The Field of Loss Prevention - Essay Example

Introduction James Longobardi The field of loss prevention is one that is both exciting and interesting for people seeking a challenge and for those with a keen eye for detail and a passion for thoroughness. The term itself refers to reducing the amount of product that is lost between the producer or the supplier and the point of sale. This type of loss can also be referred to as shrinkage. Shrinkage includes a number of different types of loss, but most importantly loss through damaged or out of date products and loss as a consequence of theft. Loss prevention is important in most industries to some degree. For example, in the restaurant and hospitality industry it is important to ensure that ingredients don’t disappear from storage before they are cooked, especially expensive ones such as rib eye steak. In offices it is common for small, miscellaneous items to go missing, and I have often heard reports from family members who worked in offices of bringing home small items such as staplers by mistake and never returning them. While such theft may seem inconsequential, the costs can quickly add up for the business in question. I became interested in the field of loss prevention, specifically the focus on minimizing product loss as a consequence of theft as a result of influences during my formative years. My first interest and passion was not for loss prevention, but for law in general. I was raised in New Jersey, and lived with my parents for most of my life, having found a place of my own only in the last few years. My mother was a teacher and my father was a firefighter. As a consequence my early life experiences were molded by a blend of a “doing right” and a “doing well” philosophy. I thus grew to understand to importance of doing the right thing in life and doing it well. From my father’s perspective, what was right was related in part to what was right legally, but also what was right from a moral standpoint. One factor that influenced me towards law was the sense of strength and duty that I learnt from my father. As a consequence of his job, there was always the chance that one day he wouldn’t come home, and I deeply admired the strength and courage that drove him to take those risks. A particular incident that I remember vividly was the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York. Although my father was not involved at all, I remember watching the heroic attempts of the officers of both the New York Fire Department and the New York Police Department and the risks that they took. Many of these lost their lives in the World Trade Centre, and whenever I think of them, I feel a strong sense of duty and purpose and am determined to follow the example that they set and to put my chosen career above my own personal desires. The idea of law and justice w as strong in my family, not only was my father a firefighter, with strong opinions about what was right and what was just, but also three of my uncles work with the police, two work in New Jersey, one as a police officer and the other as a County Sheriff’s Officer and the last one is a Police Detective in New York. I have spent considerable time talking to all three of them throughout my youth, in particular the two that work in New Jersey, hearing stories about their work, their passion for justice and different events that have occurred throughout their time in the role. From an early age this installed in me a strong sense of passion for justice and respect for the law. For me, my focus on loss prevention has been steered towards the retail industry as a consequence of my career choice. At 16 I began my first job, where I worked at a Target store. The retail chain is famous throughout the United States and has many stores across the country. My role in the company was customer service, and the job served to give me confidence and I began to enjoy engaging with both the people that I worked with and with the customers. At 17 I moved from working at Target to a different retail store, Best Buy. Initially, my role at Best Buy was the same as at Target, but I progressed beyond this, learning various roles and operating in different capacities, before settling into the role of loss prevention. Currently, I am employed at Best Buy as the manager of Security and Loss Prevention. My work at Best Buy has taught me how to be an effective supervisor, how to work with others, and has given me an eye for details. As a consequence I have picked up a number of skills in preventing shoplifting including noticing unusual behavior, and keeping an eye on the electronic security around the store, ensuring that it is all in working order. My mother’s influence was not lost on me, and her job as a teacher, as well as her love of knowledge had built a strong desire in me to eventually earn a degree. At 20 years of age I was working in the loss prevention department of Best Buy and was beginning to develop a strong passion for the degree. While maintaining a full time role at Best Buy and began to work towards an Associate’s Degree. As part of this I needed to do an internship and was assigned to the Bergen County Prosecutors office in the Intel Counter Terrorism Unit. My internship was for a period of three months, but once this was complete I stayed a further nine months working with them on a part-time basis as a volunteer. During the time there I learnt a lot about the way that the police department works and the processes that they undertake. My role was that of a simple intern with jobs such as inputting data into the computer system and file work. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it immensely and was fascinated by many aspects of the law in action that I observed. I took a break from studying for a while following my Associate’s Degree to refocus my attention on my role at Best Buy. My interest in both law and loss prevention continued to grow, and I recently began work towards a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice. I am continuing in my role at Best Buy and in order to balance these two parts of my life efficiently, I am doing my degree online only. If I can pick three key ideas that have influenced my thinking, they would be my early life experiences from my parents who taught me the virtue of doing it right and doing it well, putting my profession ahead of my personal life which was inspired in part by the heroics of the New York Firefighters during the 9-11 incident and, finally, the overriding focus on ensuring that frauds and security lapses do not happen and even if they happen, to ensure that justice is done and losses are recouped. During the last semester, I have been introduced to several concepts during the course of the program and on reflection; I believe that some of the concepts like motivation, self actualization and an attention to detail have influenced my line of thinking which is reflected in the key ideas that have shaped my thinking. I do believe that a good crime investigator or a prosecutor must have an attention to detail without losing sight of the big picture and this has helped me in my life so far. The patterns that emerge from my choice of jobs and my life experiences indicate that I have practiced these learning’s as well as ensured that my concentration never wavers on the job along with the attitude of putting my job ahead of self. My experiential learning or learning on the job has taught me to value property of the community and individuals as sacrosanct and that all necessary precautions are followed to avoid loss of property and human life. Even if accidents happen, the loss of life and property must be minimized and a thorough investigation must be undertaken to ensure that the lost property is returned to the community or the individual. We live in a capitalist economy where individuals have the right to own property and it is incumbent upon the state and federal agencies to ensure that this right is protected and upheld. Hence, loss prevention and security services have been my primary focus throughout my working life and my courses have been chosen so that I major in criminal justice which for me is an overriding passion. I do hope that I succeed in my endeavors and follow in the footsteps of my parents and my role models like the New York Firefighters who gave up their lives in the course of their duty which is the highest form of sacrifice as far as I am concerned. Towards this end, I have been motivated to take up the course so that I can articulate my vision and mission by living the life that I want to lead. This introduction forms the first part of my previous experience portfolio. In the following papers I will discuss loss prevention in the retail industry, with focus on: credit fraud prevention, security action plans/physical security, theft deterrent electronic systems, internal theft/corporate corruption,, risk assessments and the national loss impact of retail theft. These factors are important in my own role as Security and Loss Prevention Manager at Best Buy and for loss prevention in general whatever the industry. Read More