Loss prevention training class set
By CASEY BUECHEL - Tribune Staff Writer
Saturday, November 15, 2008 12:33 PM CST
The City of Mount Pleasant and the Mount Pleasant Police Department (MPPD), in association with the East Texas Crime Prevention Association (ETCPA), will present a training class on loss prevention and detecting shop lifters on Tuesday, Nov. 18, at the Mount Pleasant Civic Center.
Registration for the class will be at 8:30 a.m., with the class lasting from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. including a break for lunch from 12-1 p.m.
"This is a free training class available to law enforcement officers and anyone involved in retail theft prevention," said Sgt. Kyle Holcomb, MPPD administrative sergeant who is also an officer in the ETCPA.
"The East Texas Crime Prevention Association is a chapter of the Texas Crime Prevention Association and is 32 counties strong," Holcomb said.
The state organization, as well as the individual chapters, was built to provide a resource, networking and training organization for combating crime.
"This particular training session is on retail theft prevention," Holcomb said.
"We encourage our local businesses to send representatives to learn how to detect shoplifters," said Holcomb.
"In addition to those who might attend locally, there will be representatives from businesses in Dallas, Fort Worth, Texarkana and Longview," he said.
The first session of the class, from 9 a.m. to noon, will focus on discussing crime trends in stores and sharing crime prevention tips as well as allowing attendees to network to develop good communications between retail loss prevention professionals and law enforcement.
In the second session, from 1-5 p.m., tips for identifying areas of computer theft, as well as discussions of tracking software, recovery processes and forensic tools used in the tracking and recovery of stolen laptops will be featured.
"Again, the class is free and we urge our local businesses to attend this valuable training opportunity with us," Holcomb said.
