A homeless man dies and nearly 25 people in Queens keep walking by - NYPOST.com

A homeless man dies and nearly 25 people in Queens keep walking by - NYPOST.com

As I read this article I cried. Not just for this poor man who apparently wasn't worth even dialing 911 for, but for the state of our beloved country and mankind in general. What does it say about us when we are so busy and unfeeling that when a human being is lying on a side walk we can't check on his condition? And the gentleman who turned him over, HAD to have seen the blood, and then walked away? There is a special section of hell reserved for you. I wish there was such thing as karma.... And what of the woman who was being robbed? For the love of god, if someone had come to my aid when I was being attacked I most certainly would at least THANK the man... not leave him dying on the sidewalk. I am just at a loss for words and I hope every person in this video gets recognized and strung up - especially the cell phone picture taker. I know they will probably never read this (but I can dream) and I hope they end up on fire without someone to so much as spit on them.


and just to keep it LP related, something way less horrendous then the above but slightly similar:

Once when making an apprehension of a man who had taken several items we ended up fighting. I was struggling to keep the guy up against the glass and had one handcuff on but couldn't get the other cuff on. People just stood and watched. I finally saw a police officer coming running from inside the mall and I was so grateful. He snatches the guy up and we manage to get him cuffed. I take a step back to assess the damage to myself... bruising on my arms, scrapes here and there.. when this random guy then gets up from a table in the food court and comes outside. This guy must have been 250lbs of solid muscle. No neck, arms the size of my thigh... and he asks if we need help. Well asshole where the hell were you 20 seconds ago when you saw a girl half getting her ass handed to her by some dude twice her size? No... just come on outside after the guy is cuffed and in the back of a squad car. ASS!

Shoplifting seagull

This shoplifter is better then the dog! Much more sneaky.

Profiling vs. Trends

After reading the latest post on To Catch A Thief I feel the need to add a few thoughts of my own:

I absolutely agree with the majority of the post. Yes, I will admit, I have profiled. Of course when I say that, I'm sure anyone reading that statement will immediately assume I'm stalking around watching some individual just because they are black.

Nope. Wrong. Incorrect

.

Let me elaborate, One of my top 10 shortage departments is Juniors. When I see anyone under the age of 20 enter the store, I watch them until I determine they aren't a threat. I'd say 75% of the time most kids are on the level. The other 25% now have files and pictures in my office (if you get my drift). Don't get me wrong, I also watch almost every person that enters the Juniors department regardless of age. I just happen to zero in on the younger crowd regardless of the department, wondering if they will enter the Juniors department.
Now, what I am doing is considered profiling. I find it to be more accurate to say that I am aware of my trends. So if denture cream was in my top 10 shortage departments I'd probably ignore most of the teenie boppers and watch every single person over 50 that entered the store. Am I wrong in what I'm doing?
Are you telling me that if tampons started disappearing off the shelves that you wouldn't watch more women then men?

I know the theory. If I think more women will steal I will technically prove myself right as I would be watching more women thereby ignoring men who might be stealing just as much. I still believe you can't ignore your trends. I watch anyone who seems shady or out of place, regardless of age, race, sex, etc. but I also must be aware of probabilities. Since denture cream is used on dentures which the majority of the time belong to those out of the prepubescent stage I must come to the educated conclusion that high school students are probably not a threat to my precious denture cream. Of course many 'politically correct' people or those who operate on the side of caution to avoid liability would probably string me up right next to Hitler. So be it.

Another point of the post that really hit home for me:

"I am not watching you just because you are black, lady. If I was watching you just because you're black, I'd have to have a million more sets of eyes to watch everyone else in here- because in case you haven't noticed, I'm a minority in this store. I'm watching you because you're a shady bitch with a giant purse and there doesn't appear to be a fucking thing in it... now get off my back"
(Excerpt from To catch a thief blog)
 
Oh boy that definitely resonates with me. I remember one time back when I was Mall Security I happened to be in the dispatch office. One of our BLACK guards brought back a young black juvenile to be banned from the mall because he had been acting up, bothering patrons, and generally being an obnoxious little snit and had ignored repeated warnings from security. First, the argument was, the mall was public property. NEH uh. The mall is actually private property and permission is granted to the public to visit the location. Technically, they could make a rule saying anyone wearing purple isn't allowed on the premises. The next statement he had is really, in my opinion, a disservice to the whole concept of equality and actually would probably make most level headed individuals want to smack a kid.
"It's cause I'm black, you just pickin on me 'cause I'm black"
(Now if you remember, it was a black guard that brought him back to be banned.)
Guard says to the kid, "What the hell you talking about? I'm black you idiot"
And this kid pulls out #2 of my all time favorite lines I've ever heard:
"You just a self hatin black man."
 
Yeahhhhhhh, that must be it. As I remember I think the detaining guard had to leave the room at that time so he could find a wall to bang his head on.
I swear, fear of being accused of profiling, if anything, probably makes me LESS likely to go near someone who isn't white. Although I did read a post somewhere that an LP stopped a woman who was black for stealing some junk. She started in with the same "it's cause I'm black" stuff. And this was in a crowded store no less. So this LP screams just as loudly, "You're right, It has nothing to do with the 10 stolen DVDS in your purse!"
Apparently that shut her up pretty quick.
 
It just makes me angry. I'm not racist. Normally I don't even notice color except when I have to give a description of someone. It offends me deeply for someone to accuse me of something so nasty.
You stole. I don't care if you are the one eyed one horned flying purple people eater. I'm freaking stopping your thieving ass. Try owning up to what you did wrong. My dad always told me (and showed me) that the punishment for lying was twice as worse as what I did wrong in the first place.
 
So get off my back too.

Doggie Shoplifter Steals Dog Bone!

A little light hearted shoplifting. I don't know if I could have stopped him!

Murphy's Law

Lately my foot has been bothering me a lot due to an impromptu trip down the stairs I took this winter..... face first.... down two flights. Tore some ligaments in my foot. Seems once that happens things never feel right again. Being on my feet 8+ hours a day and climbing up ladders and hopping in and out of lookouts probably doesn't help the situation much either.
Anyway, this lead me to reminisce on my very first apprehension ever!

It was actually my first day of work and I hadn't been working very long. Just figured out how to get a handle on the CCTV system when I see a young lady with a huge handbag on the ground floor and man is she acting shady. I point her out to my LP partner in crime and he picks her up on another camera. Long story short - pretty boring theft, she conceals several pairs of high-end sunglasses in the bag and walks out of the store. So I'm all keyed up on adrenaline since I've never done this before and have no idea whats supposed to happen. My partner runs out of the camera room (which is on the lower level) with me following close behind him. For not being used to running I kept up with him pretty well... until we reached the escalator. He was taking the escalator steps two at a time and I was losing him! I thought to myself, well, I can take two at a time too. I think I made it up 4 of them before my foot caught on one and I face planted into the steps.
By the time I picked myself up and made it out to the mall entrance my partner was already stopping the girl and bringing her back in the store. He asks what took me so long and I so kindly mention I was busy picking my teeth up off the escalator steps. GREAT first impression isn't it? I believe he never did stop thinking I was few trees short of a grove.

The best part is, when we get the girl back to the office and start processing her my partner realizes she looks really familiar.
"Didn't I pick you up before?"
And with the ghetto speech impediment you can only hear in Philly:
"Oh, dat wuz here? I thought dat wuz at da udder Store X"

For as long as I live I will never forget that line. I mean, jeez, you steal that much you can't even keep track of which stores you got caught in?

Sometimes all you can do is shake your head. And maybe giggle a little bit when no one is looking.

Sideways Promotion

Recently I had been given what I like to call a sideways promotion. I didn't receive a raise per-say, but I was returned to a 40 hour working week. In reality it seems I am actually working about 60 hours a week. I still cover my original store but I now have the added responsibility of another store which is about an hour from my house. The only down side is on the days I do this 'stretch assignment' is that I leave the house at 8am and usually do not return home until about 7-8pm (later, if I get stuck behind an Amish convoy).

The definite silver lining of this assignment is that although the new store is still in the middle of nowhere, there is plenty of crime. Not as much as working in Philly but in the past month I have caught 7 shoplifters. Compared to last year at Home Store where I didn't even have 7 for the year!

Hopefully this new responsibility and uptrend in action will enable me to post more often as I will now have some stories to tell. Please check back periodically - I will try to regale you with some new tales as well as some old goodies I have stored up.

Don't forget to check out another LP blog I have found to be enjoyable; To catch a thief
Thanks for reading!

Ring around the Rosie

The other day I'm heading back to my office when I happen to pass an older woman and notice she has an empty Macy's bag tucked up under her arm. I figure what the hey.. the other 80 re-use a bag people didn't take anything but maybe this will be lucky 81. I also notice she has a purse as well, but it doesn't look empty and the strap is pretty small so it's close to her chest. I figure if she takes anything, it will go into the empty Macy's bag.

I stand back a few sections and don't really think she is going to do anything but I see her pick up a few baby outfits and some plush toys and move back in the corner right where my office door is. I'm still back 3 or 4 aisles and all of a sudden she makes a movement like she is putting something in her purse or possibly adjusting it. She comes out from behind the rack and she has NOTHING in her hands. In my mind I had a string of "shitshitshitshitshitshit" going on figuring I missed it and was going to have to let her walk out. So she moves over to the bath accessories and I check where she was standing and I see all the stuff she selected sitting on the floor in a nice neat little pile. Minus one plush toy. Crap. I did miss it.
At this point I reacquire view of my subject who more then likely has the darn toy in her purse but I can't be absolutely sure she didn't put it down somewhere. She is back behind a rack near where our soap dishes and the like are. I don't want to spook her by getting right up next to her and at this point I'm praying she will go back for the other stuff she selected and stashed.
I'm super nervous at this point because out in the middle of nowhere,USA my apprehensions are few and far between and each one feels like my first time again. I'm trying to keep calm and I see the woman come out from the bath section but the Macy's bag is open, she is carrying it, and I can tell it's got some weight to it now. Darn. Missed it again.

Shitshitshitshitshitshit.

I walk by her and sneak a peek in the bag and can see a few items in the bottom. At this point she walks back to children's and right to the spot where she left her selected merchandise. I literally DIVE to the floor under a rack banging my knee on a shelf in the process but just in time to watch her set her bag on the ground and deposit our merchandise in to the bag. Sweet. I got her.

So she mosies on for 10 more minutes selecting a few more things and popping them into the bag. I backed off so as not to spook her. As long as that bag stayed full I was good to go. She goes over to a rack near the door and looks at some more toys. Then BAM this old fat lady is out the door quicker then I can blink! Crap crap crap!

Now to appreciate this next part you have to have a visual of the front of the store. On either side of the entrance are very large white pillars. Very large. Would need a few people to link hands to reach around it.

So, I see this woman go out the door and I literally throw over my shoulder all the merchandise I had been holding. I see her turn around just outside and look at me as I'm running for the exit, then she heads to the left of the building. I get outside, look to the left..... No shoplifter. Huh?
I walk around the pole twice and keep catching a glimpse of this woman's foot. She is chasing ME around the pole? Oh for the love of god.
I finally get smart and turn around and go the opposite way and run smack in to her. She hands me the bag and tells me how sorry she is and she didn't mean to do it, she was coming back in to return the stuff.. yada yada yada. Turns out she was in her 50's... and a med student. Go figure.

Almost wished I had that one on video. I imagine the three stooges routine around the pole would have made for good re-viewing.