Just did a spot of late night shopping at the supermarket.

I overheard the security staff on their two-ways, discussing a shoplifter.

By the sound of it, he wasn't the healthiest looking chap and had blood running down his arm.

Anyway, the big cheese told his chappies not to confront the thief, presumably because of possible infection, and that he had contacted the police.

So the shoplifter walked straight out the front door with his swag, and probably legged it into nearby woodland before the police arrived.

So what are they employed for, then?

I dunno, standard practice is to stop them as the try to leave. Maybe the idea of him kicking off and spraying blood around the place, at them and customers entering/exiting the store, gave them pause.

Hmm... risk potential HIV infection from some smack head, or let him leave with £50 of groceries?
[LIFTED] it, they're not paid enough to take that sort of risk. I'd rather help pack his bags and carry them to his stolen car.

I had an image of him running at them full pelt like something out of 28 Days Later

That's nothing.

The ones you really want to watch for are the ones who fill several trolleys worth of expensive stuff (spirits, big joints of meat etc), then make a dash for the door, into a van and drive away. We had one lot get away with over £5,000 worth of stuff before. The Police showed up 3 hours later.

The reason you don't confront them is in case anyone gets injured. The company would rather lose the stock than lose a person - our in-store security man was stabbed confronting someone once. Luckily he survived to tell the story.

A mate of mine runs security at a large supermarket, he's told me about those grab and dash attempts. Although, more often than not, they can spot them early and are ready for them. No telling how they will respond when security confronts them, so it isn't the kind of job I would relish. My mate is an ex para, and I think he almost enjoys the challenge.

Thing is, all the training in the world can't help you, if you get infected blood splashed in your face.

Yeah you can usually spot them early, of course that doesn't help when the Police arrive hours later.

It will not be helped with police cuts.

I used to work at a servo and you could spot most people who were going to do a drive-off easily. Best thing to do was turn off the pump and rather than come up and complain they would just drive away with nothing.

Petrol stations used to bill staff for differences and drive offs so I always made sure that they did not give me too much change because I knew it would be coming out of their pocket not the station owners.

See that's what I don't understand about this country.... in the US you pay for petrol before the pump is opened. Don't understand why they don't do that here.

Regarding the shopping thieves my boyfriend saw a possible 'druggy' wondering across the road with a Tesco's basket full of stuff last week. By sounds of it he must have just filled up then walked straight out the door. Some people

Yes paying for petrol in the US is a matter of paying in advance and has been for years. I think that they had a bigger problem with drive offs. Though considering the wafer thin margins that petrol stations have that is understandable.

And you can pay at the pumps rather than go inside.

In some stations in France (and one of Coventry's ASDAs) you pay from your car as you leave, then someone lifts a barrier and away you go.