PHYLLIS Parkes has been doing security work for ``a few years' now and loves the challenge of the job ... although she doesn't always like the results.
A good day in her security role at The Warehouse in Napier is one where she does not have to confront someone. But good
days like that can be rare at this time of the year. ``Some will run for it ... some will say they are very sorry, and there are some you actually feel a bit sorry for.'
But emotions have to be put aside because theft is theft, and once an offender is collared they are banned from the store and police called.
Her role is not one of simply standing by the door all day waiting for the electronic security system go off.
``It's about presence. It is about people seeing there is security about.'
That presence, coupled with electronic detection and a surveillance system, had been effective, but people were still determined.
Among them was the man who tried to roll a large television set out the door on a trolley. And the thief who removed a relatively cheap inflatable paddling pool from its box and re-filled it with dozens of more expensive items.
There is no standard ``look' to a shoplifter, she said. They can be young or old, male or female, scruffy or immaculate.
``Some people get quite offended if I ask to check their bags. They say `but I don't look like a shoplifter'.'
