To Catch a Thief - Media Meditation #2

When most people think of technology and how it can make our lives easier, they probably do not think of shoplifting and how technology can make the job of Loss Prevention easier.  As a Loss Prevention officer, sometimes I don’t know how anybody caught shoplifters in the past without the use of technology.  The use of video surveillance systems not only works to deter theft, but it makes the observation of theft so much easier to find and watch.

The most commonly used video surveillance system in the retail industry is closed circuit television, or CCTV as it is commonly called.  This is the system that I work with at my Loss Prevention job at Sears, and it has been extremely effective in catching shoplifters.  Cameras are mounted on the ceiling all around the store and then covered by a ceiling tile dome, which is bubble-shaped and tinted so no one can see where the camera is pointing.  Despite the tint of the dome, the video captured by the camera is not affected in any way.  These cameras can pan and zoom in so close, we can read the text messages employees are sending while they are on the sales floor (and then we can go yell at them for having their cell phones out while working).

Every single camera in the store (in Sears, there are about thirty) is hooked up to televisions and recording devices in the Loss Prevention office.  There are two large, flat-screen televisions that constantly show all camera images in a grid-like fashion, so all cameras can be seen at one time, although we can call up any camera to take up the entire screen.  Both of these TVs are hooked up to a DVR system, so we can go back and look at any footage from any camera as far back as two weeks.  We can also burn footage from any camera onto DVD from the DVR system.

The Loss Prevention office at Sears South Burlington...also known as my second home.

Aside from these two televisions, there are twenty small televisions that display the camera’s current image for twenty different cameras.  These televisions are a bit outdated and only project the image in black-and-white, but they do offer us constant surveillance of the sales floor.  Finally, we have two nineteen-inch flat-screen TVs that are hooked up to VHS/DVD combo players.  These televisions are hooked up to the keyboards we use to control the cameras.  We can call up any camera onto the 19-inch televisions by punching in the number of the camera desired, and then we can pan and zoom the camera as we see fit, allowing us to observe shoppers’ behaviors, merchandise selections, and possible concealments.  Using good old-fashioned videotapes, we record everything that is brought up on the nineteen-inch TVs.  That way, if we do catch someone shoplifting using CCTV, we can quickly burn the video footage of the theft onto DVD as evidence to be handed over to the police.

Our Loss Prevention mascot, Alfie...sleeping on the job as usual!

When a shoplifter steals from our store, we must wait until he/she exits before we can apprehend him/her.  To ensure the thief doesn’t escape, one LP officer goes out to the sales floor and follows the suspect, while another stays in the office to get constant CCTV surveillance.  Using the technology of cell phones, the two officers are able to communicate with one another about the whereabouts of the suspect without looking suspicious or being overheard.

Last month, technology really helped us catch a thief who was actually an employee of Sears.  Suspecting that this man had been stealing money from the cash register at closing time, we set up a small covert camera in the ceiling directly above the cash register.  This camera gave us a better angle that we could not get with our regular cameras, and was so small it went unnoticed.  Little did our thief know that there was a camera directly above him watching his every move.  We caught him red-handed (or, rather, green-handed) stealing cash from the register, and fired him two days later.  It’s things like that that really make me love my job.

Loss Prevention isn't just all serious...it's damn funny sometimes, too.  This video is a bit lengthy, but totally worth it.  Video courtesy of YouTube.com

Sure beats a rooftop stake-out like Cary Grant did in To Catch a Thief, doesn’t it?

Cosmopolitan in Five Minutes

Owned by Hearst Communications, Inc., Cosmopolitan magazine is a magazine for women that began in 1886 when it was owned by Schlicht & Field.  Originally, Cosmopolitan was a family magazine for women that offered articles about child care, cooking, and household decoration.  The magazine underwent four format changes in its lifetime, going from family magazine to fiction magazine, then from a muckraking magazine to what it is today.  In 1965, editor Helen Gurley Brown took over the magazine and turned it into what we know it as today—a magazine for young, liberated women who are interested in beauty, fashion, their careers, and sex.

Cosmopolitan offers information on sex and relationships, fashion, health and beauty, including tips on makeup and hair, and also includes celebrity gossip, career tips, and self-improvement advice.  Geared towards women who are financially stable and even rich, Cosmo advertises clothing and perfume from designers such as Dolce & Gabana and Lancôme, but also advertises more low-end companies, such as JCPenney, and common hair and make-up companies like Garnier and Maybelline. 

Although Cosmo is mostly geared towards women who care about their looks and sex, the magazine also includes real-life stories and advice on how to stay healthy, take care of your body, and avoid or handle situations, such as stalking and sexual harassment.  Cosmopolitan also reaches out to the career woman by offering advice on how to land the perfect job, get ahead at work, and handle difficult work-related situations.

Cosmopolitan focuses on the limbic, or emotional, part of the brain.  The magazine uses sexy words and images to make you feel envious towards the people in the magazine so that you will follow the advice given and buy the products advertised.  Cosmopolitan makes you think that you can always get smarter and sexier than you already are by following its advice.

Cosmopolitan's Fun, Fearless Female Campaign.  Video courtesy of YouTube.

Three trends that Cosmo follows are epistemological, economic, and aesthetic.  Bright, bold, sexy words (such as sex, arousal, and erotic) are enhanced by pictures of sexy men and women who are barely clothed and are often portrayed engaging in romantic activities. Cosmopolitan underwent an economic shift when owner John Brisben Walker sold the magazine in 1905 to William Randolph Hearst.  Because Hearst owned many other enterprises, his legacy became the magazine’s current owner, corporate conglomerate Hearst Communications, Inc.  Aesthetically, Cosmopolitan has shifted from a more conservative, modest look to the more glamorous and sexed look it has today.  There has also been media convergence within the magazine.  Instead of just publishing a magazine every month, Hearst Communications also publishes Cosmo books, has an extensive website that features online articles, videos, quizzes, and forums, has Facebook and Twitter pages, and has a radio station on satellite radio, so readers now have many ways they can access information.

Covers from Cosmopolitan magazine, May 1915 issue (left) and March 2011 issue (right).  Photos courtesy of Zazzle.com and FabulousBuzz.com

Some principles Cosmopolitan uses are specific production techniques, such as the use of large, bright, fonts and colors, bright backgrounds on the covers, and pictures of sexy people, including well-known celebrities.  Cosmo also uses a value message for their slogan—the idea of being a “fun, fearless female.”  Ownership is also a principle, as ads pay for the magazine with commercial motives—to sell clothes, makeup, perfume, and hair products.  The mag also uses an emotional transfer because it makes readers think they need to buy and do certain things in order to be pretty, sexy, and fun.

You're welcome, ladies.  Video courtesy of www.cosmopolitan.com

Cosmopolitan uses TONS of persuasive techniques to influence their readers.  Symbols such as celebrities as icons and the phrase “fun, fearless female” make readers think that reading the magazine will make them sexier and stronger.  Beautiful people are used a lot in Cosmo for the exact same reason, and the magazine also uses the group dynamic of “we women” to form a sense of community amongst readers.  Scientific evidence and testimonials are often used in the more informative articles to prove what the authors are trying to teach you.  Health and diet articles often quote doctors and fitness experts to prove what is good for you and what is not.  Bandwagon is also a huge persuasive technique as Cosmo targets young women and makes them think that if lots of other women or female celebrities are following a certain style or trend, then their readers will, too.  The magazine also uses humor in several articles, especially their monthly “Confessions” articles, to draw in readers in a different way.