Turning Point Justice and Sears Holdings Support Communities, Fight Shoplifting with Restorative Justice Solutions
SALT LAKE CITY (PRWEB) June 18, 2014 -- Turning Point Justice (TPJ), the trusted provider of collaborative loss prevention solutions for retailers, and its partner the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention (NASP), today announced that Sears Holdings Corp. is expanding TPJ loss prevention solutions at select Sears and Kmart locations nationwide. The Court Alternative Program (CAP) is an innovative restorative justice solution based upon the principle that cooperation between retailers, law enforcement and the justice system saves time and money for both retailers and communities while improving offender accountability and reducing recidivism.
“Sears Holdings continues to support progressive loss prevention practices, such as TPJ’s innovative restorative justice solutions, that further elevate our leadership position in this industry and support our communities’ law enforcement efforts,” said Scott Glenn, chief security officer, Sears Holdings. “In pilot testing, we experienced a more than 50 percent reduction in the need for police and prosecutor support for shoplifting incidents at stores, which helps local law enforcement focus their resources on more serious crimes than petty shoplifting.”
CAP enables loss prevention teams to quickly identify qualifying offenders who voluntarily admit to the theft and desire to resolve the incident without the need for an immediate law enforcement response. Offenders who choose to participate in CAP pay restitution to retailers and complete proven National Association for Shoplifting Prevention (NASP) shoplifting education programs that are used by justice systems across the United States. CAP is available at no cost to retailers.
“Petty theft is a serious problem that hurts businesses and local economies, and Sears Holdings is leading the way in healing communities by addressing first-time incidents with solutions that help offenders understand the seriousness of shoplifting,” said Lohra Miller, Turning Point Justice chief executive officer. “As collaboration is key to solving the problem, the TPJ solutions adopted by Sears and Kmart stores incorporate easily into existing loss prevention practices, including incident management systems and civil demand providers as well as police and prosecution requirements.”
The CAP solution includes a cloud-based processing system provided by Turning Point Justice. Designed by police and former prosecutors, this system enables retailers to prepare comprehensive, quality reports that meet both corporate and criminal justice needs. While offenders who choose to complete CAP are not referred to law enforcement for prosecution, all CAP reports remain available to local police. If an offender opts into CAP, but fails to comply and register within 30 days, TPJ assists stores in delivering a comprehensive report to the appropriate criminal justice agency to ensure accountability for all offenses.
About Turning Point Justice
Turning Point Justice (TPJ), a rapidly growing cloud technology company, provides collaborative solutions to retail theft that cultivate positive change through restorative justice. Designed by criminal justice professionals to ensure integrity and compliance from apprehension to incident resolution, Turning Point Justice solutions align the interests of retailers, law enforcement, and the justice system to combat shoplifting. TPJ solutions ensure consistent restitution and legal compliance for retailers, and provide first-time shoplifters with education that enables offenders to avoid a criminal record and remain positive members of their communities. With its Cloud Justice platform and CAP restorative justice solutions offered in partnership with the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention, Turning Point Justice saves time and budget for retailers and law enforcement alike. Follow Turning Point Justice on Twitter at @TPJSolutions or visit us online at http://www.turningpointjustice.com
About NASP
The National Association for Shoplifting Prevention (NASP) is a private non-profit tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization that specializes in working with consumers, teens and children who have shoplifted. NASP conducts research and offers education, prevention and rehabilitation programs, in addition to self-help and support services for people caught shoplifting. NASP's unparalleled shoplifter research and ongoing collaboration with community stakeholders - from crime prevention, to law enforcement, to retailers, to criminal and juvenile justice - has been the basis for its organizational activities and the foundation for its programs and services. NASP’s core programs, the Shoplifters Alternative Course (SA Course) for adults and the Youth Educational Shoplifting Program (Y.E.S. Program) for juveniles, have been approved by thousands of criminal justice professionals and utilized in more than 2,000 jurisdictions across the United States. The evidence-based NASP programs continue to set the standard for offense-specific shoplifter education programs, delivering the lowest court-reported recidivism rates of 2.9% nationwide. To learn more about NASP, visit http://www.shopliftingprevention.org.
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MEDIA CONTACTS
Neuron Strategies for Turning Point Justice
Shannon McPhee
shannon(at)neuronstrategies(dot)com
310-920-9642
CAP Program
National Association for Shoplifting Prevention
Barbara Staib
barbara(at)courtalternativeprogram(dot)com
800-848-9595
Shannon McPhee, Turning Point Justice, http://www.turningpointjustice.com, +1 310-920-9642, [email protected]
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