BASIC PROFILING

&
SHOPLIFTING

By

Gerald Kevin P. Hernandez, RCrim, MSCJ, CST, CSSP, SRM, OSH

CRIMINAL PROFILING
 Refersto the process in which
the nature of a crime is used to
make inferences about the
personality and other
characteristics of the likely
offender.
SHOPLIFTERS PROFILING
 Is a method for quickly focusing in on a person, a product line, or a section of
a store most likely to contribute to shoplifting.

 All investigative agencies including the police and others have used profiling
as a tool to narrow the field of possible suspects.

 Store and customer profiles are developed during day-to-day operations and
by collecting and analyzing inventory data. This data provides both a
quantitative and a qualitative basis for determining where, when, how, and by
whom shoplifting is likely to occur in the future.
SHOPLIFTING SIGNS
 Past offenders
 Atypical customers

 Oversized clothing or big bags

 Groups

 Behavior

 Avoiding eye contact

 Loitering near store exits 

 Occupying dressing rooms for a long time

TAKE NOTE:
 a criminal profile only gives a broad indication of the type of person who
may have committed the crime. It does not indicate a specific individual who
happens to fit the profile. 

 Second, there is no scientific evidence to support the reliability and validity

of criminal profiling in solving crimes.

 On the other hand, it cannot be denied that criminal profiling has proven
helpful in some, albeit exceptional, cases. 
SHOPLIFTING
 Shoplifting, or retail fraud, is the removal of merchandise
from a store without paying for that merchandise. Having
the intent to steal also qualifies as shoplifting. Intent to
steal includes things like:

 Changing a price tag

 Removing security tags or other theft-prevention devices

 Putting merchandise in your pockets or bag

 Taking merchandise out of its packaging and concealing it

TYPES OF SHOPLIFTERS
 Armatures - They are not premeditated but did it because the opportunity
tempted them to do it.
 Juveniles – They are committing crimes knowing that society will forgive
them because they were young of age.
 Addicts/Alcoholics/Vagrants – they commit crimes in order to sustained
there bad habits.
 Kleptomania - driven by a psychological compulsion to steal. They are not
less guilty than the others.
 Professional Shoplifters - People in the business to steal. Hard to detect
because they are highly skilled and experts in using ploy. Normally belongs
to an ORGANIZED GROUP
 DID YOU KNOW?
Shoplifting Statistics
National Facts:

• There are approximately 27 million shoplifters (or 1 in 11 people) in our

nation today.
• More than 10 million people have been caught shoplifting in the last five
years.

Shoplifting:

 Overburdens the police and the courts

 Adds to a store’s security expenses
 Costs consumers more for goods
 Costs communities lost dollars in sales taxes
 Ruins Family’s and Children’s life's
DID YOU KNOW?

Shoplifting Statistics
National Facts:

Shoplifters steal from all types of stores:

 Department Stores  Discounters

 Supermarkets  Music Stores
 Drug Stores
 Convenience Stores
 DID YOU KNOW?
Shoplifting Statistics
National Facts:
Shoplifters steal from all types of stores:

There is no profile of a typical shoplifter:

 Men and women shoplift about equally as often

Approximately
 25 percent of shoplifters are kids
 75 percent are adults
 55 percent of adult shoplifters say they started shoplifting in
their teens.
SHOPLIFTING STATISTICS CONTINUE:
National Facts:
Many shoplifters buy and steal merchandise in the same visit.
 Shoplifters commonly steal from 1000 to 10,000 per incident
depending upon the type of store and item(s) chosen.

Shoplifting is often not a premeditated crime.

 73 percent of adult and 72 percent of juvenile shoplifters don’t plan to steal in advance.
 89 percent of kids say they know other kids who shoplift.
 66 percent say they hang out with those kids.

Shoplifters say they are caught an average of only once in every 48 times they steal.
 They are turned over to the police 50 percent of the time.
SHOPLIFTING STATISTICS CONTINUE:
National Facts:

Approximately
 3 percent of shoplifters are “professionals” who steal solely for resale
or profit as a business.

 These include drug addicts who steal to feed their habit

 hardened professionals who steal as a life-style
 international shoplifting gangs who steal for profit as a business.
 “Professional” shoplifters are responsible for 10 percent of the total losses.
SHOPLIFTING STATISTICS CONTINUE:
National Facts:

 The vast majority of shoplifters are “non-professionals” who

steal, not out of criminal intent, but for:

 Financial Need
 Greed

 To Pressures Their Life Style

 Excitement

 The excitement generated from “getting away with it” produces a chemical reaction resulting in
what shoplifters describe as an incredible “rush” or “high” feeling.

 Many shoplifters will tell you that this high is their “true reward,” rather than the
merchandise itself.
SHOPLIFTING STATISTICS CONTINUE:
National Facts:
 Drug addicts, who have become addicted to shoplifting,

describe shoplifting as equally addicting as drugs.

 57 percent of adults and 33 percent of juveniles say it is hard for them to stop
shoplifting even after getting caught.
 Most non-professional shoplifters don’t commit other types of crimes. They’ll
never steal an ashtray from your house and will return to you a 20 peso bill you
may have dropped.
 Their criminal activity is restricted to shoplifting and therefore, any rehabilitation
program should be “offense-specific” for this crime.
 Habitual shoplifters steal an average of 1.6 times per week.
INVENTORY SHRINKAGE
 The difference between the perpetual inventory and the actual physical inventory
is called inventory shrinkage.

 These are three main causes for inventory shrinkage:

 Data input errors can occur during receiving, stocking, or selling.

 Product damage, or breakage, may occur when products
are being moved from receiving dock to storage to store shelves.
 Theft can be from people working in the store or outsiders,
such as customers or burglars.

Theft is the largest cause of inventory shrinkage.

INVENTORY SHRINKAGE
 That an estimate of 300 million loses per year due to shrinkage.
 react-text: 251 Supermarkets and grocers lose the highest percentage of sales to
shrink, seeing an average of 3.23% evaporate, or 2.5 times more than the industry
average. Department stores face a less acute problem, losing 1.27% of sales.

Theft is the largest cause of inventory shrinkage.

INTERNAL THEFT
 Internal Theft is committed by:
 Employees of a Store
 A Supplier
 A Delivery Company
EXTERNAL THEFT
 External Theft is stealing by people who are not employed
or otherwise associated with the retailer.
 This includes shoplifting and robbery.

 Shoplifting is the stealing of merchandise from a store by a person poising as a customer.

 Small, high-priced goods are common targets for shoplifting.
 Example are jewelry and electronic devices.
 Items easy to take from stores.

Shoplifting is a serous crime, punishable by fine or

time in prison.
VIOLATION UNDER RPC
Art. 308. Who are liable for theft.—Theft is committed by any person who, with intent to gain
but without violence against, or intimidation of persons nor force upon things, shall take
personal property of another without the latter's consent.

Theft is likewise committed by:

1. Any person who, having found lost property, shall fail to deliver the same to the local
authorities or to its owner;

2. Any person who, after having maliciously damaged the property of another, shall remove or
make use of the fruits or object of the damage caused by him; and

3. Any person who shall enter an inclosed estate or a field where trespass is forbidden or which
belongs to another and, without the consent of its owner, shall hunt or fish upon the same or
shall gather fruits, cereals, or other forest or farm products.
ART. 310. QUALIFIED THEFT

 Article 310 (RPC) - The crime of theft

shall be punished by the penalties next
higher by two degrees. That it is
committed when a domestic servant
or a person who abuses the confidence
entrusted to him/her commits theft.
WARRANTLESS ARREST & SEARCH
RULES OF COURT, RULE 113, SECTION 5, A
WARRANTLESS ARREST, ALSO KNOWN AS "CITIZEN’S
ARREST," IS LAWFUL UNDER THREE CIRCUMSTANCES:
 When, in the presence of the policeman, the person to be arrested has
committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense.
This is the "in flagrante delicto" rule.
 When an offense has just been committed, and he has probable cause to
believe, based on personal knowledge of facts or circumstances, that the
person to be arrested has committed it. This is the "hot pursuit" arrest rule.
 When the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has escaped from a penal
establishment.
 THEFT PREVENTION
 Remove of blind spots in the area.
 Installation of barriers.

 Require a receipt for all returns.

 Lock all expensive items

 Monitor your fitting rooms.

 Post signage.

 Use CCTV camera.

 Give exceptional customer service.

 Give Shoplifters an Uneasy Feeling

 Control backpacks and other parcels brought in by customers.

 Train your security personnel and staff

 Supervise the Selling Floor

 Encourage Employee Involvement