The Players
Dallas Jarrell, owner, who bought the store five years ago. Local police, through the Star City Business Watch program.

The Problem
A shoe store like Jarrell’s, with all its inventory on display, is particularly susceptible to shoplifting. And the store’s location — in a small strip mall — made late-night security an issue.

The Background
Jarrell hasn’t had major problems with shoplifting, but every loss eats into the bottom line. "And once somebody has shoplifted, you can’t do anything about it. It’s very hard to make an arrest," he says. An employee has to see a customer conceal merchandise and then wait until the thief has left the store before intervening. "The best thing for me was to reduce the opportunity for shoplifting," he says.

Jarrell’s store has security cameras operating during store hours as a deterrent to theft. But employees often had no experience or training in preventing shoplifting or detecting credit card and check fraud, he says. And while the store has never been robbed, employees locking up the shop late at night were understandably nervous about security.

The Solution
Jarrell sought help from the city’s own theft-prevention experts — the Roanoke City Police Department. Last fall the department began a program called the Star City Business Watch, a theft prevention program to help businesses. At Jarrell’s request, police came to the store and did an on-site assessment of his security prevention. They recommended changes in store layout to make it easier for employees to monitor customers’ movements and to keep merchandise away from the front entrance, where thieves could easily grab it and run.

The police also trained Jarrell’s employees. "They recommended we greet all of our customers, make eye contact and let them know that we’re aware that they’re in the store," Jarrell says. They also taught employees to give as detailed a description of a suspect as possible to police, and they gave the store a measuring tape to place by the door to gauge a suspect’s height.

Police gave tips on identifying bad checks and preventing the use of stolen credit cards. Such fraud often works because employees aren’t paying attention, says Officer Brian Lawrence. He told Jarrell’s employees to take their time, inspect the check or credit card and check the person’s identification. "If someone complains, let them know this is to protect them," he says.

Jarrell’s store got the training in late January. It’s too soon to tell whether it has reduced incidents of theft, but the shop owner says employees feel better prepared. "Anybody feels more secure the more they know about how to handle a situation," he says.

Roanoke police Sgt. Butch Steahly says about 40 businesses in a variety of industries are taking part in the program. Officers have done assessments for companies like Roanoke Gas, Babies R Us and several merchants in the city’s Times Square shopping area. Besides shoplifting and fraud-prevention training, police also show merchants ways to avoid robbery, burglary and employee theft. The program also sends out a newsletter with tips on crime prevention, and police use a "fax alert" system to warn merchants if a particular kind of fraud is spreading through the region.

The program costs merchants nothing, which makes it especially appealing for small businesses like Jarrell’s.

Steahly says Roanoke County runs a similar program and the two police departments share information. He hopes it will spread to surrounding localities. "It’s a good program," he says, "and it’s free."

If you have a case study in problem-solving, contact Robert Burke at rburke@va-business.com.