A dedicated shoplifter who wandered into McClellan Park on Thursday might be considering a career change today.

Ditto prospective vandals, terrorists and other mischief makers.

More than 30 vendors who produce surveillance systems and equipment displayed their wares Thursday at the Lions Gate Garden Pavilion in the inaugural "On the Edge Technology Show." The show was put on by Surveillance Systems Integration, a 6-year-old Rocklin company that designs, sells and installs closed-circuit television surveillance systems nationwide.

Video surveillance systems on-site ran the gamut – DVR-based devices that can focus in on the most-minute details, communications centers with humidity sensors, thermal-imaging cameras, emergency call-boxes and video set-ups with super-precise facial-recognition programs.

For businesses looking to defray shoplifting losses in a struggling economy, the high-tech show was a veritable candy store of theft deterrents.

The facial-recognition systems can spot a suspect in an instant, sending alerts to other businesses linked into the systems. A theft suspect identified in a previous crime can be spotted the second he enters another store, allowing the business owner to alert police.

While much of the economy suffers, the video surveillance business is good, according to SSI President Todd Flowers.

"We're looking at 37 percent growth this year over last year," Flowers said. "When we first started, casino and retail were big for us. But now, we've have government, law enforcement and even schools.

"And it's not just local. It's all over the country."

Within weeks, SSI will move into more-spacious offices in Roseville, and it also has an office in Las Vegas, he said.

At Thursday's show, the emphasis was on electronic security for retailers.

Bob James, manager of corporate loss prevention for Pleasanton-based Safeway Inc., said "we've had to become more sophisticated, because the boosters have become more sophisticated.

" … What we're seeing today is not the shoplifting we used to see years ago. Now, we see teams of two or more individuals going into (stores) with the specific intent to steal items for resale."

James said he has worked for Safeway for about 10 years, but has previous experience in law enforcement. He said today's businesses can't fight shoplifting with a grainy image on VHS tape. Super-sharp closed-circuit TV images and DVR technology that can be searched quickly are key to nailing thieves, he said.

James said his mantra is: "If it's not on video, it didn't happen."

"You can't go to the district attorney with an image of a person who can't be identified, or an image where you can't even see when the (merchandise) was taken off the shelf."

And the consequences, he said, are huge – an industry group estimated $37 billion in U.S. retail theft losses in 2005, not including auto theft.

James, who hosted a seminar at Thursday's show, said video image clarity is key to finding and convicting criminals who are adept at quickly taking small but pricey items from stores. With the emergence of improved CCTV technology, security officials have gotten wiser about strategy.

"Now, we have the camera placement about 9 feet above the ground," he said. "That gives us a much clearer image. If you have the camera mounted on the ceiling, you might get the top of a (suspect's) head.

"That might be a good look at male pattern baldness, but that's not going to do you much good."

Call The Bee's Mark Glover, (916) 321-1184.