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Shrink rap: loss-prevention tools are helping grocers combat one of the bottom line's most bitter enemies.

Article Excerpt
When a Wal-Mart employee used surveillance tapes from her store's closed-circuit television to help police unravel a string of murders and credit card thefts, retailers across the country got a taste of just how valuable loss-prevention tools can be.

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Brian Bethell, a 40-year-old auto mechanic from Margate, Fla., allegedly shot three men to death in separate incidents in February and used their credit cards to go shopping, according to published reports. He was arrested after an attentive Wal-Mart employee in Coral Springs, Fla. remembered his face from one of the store's CCTV surveillance tapes and alerted police. Bethell is charged with three counts of first-degree murder, fraudulent use of a credit card, grand theft and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to the reports.

While such incidents make the biggest headlines, grocers are more often targets of organized theft rings. Nearly 50% of retail executives have seen an increase in organized theft activity over the last 12 months, according to the National Retail Security Survey. Because of the growing threat, the FBI created an Organized Retail Theft Task Force and an organized retail crime database.

Theft is taking a heavy toll on the nation's store operators. According to the study, retailers lost close to $31 billion last year from a combination of employee theft, shoplifting, vendor fraud and administrative error. The annual survey, which analyzed loss incidents from 107 of the largest U.S. retail chains, was conducted by the University of Florida with a funding grant from ADT Security Services, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based unit of Tyco Fire &...

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