Case: Employee Theft, Coercion, and False Confessions

Take the suspect to an isolated place. Make sure the conversation isn't being recorded. Engage in small talk to build rapport. Commence interrogation. These steps, outlined in a manual used by loss prevention specialists to question employees expected of theft, are a common practice in the retail industry. Employee theft costs American retailers $16 billion a year, and it's difficult to stop. Rarely is there any physical evidence, only an imbalance in the books or missing merchandise. To address this, retailers are increasingly turning to internal investigations headed by specialists trained in police interrogation techniques. These interrogations include insisting that the company knows the suspect is guilty, pointing to "bulging files or videocassettes," and an array of psychological tricks to get the confession. But these techniques are often too effective, resulting in a false confession from the employee. The interrogations are often held while the employee is "on the clock," meaning leaving could result in losing their job, and the retailers don't allow them to be videotaped. A slew of recent lawsuits brought against American firms have shined light on this problem, even revealing that one of the loss prevention specialist received confessions in 98% of his cases.

1. Given the growing evidence of this problem, should retailers abandon the use of police interrogation techniques in their investigations?

2. How should firms deal with employee theft?