Store Detectives

Store detectives, or floor walkers as they are often known, are a very good first defence against would be shoplifters.

If you are in the retail trade then you will have noticed the trend away from plain clothes “pretend shoppers” to highly visible uniformed security staff, usually manning the store entrance.

Plain clothes floor walkers are there to catch people in the act while the uniformed Security Officers are also there to deter.

Professional shoplifters try to but cannot easily spot a plain clothes floor walker. Sometimes distraction techniques are used while the real shoplifters get into action. The deterrent value of a floor walker to a shoplifter is actually quite low, but there in lies the technique of surprise.

A uniformed Security Officer on the other hand acts a s a visible deterrent at the store entrance and can catch the thieves as they try to leave your store.

They are able to do this by being reinforced by manned CCTV surveillance.

The CCTV Operator watches the suspicious activity and tracks their progress through the store. The operator can stay in touch with the uniformed Security Officer and/or Store Detective through discrete two way communications equipment. The CCTV Operator can watch for any product switching when two or more thieves operate together, which is becoming more and more common.

If you are reviewing the effectiveness of your Store Detectives or you are thinking of deploying one for the first time then get in touch with Safeguard Security.

Please take advantage of our Security Analysis Survey to find out if your security offers the integrated solution that you need.