Book Review: Retail Crime: International Evidence and Prevention
Edited by Vania Ceccato and Rachel Armitage. Palgrave Macmillan; Palgrave.com; 435 pages; $84.88.
A comprehensive overview of the different types, environments, and methods of retail crime occurring throughout the world, Retail Crime: International Evidence and Prevention also provides practical strategies for prevention. The several chapters by different authors highlight findings from existing research about crime that occurs in different retail settings and how to detect, deter, and prevent such crime.
The book is an academic work, with many citations, and it can serve as a reference guide for those looking for resources for specific types of retail crime. The information and research contained within is current, relevant, and applicable to the retail environments described, and the book features case studies from Europe, Australia, and the Middle East.
The authors also do a good job of covering a variety of environments that could be subject to retail crime, from privately owned shops to major shopping centers to hospitals that face the threat of pharmaceutical theft. The final chapter of the book summarizes the themes seen across multiple environments and presents new research that is leading the retail industry into the future.
One of the most valuable aspects of this book is the index, which allows practitioners to quickly locate information and topics relevant to their field or current trends in theft. The book’s wide-ranging chapters would be most useful to a professional working in the retail industry who needs insight or guidance about trends in retail theft and proven methods for identifying and deterring such activity.
Reviewer: Laura Judge, CPP, is a security professional with more than 17 years of experience in law enforcement and private sector security and investigations. She worked as an investigator for one of the largest retail chains in America before transitioning into corporate security for the financial and healthcare industries. She is a member of the ASIS Women in Security Council.
