Crime Prevention and Loss Prevention
Crime prevention
Crime prevention aims to reduce opportunity, not just respond to incidents. The classic framework is the crime triangle - offender, victim/target, place - and prevention removes or hardens one of the three. Know target hardening (locks, safes, lighting), access control, surveillance, and activity support (keeping legitimate users present). Understand the routine activity theory idea that crime needs a motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian - and the guard is the guardian.
Loss prevention
Retail and asset loss comes from external theft (shoplifting, robbery, fraud), internal theft (employee theft, collusion, refund fraud), and administrative loss (paperwork error, vendor fraud). Know the shoplifting indicators: watching staff rather than merchandise, bulky clothing out of season, entering with an empty bag, groups splitting up, repeated returns to one display. Know the apprehension rule: you must observe the entire selection-to-exit sequence - approach, select, conceal, and pass the last point of sale without paying - before stopping anyone. Understand civil recovery and civil demand statutes exist, but the guard's role is to follow site policy and call law enforcement. Understand inventory shrinkage and audit and reconciliation as detection tools.
Traps and rule of thumb
Traps include stopping a suspect on a hunch, chasing a fleeing shoplifter into traffic, and accusing an employee without evidence. Rule of thumb: if you did not see the whole sequence, you did not see the theft - document and report instead.