WESTOVER, W.Va. – As the holiday season approaches, the Westover Police Department is planning to discuss ways to deal with shoplifting by hosting a round table next week.
The Loss Prevention Round Table will be on Tuesday, November 7, for area residents and retail workers. The event will be held at the Westover VFW Post 9916 at 8 a.m.
Sgt. Shaun Hilling is one of the organizers and said the timing of the event is no coincidence.
“With the holiday season approaching, we see a higher amount of shoplifting,” Sgt. Hilling said. “Everybody is scrambling to get those last-minute gifts, and sometimes theft is involved in that.”
Retail theft can be very difficult to catch without the coordinated efforts of the community police and store employees. Hilling said a lot of the theft is drug-related, but a certain amount of shoplifting crimes are committed by people you would not suspect.
“Sometimes people steal to fund their drug use, and other times they’re citizens that you would expect to be involved in these thefts,” Sgt. Hilling said. “They have very good jobs and just do it for the thrill.”
Most employees have strict company policies when dealing with shoplifting. So, this event will help store managers, employees, and loss prevention specialists learn the best ways to help police identify and arrest a suspect. According to Hilling, it’s also a networking event to establish a line of communication between retailers for suspect descriptions and photos.
“Get them all together and exchange information and emails,” Sgt. Hilling said. “That way, when we have suspect photos or people we need to look out for, those stores can share it with each other and pass along that information.”
Hilling described theft in this area as an “issue,” but stopped short of calling it a major problem. This event will help store workers understand better how theft laws work and what can and cannot be done.
“Depending on the level of dollar amount of theft depends on the charges—the dollar amount,” Sgt. Hilling said. “Sometimes it could be a citation, and others it could be jail time.”
The program is timely and could be good information for organizations bringing on temporary employees.
“Mostly, we like to see employees of stores, loss prevention teams, or managers, but it’s open to anyone else who has anything to add or can help us with it.”