Connie and Scott in and out of costume.

Food Network’s latest addition to its new Undercover Wednesdays is Thieves, Inc., which has Monument Security’s Connie Ribble and Scott McDonald steal from the clients. Store must be happy that these two are on their side because Connie and Scott don’t have to try very hard to successfully steal thousands of dollars worth of merchandise in a matter of minutes.

In the first episode, Connie and Scott helped the owner of a gourmet food store, Garden of Eden in New York City, catch thieves and improve his security. At first, Connie and Scott use the typical strategies thieves use, such as dressing up as someone who stocks shelves or using a baby to throw off suspicion. If they have no problem doing those, they get more brazen and start doing crazy things like stealing an entire food cart that was sitting outside in front of the store. Shockingly, no one notices and those who do don’t question. Granted, the store is in NYC, but even New Yorkers can only tolerate so much strange behavior. The fact that Connie and Scott get away with so much and dress up in crazy outfits makes the show fun to watch.

When the Monument Security team isn’t busy figuring out how to breach the stores security system, it is watching real shoplifters move around the store. In a truck, Scott watches shoplifters on the stores security cameras, while Connie inconspicuously trails suspicious shoppers around the store. Once it is confirmed that the person they have been following is a shoplifter, Connie and Scott confront that person as soon as he or she gets out the door and brings them to the back of the store.

At the back of the store, Connie and Scott go through everything that person has stolen and ask for ID. Their goal isn’t to prosecute people. They solely want to find flaws in a stores security, so the first option presented is a fine under civil demand law, which doesn’t carry jail time and let’s that person leave once all is done. If the person doesn’t comply with Connie and Scott’s requests, the police will be called and that person will be prosecuted. So far, the show has only shown people who have cooperated. It will be interesting to see the first time someone actually gets arrested, even though that’s not the point of the show.

Once shoplifters are caught, Connie and Scott make suggestions to store owners about how they could improve their security. These are simple suggestions like making sure cameras are visible to deter shoplifters and adding mirrors, so that the staff can watch areas the cameras can’t see. Since the suggestions don’t cost a lot of money, most owners make those changes, especially since no business owner wants to see money go out the door.

After a few weeks have passed, the Monument Security team returns and tries to steal again. In this episode, it didn’t even come close to succeeding because Garden of Eden made all of the suggested changes. We’ll see if other episode feature the same success rate because, while Connie and Scott are excellent at their job, they can’t possibly have a 100 percent success rate when it comes to stopping shoplifters.