Pilgrim says the store itself practically begsthieves to do their stuff. The perpetual crowds,multilevel layout and public restrooms offerrefuge, while the store's multiple exits andnearby public transportation provide for a quickgetaway.

Pilgrim estimates that "the Pit crowd," histerm for the group of people who loiter outsidethe Harvard Square T entrance, is responsible for60 percent of theft from the Coop. He attributesthis to the high incidence of drug use heperceives among this group. "There are a lot ofkids selling books for drug money," he says.

Pilgrim estimates that the store catches onlyabout five people a month, but it's not for lackof trying.

Even though the yearly loss at the Coop mayseem high, other stores report more worrisomenumbers.

One manager of the CVS store on JFK Streetestimates that the store catches an average of sixor seven shoplifters per day.

According to Eve Turner, the average shoplifterat a chain drugstore walks out with $22 in goodseach time. If these statistics are accurate, thenthe JFK Street CVS store prevents around $140 aday, or $50,000 a year, from being stolen. Turnerrefused to comment on the amount of actual losses.

Olyver Haynes says the Harvard Square TowerRecords store boasted a total of 341 detectedshoplifters in 1998. The number, which translatesto about 30 per month, includes a category Haynescalls "preventions"--that is, cases in which thewould-be perpetrator exhibits behavior such ashiding merchandise or removing security tags, butnever actually attempts to leave with themerchandise.

Even with their state-of-the-art securitysystem, the Harvard Square Tower Records remains apopular target. According to Haynes, the storelost $4.1 million in stolen goods last year.

But Harvard students, for the most part, aren'tthe ones pocketing the goods.

Though Harvard students comprise about 35percent of Harvard Square's Tower Recordscustomers, according to Record Sales ManagerMichael Casey, Haynes estimates that only three tofour percent of his perpetrators hail fromHarvard.

Pilgrim says that Harvard students make upabout ten percent of the Coop's shoplifters.That's out of about 15 to 20 percent of generalsales generated by Harvard students, according toAssistant General Manager Scott R. Montgomery.

Pilgrim says the figure is high simply becausethe Coop carries goods students need.

Behind Closed Doors

During one of their breaks, Pilgrim and fellowCoop store detective Justin M. Bristol make a tripto Tower Records to visit Haynes in the littlemaroon-doored room. The loss prevention agents, itseems, have their own little clique.

Haynes points to a man on his monitor. "Icaught him last week," he says. "He's beenstealing software from you guys too."