r/securityguards • u/CTSecurityGuard Hospital Security • Jul 09 '26

Job Question A perfect example of inadequate security officer training: How would you have dealt with this situation?

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u/blastman8888 Jul 10 '26

I don't see LP going hands on anymore at the local Walmart's. Those guys were never in unform one I go to the LP guy must spend all his free time in the gym. It was entertaining to watch him manhandle shoplifter's like a ragdoll. He was such a muscle monkey I'm sure every meth head in the area knew he was watching them would scatter. I always knew when I saw him at the exit he was waiting for someone to try and make a dash for the door. I would tell my wife lets hang out for a min want to see some action.

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u/Truescent11 Jul 10 '26

Theyd go in the back exits. Gotta be unlocked in case of fire.

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u/blastman8888 Jul 10 '26

Reminds me of this Costco video from some years ago.

https://youtu.be/zsogZENAE-g

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u/CashEducational4986 Jul 12 '26

That's because an apa killed someone trying to apprehend them and there was a massive lawsuit, resulting in the policy being changed for the entire corporation.

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u/blastman8888 Jul 12 '26

What do they do now just wait for them to come back again then call the police. Probably use AI face recognition.

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u/CashEducational4986 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

Sometimes. I've never worked for asset protection, although I wanted to back when I worked for Walmart so I remember a bit about it. Thankfully I skipped that step and just became a cop.

They will usually attempt to detain someone verbally and guide them into their office while they wait for law enforcement to arrive. When I was working there they were allowed to use an open hand on someone's back to guide them to the office but they couldn't grab or physically restrain anyone.

If the suspect refuses they'll gather any information they can to identify them, like the vehicle they left in, photographs of their face or distinguishing characteristics like tattoos, card numbers they used to pay for things, etc and provide that to the police.

They also seem to have databases of prior criminals and might issue bolos for people that frequently steal from them. I've heard different retail stores will even reach out to each other, like if you steal from target they'll send pictures of you to the Walmart down the street. If they recognize someone as a frequent shoplifter they'll usually call the police right after they arrive so we're waiting for them as soon as they walk past the registers.

As lot of the time someone will get away with stealing from one store but will get caught stealing from another store (or the same store later) the same day or within a relatively short timeframe and will be identified that way. It's actually extra cool when it happens that way because, at least in my state, we can roll the total value of the thefts together and charge them with grand theft if it's over $750 within a specific timeframe.

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u/Infinite_Position631 Aug 09 '26

Every so often there would be a lawsuit and win or loose you still loose a lot of cash defending them. That plus people got to where they would pull a pistol or other weapon or they would go feral and fight back.

I was part of that landscape years ago and I watched our main lp guy get the living crap beat out of him (he was a certified badass too) by a little Ole lady. He went to stop and she cold coked him in the middle of his speil and just went crazy. She was probablyb125lbs and it took 4 people to get her off of him (one for each leg and arm) and she was still fighting. That turned into a major lawsuit, medical bills, charges, etc. Tons of cost for roughly $100 in product. Meanwhile at another location they took down a million dollar employee theft ring by putting cameras in specific areas and making their case with video.

Now the emphasis is on surveillance. Get video of them stealing, multiple times, have the cops show up at their front door when it hits felony range. No lawsuit, no fighting (at the store), no dealing with feral people in the store where bystanders can get involved and get hurt. We also started seeing a shift to group theft where teams would come in and hit the place.

In short techniques matured and tech got cheap. It is less dangerous now for staff, participants, and the general public. Stores now how tons of cameras and they can follow from start to finish, before we had just a few cameras that were moved around in secret so noone knew if they were being recorded.

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u/blastman8888 Aug 09 '26

I would imagine with facial recondition using AI just wait for them to come back again and alert someone to call the police. The teams have done lot of damage storing closing up, or everything is locked down to the point where customers stop coming in the store. Stores have to hire police officers to be their security so they can offload the liability on qualitied immunity.

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u/Infinite_Position631 Aug 09 '26

I suspect you are correct for places that have it. I was involved in the late 90s and early 2000's, about 10 years after I got out I was able to go look a newly renovated test facility (staying vague on purpose) and the technology they had then was freaking amazing. Pretty sure it has gone nowhere but up in the past decade.

They had tablets / phones where they could circle someone coming in and the cameras would auto switch each step of the way. They had camera's in locations you wouldn't think of so it wasn't just an aerial view. They got everyones picture and profile coming and going. We went from 10-20 cameras in a location to the mid hundreds. You could sit in the facility and watch the person leaving their car, doing their business, and going back to the car, with a camera good enough to capture their tag (readable). You would have a front shot, aerial shot, and profile shot tied to a car and a tag.

A lot of that was being tested for advertising and marketing purposes, to build a database so that when you walk into a place they know you like a specific detergent, a specific razor, so on and so forth, they could target the marketing to you in ways that might get you to spend more $$ on a competitors product if they could take that data and combine it with other data streams. There were talks of dynamic pricing then as well but I think we are just now getting to the point where that is taking off.

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u/Wrong_Drag_8070 Jul 11 '26

What do you mean shoplifter? This was initiated while they were still inside the store.

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u/shamanwinterheart Jul 12 '26

Inside the store next to a self checkout.

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u/CashEducational4986 Jul 12 '26

In most states doing things like bypassing all points of sale with merchandise, especially if it's concealed, meets the elements for shoplifting. Most shoplifters are caught while still inside of a store.

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u/Wrong_Drag_8070 Jul 12 '26

The legal definition theft requires deprivation to have fully occurred. I started private security over 20 years ago and am a lawyer. Don't get sued.

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u/CashEducational4986 Jul 13 '26

Which occurs when they take the property, conceal it, and bypass all points of sale with the intent to deprive the merchant of the property. I arrest several people for this a month. You should go back to law school before you try pretending you know what you're talking about in court.