Research to Protect Assets and Customers

The Miller Center had the pleasure of featuring Dr. Read Hayes, the Director of the Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC), research scientist, and criminologist. Read started his presentation by talking about the types of crime that can happen to retailers and shoppers demonstrated by a short video he shared with examples of the crimes. This led to his point that all retailers are constantly being barraged by different types of loss and crime. He and his team research prevention and teach retailers how to implement their findings at their locations. Consistent research and the use of technology allows Read and his team to test situations that could happen in real-time. For example, he uses VR headsets and puts volunteers in different scenarios to test what contributes to consumers’ fears when shopping. He also explained that not all crimes and losses are physical like shoplifting, but losses can be digital too.

Read wants to help change the views people have about retailers to deter criminals from making bad choices and consumers from fearing retail locations. He wants to eliminate opportunities for criminals and influence a change in their perceptions to alter their decision to commit crimes. Another way they are deterring crime is by reducing the reward of the crime. For instance, Read mentioned that some power tools will not function unless purchased at the store. The act of the purchase allows the product to function properly because the merchandise is activated during the checkout process. How cool! Read’s mission is to spread awareness of the research he is doing to decrease crime overall in the retail industry.