Corrective Education Company Removes Handcuffs From Retail Loss Prevention

OREM, UT--(Marketwired - Jun 12, 2013) - Corrective Education Company (CEC) today announced the latest release of its educational intervention program, which combines technology and online life-skills education to reinvent how petty crimes are handled in the retail industry. The program, which has proven to reduce apprehension time and expenses incurred by retailers by 50-80 percent¹, has a number of new features to further streamline apprehension-processing time while improving coordination with law enforcement and prosecutors. The program is currently being used or piloted by 10 retailers across the country.

CEC's program, which includes CEC Connect™ and CEC Correct™, balances the need for accountability, justice and restitution with a second chance for low risk offenders. CEC Connect™ is a technology solution consisting of an iPad and fingerprint scanner for on-site offender processing, and cloud-based analytics and reporting tools to better monitor in-store loss prevention activities and track offenders from apprehension to course completion. CEC Correct is a proprietary online restructuring and life skills educational course for offenders. The course is based on more than two decades of restoring opportunity and hope to individuals who have committed misdemeanor crimes.

"Since we launched CEC in 2011, we have worked with a number of national retailers and repeatedly validated the core benefits of our program," said CEC's founder, Darrell Huntsman. "Our technology reduces the costs for retailers to prosecute offenders while eliminating 90 percent of the time it takes to process an offender through the justice system. In fact, the in-store apprehension process, which once took 2-4 hours, can now be completed in 20 minutes with CEC. We can help increase financial recovery while enhancements in data collection also improve civil demand recovery."

Huntsman added, "Our program is fully funded by offenders and there is no cost to the retailer for the technology, online database or education program components. We have literally removed the handcuffs from loss prevention teams while helping retailers recover costs, improve efficiencies, minimize risks and reduce recidivism."

Once an offender is apprehended, CEC's technology searches over 38 billion records from 10,000 sources to assess on the spot the individual who is apprehended. New analytics and exception reporting provide retailers with a clear picture of store-by-store and companywide loss prevention efforts and CEC program effectiveness. In addition to technology upgrades, CEC also launched its new education curriculum developed by industry leaders, clinical psychologists and criminologists.

The core curriculum was recently updated under the guidance of John "Jack" Franco, a professional psychologist, and now includes cognitive exercises developed from principles of Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy designed by Dr. Robert M. Setty, Ph.D. as well as research and findings from Moisés Próspero, Ph.D., a criminologist from the University of Utah. Dr. Próspero works with government organizations develop, implement, and evaluate evidence-based policies and practices within criminal, juvenile, and social justice systems. Dr. Setty's exercises have been successfully deployed in thousands of group counseling sessions with misdemeanor offenders participating in court-ordered and pre-trial diversion programs.

CEC is showcasing its program at NRF Loss Prevention 2013 in San Diego on June 12-14 at booth 1017.

About CEC
CEC works with individuals, retailers, government officials, law enforcement agencies, security firms, parents and schools to provide a successful, equitable and more efficient alternative to judicial prosecution. Using innovative technology and proven online educational tools, CEC is building accountability that drives changes, unites communities and promotes trust. CEC's retail loss prevention program reduces shrink, enhances retailers' loss prevention efforts without adding any costs or complexities to current programs, and decreases government workload related to petty crimes. The program also includes a self-guided online life skills course that provides offenders with the tools and training they need to move beyond past mistakes. For more information, visit www.correctiveeducation.com.

¹ 2012 LPRC Research: CEC's Retail Theft Program Impact on Retailer Cost and Time