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Employer Perceptions of Workplace Crime

NCJ Number
101851
Date Published
May 1987
Annotation
A mail survey of workplace crime in private business (e.g., mining, trucking, retail, financial, health care) was conducted in 1985.
Abstract

Results of 208 responses (12-percent return rate) from senior management professionals indicate that about two-thirds of organizations had experienced at least one major theft or fraud in the past 2 years. While most did not view employee crime as an area of crisis, some companies indicated facing three or more serious problems simultaneously. Respondents viewed noncriminal offenses such as abuses of company services, absenteeism, and substance abuse as no less troubling than traditional areas of crime. Internal controls were favored by a majority of respondents, and two-thirds reported implementing new crime control initiatives in the past 5 years. Most common controls included upgraded physical security, expanded exit searches, and audit and inventory controls. A company profile is appended. 19 tables.

Date Published: May 1, 1987