Seminars to curb shop-lifting

Press, 23 July 1987, Page 21

Seminars to curb shop-lifting

In an attempt to curb the growing incidents of shop-lifting and to corner bouncing cheques, the New Zealand Retail and Wholesale Merchants’ Association is planning a series of security seminars.

The scheme will begin with a pilot seminar in Wellington on September 16, followed by others in main centres throughout New Zealand. Christchurch is targeted for about October. The executive officer for the association, Mr Michael Baines, said they were being run in conjunction with the police, the Bankers’ Association and security consultants.

The day-long seminars are aimed at both retail management and staff, in an attempt to minimise stock losses.

In the mornings they cover topics such as the legal aspects of security, shop security systems, stock control, and employee theft. Later, staff

will be instructed on how they can recognise shoplifting and credit-card frauds. Mr Baines said that retailers were under a lot of pressure at the moment, and one of the main areas of concern was theft and security problems. “For every stolen item, you have to sell about 30odd more to make up the profit loss. If we can minimise thefts, we can maximise profits.” He said that information the association had received showed that incidents of shop-lifting and bad cheques were increasing. In Auckland, there have also been problems with shop-lifters threatening violence. The association’s security consultant, Mr Trevor Morley, will be one of the people addressing the seminars. He is a former policeman with experience in undercover work.

The president of the Christchurch Retailers’ Association, Mr Mark Bal-

lantyne, said there had been security seminars sponsored by the police in Christchurch, and these were well attended by representatives of large retail outlets in the city. The last seminar was in 1985.

He said that while petty theft was not a new problem, there was more sophisticated shop-lifting. Retailers were going through a period when they were often not generating enough profit to meet cost measures.

“Many types of business will be finding it hard to maintain profitability and if there’s an increase in pilfering this will result in increased costs,” Mr Ballantyne said.

The national association is hoping to hold seminars in Wellington, Christchurch, Timaru, Dunedin, Invercargill, Auckland, Hamilton before Christmas.

It also plans to visit a main tourist centre during December, in an attempt to combat holiday crimes.