’s complaint and facts about the case: The complaint charged that the retailer... -
Retailers & "Duty of Care"
When does a retailer have a duty to their customers to provide a safe shopping experience? When should a retailer know that a safety or security issue exists and take appropriate action to try alleviating or reducing the risk? In a Mississippi case, a man and his wife were traveling to their grandson’s high school sporting event in an area they were not familiar with. It was a dark and raining night when they pulled off the interstate and entered the parking lot of a gas station/carryout to ask for directions. As the man exited his car and started walking to the carryout he noticed some shadows moving off to the side in a darkened area of the parking lot. He sensed the figures moving towards his car, where his wife had remained... -
Is this a case of employee theft?
A number of years ago a major retailer caused one of their cashiers to be arrested for theft in a case involving “ticket switching.” Ticket switching (also called “price switching”) is when the price ticket from an inexpensive or lower priced item is removed from the merchandise and placed on an item which is higher priced, with the hope that the cashier will not notice the price is incorrect and the higher priced item will be purchased for the lower price (1) . This case is about the retailer claiming the cashier was working in conjunction with the ticker switchers in order to help them carryout their theft scheme. This is commonly called collusion. In this case, there is no video footage or witnesses of the ticket... -
The Negligent Detention of Shoplifters
I’d like to share a case of Negligent Detention by a major retailer of two “suspected shoplifters” that took place over two years ago. Of course, I’m not naming the subjects or retailer involved, but can tell you this case was settled, in favor of the plaintiffs, for a very sizeable sum of money and could have been avoided if the retailer’s agents and management staff had use an ounce of common sense. I’ve written extensively on the topic of Litigation Avoidance and this case points directly to what went wrong and how it could have been avoided. First off, every state has what is called a “Merchant Detention” or Shopkeeper’s Liability” statute. The state in which this detention occurred has a... -
Preteen and Teenage Shoplifting
Retail security industry experts generally agree that about one-third of the shoplifting, here in the United States, can be attributed to minors. There is no true industry figure, taking into account that much of the teenage and preteen shoplifting largely goes unreported. When a preteen or young juvenile is involved the retailer may be inclined not to call the parents (in the case of a parent’s absence) or the police. In many jurisdictions, the police resources are stretched to their limits and responding to a juvenile shoplifting incident is a very low priority. In many cases, the retailer’s policy is designed to take the police out of the picture so as not to tie up their own resources. Therefore, the retailer may decide to recover... -
Is the Unabomber responsible for the 1982 Tylenol murders?
There are news reports that the FBI is seeking new DNA samples from Ted Kaczynski, the infamous "Unabomber", for testing in the 1982 still unsolved Chicago area Tylenol murders. The first reported product tampering case occurred in 1982 when seven people died after taking Tylenol capsules containing cyanide. An individual, whose intent was random killings, placed the tainted capsules on six different store's shelves in the Chicago area. The reward in this still unsolved case offered by Johnson and Johnson still stands today. This one product tampering incident spawned more that 250 "copycat" cases and is responsible for the product tampering safety measures now employed around the world. In a recent ABC News article by... -
Kevin Murray's book - "Is my cell phone bugged?"
"Everything you need to know to keep your mobile conversations private and how to determine yourself if your cell phone is bugged." Kevin Murray, an independent Security Consultant and owner of Murray Associates – Spybusters , has written a new book titled, Is my cell phone bugged? I have known Kevin for some time now, as we are both members of the International Association of Security Consultants (IAPSC). Kevin’s expertise lies within the counterintelligence field, specifically Electronic Eavesdropping Detection (TSCM) and is located in New Jersey. He has been a Consultant to business and government in the realm of eavesdropping detection and counterespionage since 1978. I read Kevin’s new book yesterday and found...
