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Loss Prevention Tech Trends for 2016

Loss Prevention Tech Trends for 2016When it came to loss prevention back in the day, retailers hired security guards, off-duty police officers, or other such folks to catch criminals trying to rip off their stores. The effectiveness of a retailer’s business security was mainly judged in terms of the number of arrests its security personnel made.

Times have changed, however. Now the name of the game is “loss prevention,” minimizing retail loss rather than making a lot of arrests. To that end, retailers are turning to innovative technology to help them mitigate theft and fraud.

Here are the four trends in “asset protection technology” for 2016, according to the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA).

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Untested Alarm System Costs Siskiyou County $3 Million

Is your burglar alarm system programmed with a communication timer test?

Just ask officials at the Siskiyou County Courthouse in California, who were shocked to discover that the failure of the security system protecting $3 million in gold resulted in a clean getaway for the thieves who simply smashed a hole in the glass case protecting the historical artifacts and grabbed everything they could.

The gold nuggets had been a theft target once before in 1979, when the silent alarm functioned as intended and the would-be marauders were apprehended roughly a block away from the courthouse with the illicit wares in their possession. This time, however, the vibration alarm that was meant to protect the irreplaceable gold nuggets – some of which date back to the town’s founding – did not respond at all. A town spokesperson stated that the system had been properly armed, and that the county was working with its security provider to get to the bottom of the glitch.

Perhaps the most telling aspect of the sad story surrounding the Siskiyou gold is a footnote at the bottom of the article that mentions an annual security alarm test schedule. According to the Courthouse, the last test occurred in August of 2011, nearly seven months before the February theft.

There is an important lesson that business and property owners can learn from the tragic tale of the Siskiyou theft, and that is that it’s not enough to rely on a single alarm system test every 12 months. So much can happen within a year’s time, especially in a heavily-trafficked space such as a courthouse or a retail space, that it really becomes necessary to perform an alarm system test at least once per quarter, if not once per month.

American Alarm programs a timer test with its business security systems that can send communications weekly or daily, depending on the type of signals being monitored. If our central station operators do not receive a signal, we contact the owner immediately to determine the cause of the missed communication, and find a solution to the issue.

It costs nothing to make sure that your alarm system is functioning up to spec – what’s  the price tag of not knowing? In the case of Siskiyou County, the figure would seem to be $3 million.

Shoplifting Epidemic in Massachusetts – Is Your Business Security System Ready?  

Business Security System - Shoplifting EpidemicWe probably all know someone who pocketed a candy bar or a pack of gum from the local store when they were kids. They probably caught hell from their folks when they did. The truth is today shoplifting is far from a petty crime. In fact, it costs businesses nationwide billions and forces them to consider a business security system upgrade.

Sure, there are still the petty thieves that come in to pilfer what they can and these crimes can add up to some significant losses for businesses. According to the FBI, shoplifting rings are considered major organized crime. We’re talking about sophisticated groups of shoplifters, who case out stores just like banks. They come equipped with floor plans and special foil-lined bags that block the signals of security sensors. Read more