Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-07-01
WOMEN AS THIEF CATCHERS'
ALERT FEMALE DETECTIVES IN THE
DEPARTMENT STORES.
Fair VfdOcqs Who Protect Customers
AS Well as Their Employers From
Light-Fingered Gentry.
From the PHILADELPHIA Record

| From the Philadelphia Record
Few people who hear of the woman de-
tective in the department stores have
any idea of the difficulties of her work
or how small is the number of women who
are capable of filling so unique a position
In Philadelphia every department store
| employs female detectives, the number
varying according to the season and also
| according to the number to be obtained
| for far the ealing is not an overcrowd-
ed one
| Certainly, we employ women detec-
tives,' said a member of prominent firm
| yesterday. I'VE would employ twice as
/ many If we could get them, but our great
| est difficulty is in securing women who
| have the necessary tact and sagacity for
the work. We employ them more for the
! protection of our customers than for our
| own, and there is not a store in the city
! which has not found need of a woman to
| DO secret service work which men could
/ not do"
| Woman Detective in Dtsgutses.
The woman detective is greatly handi-
| capped in her work by the fact that I'M
! der the state law she is not qualified to
| wear special officers badge. She has
| not the power to make arrests, and very
| frequently a thief whom she has been
|
| cape because of her lack of authority.
Despite this fact, however, women detec-
| tives do much valuable work. and are
| most efficient assistants to the male de-
| tect1ve force of a store.
The prevailing idea that the woman de-
| tectfve In department store must be as
| sk1llful in her ability to make up as
| variety actress does not hold good in all
cases. although there have been instances
when frequent character changes have been
| necessary to success. young woman.
who, for several years, did most effective
work in Philadelphia. but who has removed
to New York was particularly skllful in
this respect. Her favorite role was that of
country woman. With her attired In
marvelously made gown of brown and
green, with an enormous hustle few per-
sons would think of the motherly-looking
old woman as any more seriously occupied
| than In taking in the sights of the city.
They would not suspect that the eyes.
shielded by large steel-rimmed glasses
| were keenly taking in every movement
within their range of vision. This detec-
tive was instrumental in checking many
| thefts Of valuable goods but as the main
object Is not that so much as the care
for customers belongings, there are many
| other women detectives without any dis
guise whatever who are able to do quite
as effective work.
Protecting Customers From Thieves
The stores close to the railroad stations
are patronized by large numbers Of country
customers. who come in for a few hours
shopping and bring with them sufficient
sums of money to make them good SUBJ
1ects for the ever alert pickpocket. It is to
protect these customers particularly that
the detectives are on watch. Frequently
woman Will lay q well-filled pocket book on
the counter while she turns to look at some
article near at hand. Soon she finds her
pocket book gone. The task of the de-
tective Is to prevent such a happening or
to secure the return of the money IL
taken. II 1t be an amateur thief such a
course is easy-a slight hint that the theft
has been detected being sufficient But
with professional thief the woman detec-
tlves task is much more difficult.
After ascertainfng that a theft has taken
place the fair detective carefully shadows
the thief. If her polite request that he step
to the office be disregarded male detec-
tive wearing officers badge generally
assumes charge OF the case.
Thief Disfeured Her for Life.
When articles stolen in a store are Of
high enough value to merit the woman de-
tective's attention, the thief must be
Swallowed not only throughout the build
Ing, outside on the street, for, according
to the law. no article can be regarded as
stolen until 1t is actually taken off the
premises Of the owner. In thus shadowing
a thief outside the store the detective runs
considerable risk, because she is out of
reach OF the store officers and may not find
any other officer to call to her aid
Not long ago woman detective saw a
large colored man putting several pairs
of shoes into a covered basket he carried
He almost Immediately left the store The
woman had no time to summon another
officer. She followed the thief and over
took him few blocks away from the store,
where she caught hold Of the basket he
carried and accused him. The man picked
one of the shoes out of the basket and beat
the woman In the face with It, cutting her
horribly. Her screams brought a policeman
"a of 10
basket and made his escape The woman
will have a disfgured face the rest of her
life.
ShOp1ifter Caught in the Act
There is no place where the well-dressed
woman thief is more apt to turn her at
tention than toward the handkerchief
counter. This is an especially good place
to pick up pocket books and articles be-
longing to other women, while valuable
handkerchief are easily distracted A
store which makes speciality of particu-
larry expensive mouchoirs employs a wo-
man especially to guard the counter on
which they are displayed. An example of
her work was given the other day. when
a handsomely dressed woman picked up a
number of handkerchief and examined
each as a would-be purchaser. She dis
tracted the salesgirls attention so that the
latter might not notice that she retained
one of the most valuable handkerchiefs
Holding the handkerchief In one hand as
is it were the one she had carried from
home, the woman turned toward another
counter, when tall, dignified woman, in
| a plain black gown, accosted her with:
Pardon me, madam, but do you wish to
purchase that handkerchief The would
be thief surrendered, the stolen article
quietly and made her way out of the store
as quickly as possible.
Women Capture Many Men.
Strange as it may seem, the woman de-
tective is often most successful in captur-
ing men. A man recently distracted a we'll
filled purse from woman customers pock-
ct and had reached the door, when he was
| accosted by quiet little woman, who said:
IF you please. SIR will you kindly step
into the office for minute?'
But the man showed fight and was going
to push the woman detective aside when
the store officer came forward and second
ed the request, at the same time exhibit
ing his badge. The chief did step into
the office for minute" and was relieved of
the pocket book and number of other
| stolen articles. Then he was sent to be
locked up.
Most of the women detectives have had
experience in the stores as saleswomen,