Evidence-Based LP
Sunday, 12 May 2013 17:57
How Protective Countermeasures Actually Work
Written by Read Hayes, Ph.D., CPP
Judgment is everything for a loss prevention decision-maker. And good choices are a lot easier with good information—hence evidence-based loss prevention (EBLP). As part of our march toward EBLP, it's important to continue rolling out a common language and understanding in the same way as other professions. In earlier columns I've discussed how critical it is to accurately diagnose the causes and dynamics of a problem to properly treat it using techniques like the SARA problem-solving process. In this column we mention how it is equally important to be able to align and describe how a selected protective countermeasure or…
"Innovate, collaborate, evaluate. Let's take it to the next level." That's what the fourteen LPRC board of advisor (BOA) members have declared for the members of the Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC) and its research team. To that end, the advisors are driving that mandate by guiding and staffing a set of working groups and action teams. Groups and Teams The BOA and staff determined the best way to provide specific problem and solution areas focus and actionable results is by establishing ongoing working groups and action teams. Working groups innovate and field evaluate current and emerging procedures and technologies…
As the old saying goes—"We are all entitled to our own opinions, but not to our own facts." This column emphasizes how the best path to improving the impact of loss prevention or asset protection programs is by developing enough research findings to support real, evidence-based practice. LP practitioners require good operational how-to concepts plus cross-sectional and experimental research evidence to better diagnose and treat the myriad of dangerous and costly problems retailers face daily. Best Practice vs. Evidence-based Practice I took the following example from an evidence-based medical publication (Yokl, 2010) to illustrate the difference between anecdotal and evidence-based…
Retailers today are battling online selling for their lives, and so in my opinion three variables are critical. Brick-and-mortar shopping needs to be safe, easy, and fun for customers. If not, then everyone can just buy most things online. Loss prevention organizations can affect the first two factors. Sound crime and loss control means using problem-solving processes to evaluate and cost-effectively control the causes of "fear of crime" by customers, such as potential violent crime in the parking lot and stores, while deploying better open-selling of key merchandise and mobile POS tools means shoppers can try and buy hassle-free. Problem-Oriented…
You walk into your favorite doctor's office for your annual physical. You and your doctor both want to see how you're doing and check for any upcoming issues. So, what does your physician check and why? It's pretty simple. Neither of you have the time or resources for every single body part or function to be examined, only the most important, the most likely, the most relevant. This should sound eerily similar to conducting store and distribution center audits. Nobody has the time or resources to check everything. Best practices probably dictate that you focus on the most meaningful measures…
No one person or company can do it all by themselves. And loss prevention or asset protection is no exception. LP professionals must plan for and combat internal and external theft and fraud, gross negligence, unintentional loss and shrinkage, computer attacks, travel and shipping crimes, natural and manmade disasters, injuries, and a host of other contingencies. To do it right means being cutting-edge. Like physicians, LP leaders need to be up-to-date on understanding crime and loss causal mechanisms (how stuff really happens), as well as the latest scientific and financial evidence on preventive measures. Fortunately this magazine and others, as…
Wednesday, 01 February 2012 15:25
Spotting Crime Before an Incident
Written by Read Hayes, Ph.D., CPP
It all starts somewhere and somehow. Many, or maybe even most, crime attempts are spontaneous; they rarely involve much planning. But many crimes are planned, even if just a little. And often criminals and terrorists signal what they're up to as they plan and scout. We teach our students to use "pre-incident indicators" or PIIs to detect potential events, help solve crimes, and improve prevention efforts. Pre-Incident Indicators Pre-incident indicators can be described as observable or otherwise detectable anomalies or incidents (clues) that may precede a crime attempt or attack. PIIs may indicate planning, preparation, recruiting, communication, scouting, or…
As a general rule, the more positive options we have, the more readily we can prevent or solve problems. Our current crime and loss prevention development and evaluation efforts are focused on providing retail decision makers with multiple options. To do this, some of our work on infant formula and vodka theft, for instance, involve working on multiple procedural and technological protective measures to see how they work and compare. By placing proposed solutions into StoreLab innovation sites and working to iron out problems and make adjustments, we learn some best practices. And by separately testing the solutions in randomized…
Loss prevention professionals are paid to make good decisions. And good choices come from good data. The LPRC was founded and is run by top retailers and their partners to help their teams make well-informed decisions using mixed research methods to innovate and evaluate highly effective diagnostic and prevention tools. This column is designed to do the same thing—to provide further decision support via discussing the whys and hows of reducing crime and loss. As I've mentioned many times, LP and solutions managers should be absolute experts at diagnosing and treating specific crime problems to promote organizational success. That's why…
No matter what, crime and loss keep happening. That's why every issue of this column is dedicated to supporting LP professionals. I really hope sharing research findings, crime-prevention concepts, and research methods helps all of us get better at reducing potential and actual crime and loss as well as getting adequate budgets to accomplish this end. As most readers now hopefully know, Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC) retail members drive our research objectives. In turn, the LPRC team determines how best to meet retailers' objectives by choosing the best guiding theory and research methods. As mentioned before, we use multi-method…
