ABSTRACT
Investigations can be dened as the relentless pursuit of the truth concerning who, what, where, why, how, when, and how much is involved in the commission of a crime. Investigations have a twofold purpose: (1) to identify the perpetrator of a crime; and (2) to identify the evidence that proves the intent of the perpetrator of that crime. Of course, there are other de- nitions, but I like these because they reveal the inquisitive nature of the investigator. In a retail business setting the most successful investigators are those who are inquisitive and driven by proving the details of the investigation. According to the National Retail Security Survey conducted by Dr. Richard Hollinger and Amanda Adams, graduate research associate in the Department of Criminology, Law, and Society at the University of Florida, retailers generally attribute 42% of their inventory shrinkage to internal or employee theft. In this same survey retailers estimate that it accounts for $15.5 billion in losses just from this single crime category. Employees are responsible for a higher percentage and dollar loss than shoplifting, operational or administrative errors, and vendor theft (refer to Figure 3.2 in Chapter 3). Assuming that retailers are supposed to entrust the store and its contents with the associates, this presents a very complex relationship between business owner-operators and their associates concerning trust.
