Conducting Internal Theft Investigations

Theft of products and property by employees, vendors and service people costs companies billions of dollars each year. And security plays a lead role in investigating -- and stopping -- those potentially crippling losses.

Effective internal theft investigations couple art and science and balance aggressiveness with proper caution. A rushed and clumsy internal probe can be just as damaging as the thefts themselves.

If your security staff wastes time chasing the wrong leads and asking the wrong questions, the losses continue to pile up. If they exceed their rights in surveillance, interrogations or terminating suspects, the company could face a massive lawsuit.

Listen as our panel of corporate security veterans tells you what elements make their theft investigations successful -- and offer their first-hand experiences on where they went wrong and how you can avoid those pitfalls.

You'll get their best guidance on:

• Enlisting employees as security's eyes and ears, and making smart - but legally defensible - use of surveillance
• Using prevention measures, such as exception reporting and forensic auditing, as tools to gather investigative evidence.
• Artful questions to pose during interrogations, and how to spot verbal and physical cues that someone is lying.
• Employee survey questionnaires that help you identify honest employees and focus your attention on suspects.
• Creating an investigative file that can withstand a legal attack.
• Security's rights and responsibilities in investigations under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Our panel includes:

Tony Ramos, is president of Integra Security Alliance, a security consulting firm in Elmhurst, Ill. The firm works with corporate clients on investigations, employee screening, training and other activities. Previously, Tony was VP of U.S. Mutual Association, a division of the nation’s largest pre-screening firm, and loss prevention director at Carson Pine Scott.

David Jones, is president and CEO of Cost Benefit Loss Prevention Consultants, a New York based firm. He has more than 30 years of experience in retail loss prevention and security, recently wrapping up eight years as VP of loss prevention for Tommy Hilfiger USA Inc. David also worked in top loss prevention roles for Macy’s and Tiffany & Co.

Ron Hauri, is CEO of Hauri Associates, a security consulting firm run from Libertyville, Ill. Until recently, he was VP of global corporate security at Aon Corp. Previously in his career, Ron was manager of corporate security at W.W. Grainger Inc. and security director at Merchandise Mart Properties.

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