Year Founded: 1995

Core Business: Provides training, certification and job placement for security officers and undercover store detectives

Revenues in 1995: $50,000

Revenues in 1997: $500,000

Employees in 1995: 1

Employees in 1997: 17

Goal: To expand operations nationally and increase product offerings

Driving Force: Retailers have begun taking anti-theft measures more seriously

By NOLA L. SARKISIAN

Staff Reporter

Shoplifters beware: You may pay the price for pocketing, rather than purchasing, that compact disc, camera or perfume bottle.

So says Steve DiTullio, whose Downey-based security firm, Loss Prevention Career Association, is experiencing a surge of demand for its security officers and undercover store detectives especially as shoplifters ply their trade during this inventory-flush holiday season.

In the past month, requests for Loss Prevention graduates have nearly doubled, leaving DiTullio scrambling to find new recruits.

“It’s insane. I normally place about 40 people per week at jobs and in the last month, I’ve been placing 75 per week,” said the 32-year-old New York native. “This is a hectic time of year for us.”

Sales in 1998, DiTullio projects, will increase at least 25 percent over a year ago, when the firm hit the $500,000 mark a tenfold increase over the $50,000 logged during its first year of operation in 1995.

California law requires that all security guards undergo two hours of training. Recognizing a growing demand for guards, DiTullio a security officer himself who ran a limousine business in New York before moving to California in 1993 decided to start a business of his own to train security guards. He launched the enterprise with just $3,000 in savings and one employee. He now employs 17.

While police agencies are trumpeting lower crime rates, property thefts spike during this time of year and can add up to serious losses. Nationwide, retailers lost $15.2 billion due to shoplifting in 1997, according to the National Retail Federation.

Beefing up security with well-trained professionals is one way that companies can minimize such losses, said Lt. Anthony Alba, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department.

“It really helps. The more eyes and ears there are out there, the easier it is on everybody,” Alba said. “It helps police so we don’t have to respond to small calls and can concentrate on the bigger problems. It helps the owner maintain his profits. And it helps shoppers to be in a safe environment.”

Every week, security firms fax DiTullio a list of openings. Just last week, two firms came in with 30 to 40 positions each to fill. The agencies pay DiTullio a placement fee of $30 to $40 for each officer hired.

Retailers also contact him with openings for undercover detectives. “We’ve seen them take boots, thermals, lady’s lingerie, cameras. We’ve seen it all. And this time of year can get crazy,” said Sharron Clanton, an assistant manager for Kmart in Compton, a client of DiTullio’s.

The security officers, who carry badges, handcuffs and walkie-talkies, can apprehend shoplifters outside the store only after they have witnessed someone pass through the register area without paying for concealed items. At times, physical altercations can occur or the thieves will run to their cars and speed away.

“Depending on the type of person, it can be scary when confronting them,” said Allen Coleman, 21, manager of the loss prevention department at the Virgin Megastore in West Hollywood, who completed DiTullio’s program six months ago. “If they seem to be gang-related, sometimes you’re not sure what to expect.”

DiTullio’s students range from college students to retirees. Roughly 75 percent of them are men, although DiTullio is trying to market to women, who are in demand by stores.

Students choose either the two-hour, $50 course to become a security officer or the $300, 16-hour loss-prevention program, which trains them to be undercover officers. Students can also obtain an exposed firearm permit for $125.

DiTullio’s goal is to place students as quickly as possible after they have received their certification. He trains about 200 people a month and boasts a job-placement rate of about 70 percent. Pay for a new guard ranges from about $6 an hour for security officers to between $7 and $8 an hour for undercover detectives.

The low pay makes security an especially high-turnover industry. So does the monotony of the job, DiTullio admits.

“It can get tiring standing all day if you’re in security. I try to encourage my students to get in on the fun and challenges of going undercover,” he said.

By next year, DiTullio plans to offer a “mystery shopping” component, in which undercover “shoppers” are hired by stores to assess their merchandising and the performance of sales and customer-service staff. He also intends to open offices in New York and Miami.

Los Angeles-based Warehouse Shoe Sale recently hired eight people from Loss Prevention to better monitor its stores.

“They’re among the better officers,” said Lyle Ballard, the director of the store’s loss-prevention program. “They’re professional. Even if they have no experience with retail, they at least have a working idea of the retail environment and how to have a good rapport with people.”

High marks, indeed. But perhaps Loss Prevention needs to spend more time minding its own store. The company’s Studio City office recently was robbed ironically, by a student, who broke into the office’s safe in search of cash. A suspect has been arrested.

“What an idiot. He probably was going through the training to learn how to rob stores,” DiTullio said. “But what can you do? It happens.”