ASSIST - Associated Security Services and Investigators of the State of Texas

3300 Bee Caves Road � Suite 650-119 � Austin, TX 78746 � Phone (832) 274-1079

Fallen Officers
Fund

Goal $20,000

Currently $3,143.50

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THE ASSIST BOARD

President
Dave Scepanski

Exec. Vice President
Bob Burt

Vice President
Dave Parker

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Walt Roberts

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Susan Griswold

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Jaime Ochoa

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Kathy McReynolds

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Robert Kenney

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Ben Bradford

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Ruben Amaya

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Dan Flores

South Texas Alamo Area Chapter President
Kathy Powers

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Kevin Galloway

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Dave Scepanski

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Sep-24-04

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Shoplifters Blaze New Trail

From late May through mid-July, arsonists hit department stores in Montgomery County, Maryland, five times, including J.C. Penny�s units three times.

What ties these incidents together, however, is the fact that all the fires were set during business hours, and investigators surmise that the blazes were a diversion for shoplifting activities.

This type of diversionary trick from shoplifters is not new. In February 1998, a 16-year-old girl was charged with arson for setting fire to the potato chip display at a Food Lion grocery store in Virginia. The fire was intended to conceal her shoplifting activity from store employees.

Retail security expert Chuck Sennewald, CPP, says that if this tactic is indeed widespread, all store personnel should be warned about the practice and trained accordingly.

He notes that when reviewing footage of an arson, security might look for shoplifting on store tapes and then identify suspects as possible arsonists or collaborators.

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