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Chicago security officers march for wage increase www.privateofficer.com
Chicago area security officers march for pay increase http://www.privateofficer.com
Hundreds of union security officers and their supporters took to the streets of the loop this afternoon.
The group’s ‘Stand for Security’ march and rally came just three weeks before the expiration of their current union contract.
Officers want commercial building owners and managers to invest in the security they provide as a first line of defense in a disaster situation.
“The price of gas is up. It costs more to get food and medical care. Everything. We deserve a little more. We put our lives on the line every day,” said security officer Anthony Hamblet
The union says the officers’ current wages, approximately $9.50 per hour, are not on par with that responsibility.
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www.privateofficer.comCasino security prevents suicide www.privateofficer.com
Casino security prevents suicide http://www.privateofficer.com
Security officers at the Philadelphia Park Casino responded to a possible suicide at their facility on Thursday and found Robert Harvey Sturman who drunk some cleaning solutions in an attempt to end his life.
Sturman, 54, a self-proclaimed compulsive gambler whose last known address was Northampton, allegedly chugged a partial bottle of an all-purpose, heavy duty, antibacterial cleaner while in the casino.
Security officers summoned medical assistance and notified the state police and as troopers questioned Sturman they learned he was wanted by the Camden County New Jersey’s Prosecutor’s Office for skipping his trial on charges of theft and writing bad checks, according to court records.
Sturman received medical care and was then taken into custody on the outstanding warrants and transported to the county jail.
Basically, I’m just a compulsive gambler and I just need some kind of mental health help,” Sturman whispered in court between gulps of air.
However, District Judge Jan Vislosky told Sturman he would be going to county prison on $100,000 bail and that New Jersey authorities would likely pick him up within 48 hours.
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www.privateofficer.comTarget defends firing of security officer www.privateofficer.com
Target defends firing of security officer http://www.privateofficer.com
Dean Babcock, whose age and hometown weren’t immediately available, said he just wanted to do the right thing.
On March 1 a 16-year-old customer slipped a bottle of rum in her bag, according to Babcock, who added that he verified the incident on store security cameras.
Six days later the same girl put a bottle of tequila in her shopping basket, which Babcock said he again verified on the cameras.
This time Babcock approached the girl and asked if she had taken a bottle of rum the previous week. She said yes, according to Babcock. He asked whether she had taken a bottle of liquor that day too and she said yes, Babcock said.
He saw the bottle was no longer in her shopping basket. He asked whether it was in her bag, and she opened the bag to reveal the bottle there, Babcock said.
He took down her information, called her father and let her go.
“I couldn’t call the police, and I thought I could handle it low-key, without the bosses finding out,” Babcock told The Janesville Gazette.
Two weeks later, the store manager called Babcock into her office and asked him to explain his version of the events, which he did.
“(She) said, ‘You weren’t supposed to do that,”‘ he said.
The manager told him he should have approached the girl and asked if he could help her find something, Babcock said. Only certain supervisors can stop suspected shoplifters, a step that security guards aren’t empowered to take.
“I could not ask her to put the alcohol back,” Babcock said. “I could not accuse a guest of stealing.”
The store had no one on duty that day who had the authority to stop a suspected shoplifter, he said.
Babcock was briefly suspended, and was then fired on March 25.
“I figured they were going to chew me out, but I didn’t think I’d get fired,” he said.
A message left with Target’s headquarters on Saturday evening by The Associated Press was not immediately returned. A phone listing for Babcock could not be found.
In a statement, Target said the company’s first priority is safety.
“While we take theft seriously, we also respect and value the comfort of our guests,” the statement said. “To ensure a safe shopping experience while preventing crime in our stores, we require that our apprehension guidelines be upheld and apprehensions be made only when a situation meets our stringent criteria.
Babcock said he doesn’t regret the actions that cost him his position.
“My job was not to stop her. I knew that when I was hired,” he said. “But I think any reasonable adult who sees a kid take a bottle of alcohol would do something about it.”
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Theft ring busted, investigation continues www.privateofficer.com
Theft ring busted, investigation continues http://www.privateofficer.com
About 11:00pm Friday night, deputies were called to a business by an employee who suspected a group of people of shoplifting. The group of three males and one female left before deputies arrived. The officers searched the area and minutes later found the four in a parking lot near the corner of State Street and Eagle Road.
The group agreed to allow deputies to search their vehicle. Officers found a large amount of over-the-counter medicine and personal hygiene products inside. Store personnel estimate the value of the products to be about $10,000. Deputies say they believe the items were stolen from multiple stores over a short period of time.
Deputies arrested Erik Leon Barahona, 18; Jorge A. Hernandez-Garcia, 25; Jose Avel Nieto-Suazo, 31; and Merlin Yardia Valasquez, 20, all of Los Angeles, California. The four were booked into the Ada County Jail on one charge of felony burglary each.
The burglary investigation continues. Additional charges are pending against the suspects.
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www.privateofficer.comTSA officer aids ill child www.privateofficer.com
TSA officer aids ill child http://www.privateofficer.com
Chris Harrington’s, the TSA officer, stopped the family before they could got on the plane and called for medical assistance.Medics on scene determined that the infant was suffering from a serious seizure and had a temperature of 103 degrees. The baby was rushed to the hospital just in time.Harrgington said that he was just doing his job and that tries to assist passangars in any way that he can. The family thinks something different and said his quick response probably prevented a much more serious situation.
The child was released from the hospital and the family has since continued their trip.
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www.privateofficer.comArmed robber leaves behind key clue www.privateofficer.com
Armed robber leaves behind key clue http://www.privateofficer.com
Police say that they responded to an armed robbery at the Golden Convenience store after the clerk dialed 911 and reported that she had been robbed.
Arriving officers were told that a black male had been in the store and waited for all of the customers to leave and then pulled a knife on her and told her that it was a robbery. Even though the thief was long gone, police still had a strong lead in the case.
Before pulling a knife, authorities say 28-year-old Demetrius Robinson filled out a job application, apparently leaving his real name. Investigators say he was trying to kill time until the customers were gone and in doing so used his real information.
Robinson managed to evade immediate capture by using his uncle’s phone number and a phony address. But police say they got an anonymous tip and arrested him yesterday morning.
Authorities say Robinson is also a suspect in several other armed robberies.
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Is the internet fueling shoplifting? www.privateofficer.com
Is the internet fueling shoplifting http://www.privateofficer.com
Some argue that before the internet, Ebay and other popular internet auctions sites, personal stores and Craiglists, shoplifters had a much harder time diposing of their stolen wares.
They would either have to sell them to friends and realitives or hock them at a flea market, Chris Hughs, Senior Investigator for a large retailer said during a recent interview. But now, the internet has certainly changed all of that he continued. With just a few clicks of the mouse and an ad post here and an ad post there and you’ve got access to millions of buyers and unfortunately they’re not too dicriminating. Meaning that they’ll buy because of price and not be worried about where the products came from or how the seller got them Hughs added.
A substantial increase is reported as thieves sell hot items online according to the National Association of Private Officers, Loss Prevention division.
Merchandise is flying off store shelves, but a good chunk of it is not being sold by the clerks. It’s the shoplifters who are making the sale. The growing number of store thieves are cashing in by turning to cyberspace and reselling the booty in online auctions. “We’re seeing across the country a significant increase in organized retail crime,” said Michael Krueger, a corporate spokesman for Target, referring to the practice of coordinated groups of thieves boosting merchandise and selling it via online auction sites. “It’s lucrative, anonymous, stealable,” said Krueger, adding that Target, which has a store in Charleston, will prosecute criminals and seek civil penalties. “It’s attracting criminal elements that would normally not have been involved in shoplifting.”
But retailers are fighting back and being more aggressive than ever said Hughs. Many retailers use to let shoplifters who took merchandise under twenty five or fifty dollars go without prosecution in hopes that they learned a lesson while the retailer maintained a customer. But not anymore. Stores are prosecuting teenagers, mothers with children, grandmas and the pros all the same Hughs said.
They have resorted to fighting fire with fire and besides the criminal prosecution, many also seek civil damages through their attorneys. Soon after being caught, the shoplifter often gets demands for civil restitution as much as three times the value of the merchandise taken plus attorney fees or they face being sued and having a judgement placed against them.
Under state law, shoplifters can be held liable for the retail cost, up to $1,500, of any item which is damaged or can’t be recovered. Even if the goods are returned whole, merchants can seek penalties of five times the amount of the purloined item, up to $500. Some retailers try to collect the penalties themselves, while others farm out the work to collection firms, according to the National Retail Federation.
With the slowing economy, merchants have apparently become more diligent in guarding their wares, Hughs said. Retailers budgeted about 0.43 percent of their total retail sales, or just over $11 billion, on security and loss-prevention, the University of Florida survey said. That figure actually represented a decrease from prior years.
But enforcement of shoplifting laws, many of which are felonies is increasing and being taken more serious by many law enforcement agencies including the FBI. In recent years with the increase of organized shoplifting gangs and internet sales of stolen merchanside, law enforcement have applied federal statues against these shoplifters. Instead of facing simple theft charges, many now face grand larceny, burglary and robbery charges when force is used in their escape from a loss prevention agent. When stolen merchandise is sold or transported across state lines federal charges are now applied and the culprits face much stiffer penalities. Racketeering charges, once reserved for “the mob” and criminal enterprise statues have also been added to against numerous organized “shoplifting enterprises” whose only job is to steal from retails and dispose of the goods usually via the internet.
While police admit that they do not have the manpower to actively prowl the internet for those who might be selling stolen goods, they do take tips and leads from other agencies and loss prevention agents more seriously and will begin an investigation and follow it through to arrest and trial.
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Thieves tie up security, steal truckloads of merchandise www.privateofficer.com
Thieves tie up security, steal truckloads of merchandise http://www.privateofficer.com
BURLINGTON TOWNSHIP PA. April 7 2008 — Armed robbers tied up a warehouse security guard Saturday and then made off with three truckloads of sporting goods over the next three hours.
Police said the robbery at the Sports Authority warehouse in a business park off Richards Run was well-planned and appeared to be the work of experienced criminals.
The value of the stolen merchandize was being calculated today, police said. Lt. Wayne Maver said the cost was expected to be substantial.
The robbery began at 7 p.m. when two men armed with handguns confronted a guard inside a security booth, police said. The robbers tied the guard’s hands and feet and placed him inside a trailer.
While one robber stood watch over the guard, at least two others hitched a trailer containing Sports Authority merchandise to a truck that the robbers had driven to the warehouse, police said. The robbers then drove the truck and trailer to an unknown location.
After moving the first trailer, the robbers returned and repeated the process twice, police said.
Investigators estimate the trailers were moved to a location 20 to 30 minutes away from the warehouse.
The robber who was watching the tied-up guard left when the third trailer was taken from the warehouse, police said. The guard was then able to escape his bonds and kick open the trailer. He flagged down a motorist, who helped him call authorities, police said.
The guard was not injured, Maver said.
One of the robbers was described as a black male weighing more than 200 pounds who wore black clothing. A second was described as a black male weighing about 190 pounds who wore a black jean jacket and white sneakers. A third was a man who wore a mask. More people may have participated, police said.
The truck used by the robbers was a white 2007 Mack with a New Jersey license plate AH704N, police said. The truck had been reported stolen from a location in Plainfield, Union County.
Police said the robbery was under investigation. No suspects were in custody today.
Police asked anyone with information about the robbery to call detectives at (609) 386-2019.
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