While it may seem that warehouses would not see high theft and fraud potential because of their vastness and lack of high profile items, they actually offer a host of opportunities for loss because of the volume of stock, autonomy of staff and ease of movement of goods.
Warehouses also are notoriously complex to cover comprehensively with security devices and personnel, making them more tempting targets, along with their usual locations away from populated and high traffic areas.
Poor key, lock and access control
The purpose of having keys and locks and restricted access is to protect assets. However, because businesses and homeowners tend to get very casual about these essential safeguards for our inventory and our finances, we tend to let down our guard. That is, employees may come and go either from the department or from the operation entirely over a period of months or years. We do not change the locks or change the codes to prevent those employees (some who may have been dismissed for cause) from later accessing or passing on those access codes to other people. Residential apartments in some jurisdictions generally require that locks be re-programmed or rekeyed after any tenant leaves, to prevent that former tenant from re-entering the property. But businesses ignore this vital security step. Having lax access control means that a multitude of people can gain access illicitly and covertly.
Even access control for current employees should be controlled. Using keyholder logs, routine password changes and requiring that access be returned to the business at the end of each shift are effective processes.
The CIBC bank (and others) requires that employees even change their passwords weekly, daily or monthly. While this requirement can result in some chaos, it protects the bank from theft and fraud. When cash at ATMs is retrieved, two employees (not one) do so. Every non-routine transaction requires two-person verification.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-20
Cross-docking
Cross docking is particular area of vulnerability for warehouses, factories and even inter-store retailers. Cross-docking often involves partial cases of a variety of goods, mixed loosely with no obvious connection to each other. In factories, it may involve shipping of parts or incomplete equipment for further refinement at the next factory. In inter-store retailing, goods moving between stores often reflects items (frequently on sale) that were in demand at the receiving store and in abundance at the originating store. Warehoused goods may be transferred to complete a customer order at the destination. In many instances, the cases are opened and repacked, creating more opportunity for loss. Goods that arrive and are held at the receiving area are vulnerable to direct theft. Even without direct theft, these goods are vulnerable to fraud due to the many documents that form part of the paper trail, including bills of lading, packing slips, purchase orders, invoices and receipts.
We investigated one client’s drivers and discovered that one trucker routinely would meet other colleagues from different companies at a discreet mall restaurant and swap goods out of the rear of their vehicles. Another company driver arranged for a weekly meeting of buyers at a church parking lot.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Short weighting
Short weighting an order is quite common in retail, wholesale and factory environments. Let’s begin with retail. One major grocer was discovered to have been short-weighting meats by as much as fifteen percent. While the grocer suggested that they had been erroneously including the packaging in the total weight, it did not fully account for the weight discrepancy.
On the surface, this practice appears to benefit the grocery operation at the expense of the customer, which is true. The receiver of the goods always is short-changed, But at the same time, the retailer does not necessarily benefit.
In one investigation, we found that the butcher actually was deliberately shorting each package and inflating the trim that he created in his wastage reports. He was accumulating the excess “paper” inventory and bagging up to twenty pounds of meat every day, which he tossed in the garbage and later recovered.
On a much larger scale, an employee of a salvage yard misrepresented several tons of scrap iron coming in, then created an invoice paying himself (through a fraudulent name) for the extra weight he had skimmed.
A third warehouser placed an indiscernible flat weight on the cargo scale before he weighed in bags of produce, creating the illusion of supplying full weight of goods.
In all three cases, someone lost, and someone gained, but it was not always the original company who benefitted.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Short Counts
Short counting marches hand-in-hand with short-weighting but is even more common. Our years of corporate investigations turned up scores and scores of examples.
One salesman routinely picked up the “blown vacs,” expired date packaging and blemished products from his retail clients, writing a credit for the returns. He would fill a case of loose product, present the counts to the store receiver (often during a busy period) and open the case to prove that he had the goods. Every time, he failed to include the proper counts of bacon, processed meats and wieners. He then sold the excess to a restauranteur who used the deeply discounted items in his meals.
Several restaurant clients found they had fewer heads of lettuce or counts of tomatoes in the flats that were delivered to them than they should have had. While the counts generally were less than one or two items per case, over the course of several months, they lost several cases of goods, while the supplier or driver was able to pocket the shortfall.
One garden supplier received a flat of garden fertilizer with 100 bags on it. However, there were only 96.
A dairy delivery driver shipped a pallet of ice-cream that was missing its entire middle section: more than 20% of the order! Proper counting and proper weighing, matched against the bills of lading, would have caught these errors.
With perpetual inventory systems, these discrepancies should show up quickly but often go unnoticed when Min-Max replenishment systems fail to notify the managers that the item is out of stock.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Repacks
Similar to short-weighting, short-counting and cross-docking repacks also are vulnerable to errors and theft. Repacks may have incorrect items (cheaper or more expensive than the listed items), inadequate items and inaccurate counts of items in the containers. Repacks are common with smaller retailers who can not afford to carry large quantities of inventory and need to order partial packs. This makes them vulnerable to fraud at the supplier level, theft enroute or inadvertent error. Any shipping or receiving should be automatically subjected to counts and verification as soon as possible. When an order arrives, it should be signed subject to count verification. The shipment arriving should not be immediately put into inventory but should be set aside for verification to ensure accuracy. If suppliers are reluctant to accept this condition and errors occur that are not rectified by the supplier, a new supply line should be sourced.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Regular Customers and Suppliers
While we definitely want to have regular customers because of the savings achieved over the cost of having to recruit new clients, regular customers also pose a risk if there are relationships that develop between staff and those customers or if the customers have free reign within the warehouse. Similarly, familiarity with suppliers leads to potential for loss through fraud through theft or through sweethearting. The principle is simple: the better the supplier or customer knows the layout of the business, the easier it is to identify easily stolen items, and the better they know the business employees and procedures, the easier it becomes to overcome them. We are not suggesting that you be suspicious of a supplier or customer just because they are regular, but you should have systems in place to discourage loss. After all, you wouldn’t put the cookie jar on your infant’s feeding tray, or the keys to your expensive car on your teenage son’s night table!
Scoring (Low to High) 0-5
Cleaning staff
Cleaning staff are the most overlooked employee group in any business. They are so disregarded that we even tend to discuss confidential business in their presence in meetings or when they are cleaning our office or warehouse. This is an obvious class bias that opens the door for opportunities for those employees to steal, to retrieve records and data from trash and to access areas that they should not be accessing except for cleaning purposes. When we placed undercover investigators in businesses, we usually attempted to place them as janitors, cleaning staff, housekeepers and kitchen staff. These employees Are akin to songbirds, pets and insects. We accept them as being so innocuous that they are allowed everywhere inside or out. Yet, one of the most significant frauds that we detected was in an engineering company where the janitor had obtained computer passwords simply by observing the managers at work, then accessed the software remotely, selling the data to an offshore crime organization.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Storage cribs
One courier company for which we conducted undercover investigations had a separate area completely secured and locked in which to hold pharmaceuticals. The cage—a 2foot by 20 foot room enclosed by heavy duty page wire– was open to visibility from all sides. However, the international courier company was losing literally tens of thousands of dollars per week in potent medicines and merchandise from the crib area. Our investigation discovered that, even though the contents were highly visible, the employees required to sign in and out of the room and the stock counted regularly, the loss remained high. We found that the employees that were involved were accessing the crib area legitimately but were rebranding items with a UPC code machine, then removing the items.
This created artificial inventory counts, with some items as showing out-of-inventory levels, while the stolen items showed remaining inventory.
Another company that we investigated had a tool crib in its machine shop, containing both company tools and the tool chests of employees not on shift. Many of the tool chests were identical. Often the employees would access the crib area even though it was supervised by a dedicated staff member. Deviant staff would enter and still manage to take tools without properly accounting for them. Others would take tools of other employees who had failed to lock their chests. A simple camera system would have deterred and detected these losses.
A retailer had a designated closet where returned items, defective-upon-receipt items and repair items were held prior to being shipped back to the suppliers. Ostensibly, the room was only for those items. However, an overly diligent worker felt that even part cases, single items that were loose in the stockroom without their original containers and items being held for customer pickup should go in the room “to be safe.” Soon, the room was a crammed, disorganized mess. Small wonder, then, that items began disappearing, even though in a locked room, since this employee provided the key to anyone that asked and there was no inventory control log.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-5
Layout
Layout in any business can easily contribute to theft and fraud for a variety of reasons. In a factory, layout is often designed for efficiency of production, not for security of product. In a retail setting, layout is designed to maximize exposure of high-profit, high-demand items. In a warehouse, layout is designed to maximize ease of access. In a hotel, staff areas are designed to keep the “dirty linen” from outside eyes. In a restaurant, prime space is reserved for dining customers, with little free space in stock and food prep areas.
However, the restaurant that places items near rear doors or has easy access to high theft supplies encourages theft. The hotel enables staff to steal supplies as they work. The warehouse encourages employees to move stock around so that the items can more easily be taken. The factory allows theft in many ways on the production line, the supply area and the finished product layout.
Simple changes to shelf styles and placement, remote areas and door access, employee movement, lighting and other inexpensive alterations can thwart theft effectively.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Obscure locations
Most businesses have remote, obscure or private locations. While these may be as simple as remote doors that are not properly secured, obstructed lines of sight or a stock room that is infrequently travelled, a tradesman who does all his work onsite for customers still provides remote locations for his workers: the vehicle and the route that he is able to travel autonomously.
Remote areas, autonomy and anonymity contribute greatly to opportunity.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Lines of authority, responsibility and communication
Unclear lines of authority and responsibility are like having no rules for a toddler or new puppy. It will ultimately lead to people exploring and pushing the implied boundaries and rules. The primary purpose of most employee handbooks in large corporations is not to provide training but to provide controls on employee actions that may lead to disruptive or dishonest activity.
One employee of a machine shop that produced specialty items for clients was so well trusted that he was able to set his own hours, cost out the materials for the projects he was creating and testing and decide what was waste and what was valuable. It was a recipe for theft. Indeed, this employee was an exceptional creator and very valuable to the company. The owner saw little downside to giving him free rein. But because there were no rules, the employee capitalized on this failure of the company, helping himself to thousands of dollars in product.
Many times, we interviewed employees who claimed that this supervisor or that had said what they were doing was okay, when the truth was the opposite. Because there was no clear line of authority, it was difficult to contradict their claims.
More than once, we interviewed restaurant employees who had provided free meals to friends. They responded that they thought it was okay, since the employee himself or herself was allowed to have a free meal. They saw no reason why they could not give out multiple meals if they were not intending to consumer their one allotted snack.
A factory employee allowed a delivery driver to take a broken item home with him, because no one had told him he couldn’t do so, there was no boss on shift to authorize it and the driver said that he had been allowed to do it before. The “broken” item was actually worth several hundred dollars and would have cost less than $20 for the supplier to repair.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Remote Door Access or Egress
A company that manufactured high end leather jackets had a regular quarterly shortage that ranged between $70,000 and $140,000 ($300,000 in current dollars). They could not identify where the merchandise was going because the receiving doors and the office were heavily controlled. However, because it was a large older warehouse, ventilation was not great. Staff were allowed to open the emergency exits around the building to allow cross ventilation during the summer heat. One employee used that as an opportunity to toss bags and boxes of high end jackets out those doors for a non-employee colleague to pick up in the middle of the afternoon. One simple shortcut because they did not have adequate ventilation cost the manufacturer over $800,000.
While in one Walmart I observed grab and run thieves remove 2 shopping carts full of diapers through a remote emergency exit because, even though the exit was alarmed, very few staff ventured into the area.
Remote door access remote door usage and remote door surveillance all need to be maintained to thwart loss.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-20
Personal desirability of theft-prone items
Johnny Cash had a song that was about a 1949 Lincoln that he built one piece at a time by stealing the parts from his employer over a period of years. The result was an abomination hybrid, but, in the song, he loved that car. In another section of this program, I talked about an employee who stole manufactured steel shafts from his place of work. Again, not desirable to most of us, but desirable to him.
Sometimes, goods become more desirable just because they can be stolen. For decades, office workers joked about their collections of company pens and pencils at home. Hospitality workers often are found stealing trivial items like soaps, tissue, or even towels, even though they have an oversupply at home. How many people that you know have walked out of a restaurant with cutlery, condiments, and even cloth napkins?
There are employees that need tools that most of us wouldn’t use, but because they have a side business, these workers find the items to be desirable.
Identify what may be desirable to your employees, either for personal use or resale, not what you find desirable or what may be costly. You should be monitoring and evaluating what items are valuable and important to your individual employees, not just valuable and important to you so that you can determine where your inventory shrinkage may occur.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-5
Vehicles In and Out: Suppliers & Drivers
You should have a logbook for salesmen, drivers and repair persons to sign in and out, whether they arrive via the front door or receiving door. Receiving doors are particularly vulnerable areas for theft by outside people. Where possible, a delivery or tradesman vehicle should not remain at any exit for unnecessary lengths of time, as this increases the window of opportunity for loss.
Note patterns of times and locations where vehicles are often found and examine if that situation increases opportunity for theft. Always keep these exits controlled or locked when no staff is present. While the percent of trades, delivery and sales people who steal from you may be no greater than for customers and less than for staff, these people still pose a risk.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Sweetheart opportunities
One dairy processing client was experiencing inventory shortages in the butter category. We placed an undercover operator in the plant. Within two weeks, we uncovered two problems. The first was a collusion arrangement between the shipper and one of the home delivery sales contractors. The shipper was allowing the driver to load additional merchandise on his truck for private sale to several residential clients, in exchange for a part of the proceeds. The other was caused by carelessness of the shipper. A second delivery driver who delivered to numerous restaurants and small grocers would accumulate cases of butter on a pallet near the loading doors. Whenever the shipper left the area, the driver would slide the pallets onto his vehicle, for sale to select clients. One was a sweetheart deal between shipper and driver, the other a sweetheart desal between driver and outside clients of the company.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Lax cash transactions
Where salesmen or franchise operators carry such items as chips, soft drinks and other impulse buy items and are allowed to sell goods directly to the stores, an opening for illicit sales emerges. Without proper purchase orders (or work orders, in the case of tradespeople) that originate in the business office, the tradesperson, operator or salesman can create his own transactions with select, willing buyers.
Even government is not exempt from risk. One parking meter collector routinely skimmed cash from the meters that he serviced. While most meters now are digital or connected directly through electronic purchases, there are other cash devices, vending machines and ATMs that either capture and record sensitive banking information or still collect cash (specially in remote areas).
Other areas where money can easily be skimmed include VLTs in private bars and facilities, if there are not proper controls in place.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-20
Close relations between clients and salespeople
A trusted employee of a small pharmacy retained close friendships with two salespeople who delivered confectionery and giftware. The employe would receive goods, verify the counts and sign for the merchandise, but, very often, some of that merchandise was missing. At least, it was missing from store inventory. She would leave her vehicle unlocked and the salespeople would put the items that she had diverted into her car. Later, she would split the proceeds of selling these items with the salespeople, who also were friends outside of work. Be aware of close relations with suppliers and suppliers’ representatives. Rotate staff irregularly and unpredictably through the receiving function if you do not have a designated shipper/receiver. Use outside cameras to monitor your parking lot.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-5
Bills of lading and purchase orders
Matching bills of lading and delivery slips to purchase orders or work orders to purchase orders seems tedious but is a vital part of loss management. We have often found that bookkeeping staff neglect to match prices quoted on the purchase order with final prices charged, and also often find that the discrepancies are not in favour of our clients. While some may be inadvertent or careless, many also were intentional.
Matching paperwork is imperative to ensure weight, quantity and price are all consistent with the original orders. In some cases, the office staff were working in collusion with the suppliers, but in most cases the problems were solely created by the supplier or workman.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Refunds and returns policy
In every business the process of handling refunds, discounts, returns and credits all open opportunities for manipulation either through fraud or direct theft. Proper, detailed processes and consistent tracking minimize risk of theft, fraudulent paperwork, cash or credit manipulation, accidental error or collusion.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Vulnerable times of day
In every business there are specific times of the day that are more prone to provide opportunities for theft. This includes just before shift change (when staffing levels are low), when supervisors are busy (for example, in meetings), when there is an abundance of activity wherein a person can become anonymous and during shift change when people are coming and going. The common element in all of these is lack of oversight. That lack of supervision creates anonymity and, therefore, opportunity.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Too many obvious security devices
This may seem counter intuitive because many people believe that the more security devices that are seen the less opportunity there is. However, once you reach a saturation point and there is a plethora of security devices, people begin to realize that in order for these security devices to be effective, the business must have staff to monitor them. This means that the odds now return to being in the favor of the thief. Others simply opt to steal, regardless of security systems in place. Too frequently, these are semi-professional thieves who are not averse to physical confrontation. Rather than having an excess of dummy operations or actual surveillance operations limited numbers of devices should be focused and funneled to maximize impact.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-5
Ability of security staff and management to respond quickly
One major grocery store had several floor walkers on staff–sometimes multiples at one time. However, the monitoring area from which they checked cameras was at the rear of the store and if they spotted someone shoplifting, they had to come downstairs and catch up to the individual. This both impacts on continuity of observation and on the ability to keep up with grab and run artists. The same applies in warehouses. If your security personnel are located in a remote or distant office, then people are aware that they can get in and out quickly without being apprehended. One vehicle manufacturer had three adjacent buildings through which employees traversed. Security offices were at the rear of the most distant building, rendering them almost useless in catching employee theft.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-5
Staff awareness
Staff awareness and training staff as to the proper responses to potential theft and fraud situations are two of the most effective tools to reduce and prevent theft. Staff training is very cost effective. Even if the staff do not respond by apprehending, there are enough staff that are aware and willing to report suspicions that the increase in risk to other staff and outside thieves deters loss. Increased risk is the converse of increased opportunity. Increased risk deters and eliminates theft.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Swappable packaging
Whenever packaging can easily be opened, or is not sealed, or whenever a smaller item can be added to another box or container, opportunity is created. Packages that are similar but contain different items offer the opportunity to steal. A client lost several pricey televisions but still had the correct number of pieces of inventory. He had far more low-end sets than he should have and none of his high-end inventory. An employee had been swapping the packages and selling the items to friends as if they were the cheaper items. Because she was repackaging the items in the warehouse part of the store, the cameras on the cash area did not catch the discrepancies.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Backpacks and large purses or bags
This opportunity is a variation of the old meme, where the lunch kit crowd fills their lunch kits with factory supplies. When they leave at the end of their shifts, their backpacks and large purses are heavier than when they arrived. If belongings are allowed at the workstation or near the workstation, this creates multiple opportunities for theft.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-20
Layout
Poor or improper layout in every business contributes to theft, creating opportunity both for incidental or accidental loss, as well as intentional theft of goods. There are myriad ways in which layouts can be changed at no cost to significantly decreased the risk of theft.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-20
High theft items in remote locations
High theft items that are highly desirable or are prone to being stolen that are located in remote locations will more likely be stolen than those that are in controlled environments, mostly because of the privacy afforded to either conceal repackage, reprice or relocate these items.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-20
Obscure or hidden aisles and blind spots
Hidden aisles, blind spots and dead ends all provide opportunity for theft. These concerns are generally remedied quite easily. Those areas should have very low theft items such as storage for items like garbage bags and cleaning supplies and other low-desirability items. The more obscure the area the more that you should ensure that only low value items are located there.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Small packages
Small packages are especially susceptible to theft and concealment. One of the major reasons why blister packs have become the norm in hardware stores is the ability of customers or workers to hide small packages within larger packages or on their person.
Very small items, even if they are not highly desirable theft items, will be stolen frequently simply because the risk is low (and opportunity high). It is the critical mass balance of risk and motive that will determine whether an item is stolen.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Low foot traffic areas
Like remote locations, low foot traffic areas are also more susceptible to presenting opportunity for employees to steal items. That means that these areas should be the ones that are first monitored with security devices and also patrolled on a more regular basis.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Rear door access
Rear exits in any warehouse or production facility should always be alarmed and locked in accordance with fire regulations. There should not be an opportunity to open those doors to allow an individual to merely toss items out for later pickup. Even though the employee may not have quick access to the door from the outside at the end of the shift, if the exterior is not monitored, he can retrieve these items at a later time.
One person we apprehended regularly opened the door to the rear of the truck accessories and welding plant for ventilation. Then, he would randomly toss truck accessories and even fellow staff members’ belongings out. He would retrieve them late at night.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
High Counters, Racks
Warehouses tend to have high counters shelving or racks to maximize the use of space in buildings that have high ceilings. This contributes to the anonymity and the ability to conceal oneself and the goods that one wants. Two solutions are recommended: 1) Ensure that eye level shelving has solid dividers so that the person who may be stealing needs to bend down to see below the partial divider, while the observer can bend down below the portion that is solid to observe others, and 2) Move high-theft items away from the area or install surveillance systems.
High counters that allow sightlines but not movement are the open counters often found in warehouses, factories or in places like IKEA.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
No security or excess security
Either situation can stimulate theft opportunities. Having excess and excessive amount of security is comparable to the prior discussion about having an excessive amount of security devices. it tells the people that the likelihood of being caught by anyone individual is low. No security, as well, obviously creates risk situations and is the greater problem than having too much security. Saving money by having no security is not a saving at all when you consider that the loss that occurs with no security is greater than the loss of the savings from no staff.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Employee demographics
There are specific groups and specific types of people that are more prone to theft. Staff that are overly cynical or opinionated often believe that they are entitled, or that they can overcome any security programs. If your staffing demographic includes a number of close friends or relatives, the likelihood of collusion substantially increases. A business in an impoverished area also is a greater risk. If the staff feel that they are not being respected and treated fairly, theft may occur. This concept is equally applicable to motivation.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Outside visibility
Windows that increase visibility from the outside of a premise is a deterrent to theft and, conversely, no windows provides opportunity. This is particularly true in evening winter hours when interiors are backlit against the darkened exterior. This spotlights the employees’ activities. However, most warehouses do not have an abundance of outside visibility. This is where perimeter patrols for supervisors and security become more valuable.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-5
Resale and ego items
These are the two most dominant and common areas of loss. Ego items are those items that enhance a person’s self-image. In a pharmacy, for example, it may be cosmetics. In a grocery store, it may be high-end meat. In a factory, it may be brand name tools such as Snap-on Mac or even Gray. Ego items are the more common theft items for regular customers and staff, which means that they are more frequently stolen than grab-and-run or semi-professional thief targets. However, resale items can be a target, too, if the value of those items is significant and the items can be easily sold. This may again include such things as tools or finished products that the factory or warehouse makes.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-20
Opportunity to relocate items
Whether it’s lack of supervision, abundant time, mobility of the staff, lots of open areas ,the staff duties that have them moving from department to department (such as a forklift operator), all contribute to the opportunity to steal goods
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Label swap
Anytime that a worker can easily swap out identifying labels, price stickers or bills of lading an opportunity exists for theft or fraud by that employee.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Easy and quick access or egress
It’s the ability to quickly and easily exit an area or a building that means that the employee’s risk of being caught is decreased. There should be a designated employee exit area and it should funnel the employee in in the same way that a cattle chute funnels cattle. This allows for easier monitoring of large items being carried out by the staff member, as the number of employees leaving at the same time increases the risk of being detected by one another or a supervisor.
Scoring (Low to High) 0-10
Low foot traffic areas
Like remote locations, low foot traffic areas are also more susceptible to presenting opportunity for employees to steal items. That means that these areas should be the ones that are first monitored with security devices and also patrolled on a more regular basis.
Rear door access
Rear exits in any warehouse or production facility should always be alarmed and locked in accordance with fire regulations. There should not be an opportunity to open those doors to allow an individual to merely toss items out for later pickup. Even though the employee may not have quick access to the door from the outside at the end of the shift, if the exterior is not monitored, he can retrieve these items at a later time.
One person we apprehended regularly opened the door to the rear of the truck accessories and welding plant for ventilation. Then, he would randomly toss truck accessories and even fellow staff members’ belongings out. He would retrieve them late at night.
High Counters, Racks
Warehouses tend to have high counters shelving or racks to maximize the use of space in buildings that have high ceilings. This contributes to the anonymity and the ability to conceal oneself and the goods that one wants. Two solutions are recommended: 1) Ensure that eye level shelving has solid dividers so that the person who may be stealing needs to bend down to see below the partial divider, while the observer can bend down below the portion that is solid to observe others, and 2) Move high-theft items away from the area or install surveillance systems.
High counters that allow sightlines but not movement are the open counters often found in warehouses, factories or in places like IKEA.