The security staff in some stores are much more obvious than they are at others, but high-end establishments have some very expensive items that they want to protect. You might be wondering, what is the Saks Fifth Avenue shoplifting policy?
Saks Fifth Avenue takes shoplifting very seriously. Not only do they have loss prevention at each location to handle shoplifters, as well as other security measures, but they are also willing to physically detain and question offenders before prosecuting them through the legal system.
Read on to find out more!
What Is Saks Fifth Avenue?
To get more of an idea of how the policies at Saks Fifth Avenue are put together, and why they might be set up the way that they are, we first need to talk about the franchise overall and how it works.
Originally known as Saks & Company, Saks Fifth Avenue is a chain of American luxury department stores that was founded by Andrew Saks.
The company gained its name from the first site that they purchased on Upper Fifth Avenue in New York City, which opened as a luxury specialty store in 1924.
Since then, the company has gone on to open many other locations under the same name and they now operate more than 40 stores in the US, Canada, Bahrain, and Khazakstan.
As a retail chain, they have some universal policies for how they handle theft and shoplifting across all of their stores, but they will also differ slightly by jurisdiction due to local laws. What might be standard policy in one state could be very different in another state – and is likely to vary significantly in another country as well.
Does Saks Fifth Avenue Have Security Staff?
One of the first questions that many people ask about the security at Saks Fifth Avenue is whether or not they actually have loss prevention officers in their stores.
The staff at Saks are always very well dressed and elegant and you will rarely see someone in a security uniform patrolling the premises.
In reality, almost all Saks Fifth Avenue locations employ loss prevention officers to actively monitor the store and the customers.
They are often dressed in “plain clothes” (though the clothes that employees and customers at Saks could rarely be described as “plain”) and walk throughout the store to keep an eye on what is happening and respond to potential issues.
What Does Loss Prevention Do?
If you are not aware of how the role works, loss prevention is basically the team that is responsible for preventing lost revenue through what the retail industry calls “shrink”.
Retail shrink refers to the difference between what the inventory of a store should be and what it actually is at the end of the day.
Discrepancies between these two numbers are where the company loses money and this can be a result of all kinds of different things, including:
- Shoplifting
- Employee theft
- Human errors
- Vendor fraud
- Damaged or mismarked items
- And more
Loss prevention officers are employed to manage these issues. In the past, their primary role would have been to stand at the entrance/exit and watch for potential thieves, but the responsibilities and expertise involved have greatly increased over the years.
Now, loss prevention teams are responsible for controlling and monitoring surveillance systems, designing and implementing security measures and protocols, configuring fraud detection programs, carrying out risk assessments, advising on overall policies, and much more.
The loss prevention employees at Saks Fifth Avenue do a lot behind the scenes to combat shoplifting and reduce the instances of any crimes on their premises but, more often than not, they are also physically on location as well to handle any situations that do arise.
What Is The Saks Fifth Avenue Shoplifting Policy?
As we said before, the exact policy at each Saks location can vary, particularly in different countries, but they do have some general rules that you can expect loss prevention to follow.
While we don’t know the specifics of what is included in the policy, we do know what it is likely to cover based on their statements and how incidents have been handled in the past.
In their Customer Bill of Rights, Saks Fifth Avenue states that they employ “asset protection professionals” and that their job is “to ensure a safe and secure shopping environment for [their] guests and employees”.
In this statement, they also clearly explain that their security teams are authorized to detain any person that they believe to be “committing or attempting to commit shoplifting or another crime on the premises.” They may use reasonable force to apprehend a suspect and can hold them for a reasonable time “to allow for investigation or questioning”.
Based on reports of incidents from various stores, as well as legal cases that have been through the courts, it is clear that these are not just words. The security staff at Saks can and will detain shoplifters and other alleged criminals.
In possibly the most high-profile example of Saks’ asset protection in action, famous actress Winona Ryder was apprehended at the Saks Fifth Avenue store on Wilshire Boulevard in 2001 and accused of stealing $5,500 worth of designer clothes and accessories.
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Are Asset Protection Allowed To Detain Shoplifters?
Looking at how Saks explains what their teams are likely to do to apprehend shoplifters, according to their internal policies, you might be wondering whether or not it is legal.
In almost every US state, any private citizen is legally allowed to detain an individual that they believe to have committed a crime or is in the process of committing a crime. It is known as a “citizen’s arrest”, and all asset protection employees will know exactly what their legal rights are when carrying one out.
Although it does vary by district, security staff are allowed to use “reasonable force” to hold someone until the police arrive and they are allowed to hold them for a “reasonable time” as well.
The legal purpose of this kind of detention is to prevent someone from leaving before the police can speak to them and carry out an official arrest, but loss prevention staff may also utilize this time to question the suspect and gather evidence about the crime.
Does Saks Fifth Avenue Prosecute Shoplifters?
Whether the individual is held at the store and handed over to police or they are able to get away with their stolen goods, Saks Fifth Avenue will almost always take the case to court.
The reason for this is similar to the reason why they don’t operate a “no-chase” policy: the value of the goods that Saks sells. Almost any shoplifting case at their stores will be relatively high-value, which means that the risk associated with losing the merchandise is much higher than it is at other places – like big-box stores and supermarkets.
They are willing to instruct their security staff to actively intervene to prevent a crime and to ensure that they have a lot of evidence to prosecute and get back any amount of money that they might have lost.
Their willingness to go through the courts also acts as a deterrent, as the dollar value of items shoplifted from Saks is almost always enough to qualify as a felony rather than a misdemeanor, which means that the perpetrator could pay significant fines and may even receive jail time if they are found guilty.
Summary
So, what is the Saks Fifth Avenue Shoplifting Policy? Well, the specifics may differ between locations (particularly in different countries) but their asset protection staff are generally instructed to apprehend and detain shoplifters for investigation and questioning until the police arrive.
Due to the value of what they sell, Saks does not have a no-chase policy, and they will almost always prosecute shoplifters to the fullest extent of the law.
Reference Source
https://www.saksfifthavenue.com/c/content/customer-bill-of-rights