Spring 2025

Insights

Underreporting of Retail Theft

How to Curb Strategic Cargo Theft Teens Wreaking Havoc

PLUS: Preventing Witness Contamination

A PERFECT STORM IN THE DESERT

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SCAN ME

By Stefanie Hoover, CFI

By Courtney Wolfe

By Jacque Brittain, LPC

By Christina Burton, PhD

Lauren Fritsky

John W. Jones, PhD

Sharing Is Caring

When this magazine and the special edition reach your doorstep, we will be enjoying another springtime and tradeshow season. Just like many retail LP practitioners and solution providers, my team and I have the privilege of attending a variety of meetings and conferences where we get to hear from professionals in every segment of the industry.

We hear about struggles, successes, frustrations, and more. What do all these conversations have in common? People are sharing with us. The spirit of sharing was what united us back in the early days of LP and helped us grow as a profession. This spirit continues in the essential collaboration with legislators, district attorneys, and law enforcement—big things get done when we work together.

Retail LP folks really do want to share their experiences: what they’ve learned, problems they are going through, and interesting stories. As I talk with retailers, I hear over and over that they have great ideas or topics that they are truly passionate about—but they just can’t get approval from their corporate offices. Whether it’s webinars, podcasts, articles, or speaking at conferences, it seems the long-standing LP culture of sharing is being squelched. Yes, it’s prudent to be careful about oversharing. In this age of viral social media, no company wants a black eye due to

Stefanie

Hoover, CFI Editor-in-Chief

a random comment made during a podcast or in an article. But what happens when we continue to insulate ourselves and our experiences within the confines of our own company? When we operate in siloes without sharing with the greater industry, we risk stagnating growth—personally, at the corporate level, and for the entire industry.

Some of the most beneficial moments in my career were when I had the opportunity to speak at national conferences: I conquered my fear of public speaking, it exposed me to others in the industry, and I honed countless other soft skills. In those instances, it was important to me, so I gently pushed the decision-makers for approval on my topics. They became more comfortable with me representing the company, the more I did these types of things. Later, this included writing for LP Magazine.

If you are senior leadership, your public relations team must understand that sharing is what makes our LP community great and keeps us growing. If we shut the door and lose the ability to contribute, where will we be in the next ten to fifteen years? Will we be coming up with new solutions? Or will retail companies further shut the door out of fear? Networking and sharing are literally a cheat code and a fast- track method to solving problems. Why labor alone behind closed doors? l

President Caroline Kochman Caroline.Kochman@losspreventionfoundation.org

Vice President, Editor-in-Chief Stefanie Hoover, CFI StefanieH@LossPreventionMedia.com

Editorial Director Jacque Brittain, LPC JacB@LossPreventionMedia.com

Managing Editor Courtney Wolfe CourtneyW@LossPreventionMedia.com

Assistant Editor Allie Falk AllieF@LossPreventionMedia.com

Retail Technology Editor Tom Meehan, CFI TomM@LossPreventionMedia.com

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A Perfect Storm in the Desert

By Stefanie Hoover, CFI

As LP Magazine continues to explore retail theft trends in specific geographic locations, we heard from a contingent of retailers who asked that we investigate what’s happening in one particular area. You’d think New York City or Los Angeles would be at the top of the list, but over and over, we heard that something different was happening in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Steeped in history dating back to the 1300s, and founded over 300 years ago, Albuquerque has endured conquistadors, floods, droughts, and uprisings to develop into a hub of the southwest. Known as Duke City to locals, it’s a seemingly idyllic home to just over half a million residents. With hot-air balloon, wine, and mariachi festivals—how is it that Albuquerque has become a top concern for retailers?

According to FBI UCR data, as of 2023, the state of New Mexico ranked second-highest in property crime in the United States. When looking at total crime rates per 100,000 residents, New Mexico has the second-highest incidence of violent crime, behind the District of Columbia. The city of Albuquerque ranks as the sixth-highest nationally for property crimes (per capita from 2019 to 2023) and tenth-highest for violent crime.

Whenever we look at any crime data, we need to be skeptical. According to information posted on the FBI’s website regarding the UCR database, “Data users should not rank locales because there are many factors that cause the nature and type of crime to vary from place to place. UCR statistics include only jurisdictional population figures along with reported crime, clearance, or arrest data. Rankings ignore the uniqueness of each locale.” When thinking about the accuracy of the data, we must also consider practices that discourage retailers from reporting crime on their premises, such as nuisance laws, and declining rates of reporting due to case dismissals or lack of follow-up. So, how did Albuquerque get to this point? What’s behind these abnormally high criminal statistics?

Assembling the Puzzle

With any puzzle, we typically begin with the edges and work our way in. To assemble the puzzle of Albuquerque and understand how the city got to where it is, we researched publicly available archives, interviewed a variety of retailers and

former Albuquerque Police Department officers, and spoke to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, industry experts, and the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce. We heard from the DA’s office as well. With a history so complicated and so many stakeholders who care about the future of this city, it’s difficult to answer every open question about Albuquerque in a short article. What we’ve attempted here is to provide some context for the current situation.

While the opinions shared with us on the drivers of organized retail crime (ORC) and retail theft differed somewhat, we heard consistent themes in every conversation. Retail crime reached an apex during COVID-19, but was already exacerbated by:

1. Lack of resources

2. Fentanyl

3. Lack of consequences

Fewer Feet on the Street

Many law enforcement agencies across the country are facing a depletion of their forces. Whether due to defunding efforts, backfilling for retirements, or a declining interest in policing careers altogether, the lowered number of police on the beat is becoming an urgent concern.

The Albuquerque Police Department has had to climb an even steeper hill, battling an exodus of veteran officers, starting in 2014 with the Department

the national average, and specifically, the shooting of James Boyd, a homeless man who was brandishing knives during a police standoff in March of 2014. The shooting, caught on video and body cameras, caused a community uproar.

As part of the resulting DOJ decree, an outside, independent monitor, Dr. James Ginger, was appointed in January 2015 to conduct audits, gather data, and make recommendations about the department. Dr. Ginger had already overseen consent decrees in Pittsburgh and New Jersey, and as a former police officer, trainer, and researcher, seemed well-positioned to help the department move forward.

As the DOJ oversight began, every arrest was scrutinized, and the department’s morale suffered. According to a former APD officer who chose to remain anonymous, the corruption within the department was “blatant, notorious, and embarrassing,” and morale under the consent decree was “in the dumpster.”

With more stringent controls from the DOJ, rising crime rates, and fewer police to do the work, it’s no wonder that morale was low and the officers were frustrated. Joe Wolf, CFI, former Albuquerque Police Academy director, was with the department at the beginning of the decree. “There was a lot of frustration and anxiety over the leadership change and concerns about the consent decree. However, the working officers I knew were

“There was a lot of frustration and anxiety over the leadership change and concerns about the consent decree. However, the working officers I knew were still committed to the work and willing to see things through.”

Joe Wolf, CFI

of Justice consent decree, and corruption investigations in 2022. The reductions in manpower through retirements (forced and unforced), terminations, and suspensions have taken their toll on the department.

The Department of Justice ordered the consent decree as a reaction to APD officer-involved shootings higher than

still committed to the work and willing to see things through.”

While Dr. Ginger’s almost ten years of oversight were met with mixed feedback—and some controversy at the department and locally, with some residents questioning his pay and actual time spent in Albuquerque—the department successfully completed its

supervision under the consent decree in 2024, and the DOJ completely ended its oversight effective April 14, 2025. While there were positive outcomes, such as automating evidence from body-worn cameras, increased reporting, and accountability on arrests, the general consensus among those we spoke to was that the morale in the department suffered greatly.

Then, in 2022—more turmoil. Harold Medina, appointed Chief of APD in 2021, did not step into an easy job. The department was contending with COVID-19, and then, within a year of taking the position, an investigation was launched into officers inside his department. Tips from the public came in accusing officers of taking bribes in exchange for court no-shows on DWI cases. Internal Affairs was brought under the microscope, and the FBI was involved—the reputation of the department couldn’t help but suffer further.

Another spate of officer departures due to terminations, resignations, and retirements ensued. In 2021, there were sixty-three resignations and ninety-seven retirements; in 2022, fifty-nine resignations and ninety-seven retirements; and in 2023, forty resignations and thirty-five retirements. The settlement as part of

the DOJ consent decree required the city to conduct a staffing study, which recommended a minimum of 1,000 officers on staff, 500 of whom should be working calls for service. In 2021, Chief Medina had set a goal of, and the city budgeted for, staffing at 1,200. As of the date of this article, there were 864 officers employed by APD.

We reached out to the Albuquerque Police Department for comment and received no response. However, from all accounts, it appears that APD is taking steps to fill the vacancies in its department. A Junior Police Academy, the 2023 Partnership with Central New Mexico Community College “Pathway to Public Safety,” the Citizen Police Academy, Women in Blue, the LEAP Program, and hiring bonuses are all designed to attract recruits to the profession and to APD.

Chief Medina also enacted an incentive of $1,500 a month and 100 percent medical benefit coverage to retain retiring police officers. At a press conference in 2022, the chief said, “You know, departments under a consent decree are not easy places to work for, and I personally try to recruit laterals from surrounding agencies on a consistent basis.” He added, “We remain committed to reform and trying to find the most

“We remain committed to reform and trying to find the most sustainable way to move forward and fight crime at the same time.”

Chief Medina

sustainable way to move forward and fight crime at the same time.”

Geography and Drugs

Albuquerque is centrally located in New Mexico, astride the Rio Grande.

Also, sitting near major transportation routes such as Interstate Route 40, which runs across the country east to west, and Interstate Route 25, running north to south, Albuquerque is easy to get to. It’s fifty-six miles to Santa Fe, NM; 332 miles to Phoenix, AZ; 267 miles to El Paso, TX; and 513 miles to Oklahoma City, OK.

Most importantly, the city is a mere 268 miles from Juarez, Mexico. It’s an easy target for those who want to quickly move stolen goods and illicit drugs back and forth over the border.

Retailers we spoke to felt that there is ORC in Albuquerque, but that it’s mostly locals doing the thefts for drugs, and the goods are moving back over the border into Mexico. The distance between Albuquerque and other major cities most likely doesn’t make it a prime target for national ORC groups, unless they are highly motivated and on cross-country trips.

Sgt. Donnie Hix from the Bernalillo Sheriff’s Office, and copresident of the New Mexico Organized Retail Crime Association (NMORCA), has over twenty years of experience in law enforcement and has seen the effects of drugs on the community. According to Hix, the fentanyl problem in the area really took off during the COVID-19 epidemic.

“With a new drug like fentanyl, the dealers were testing different formulas to see how much users would tolerate before OD’ing. They wanted to get their users hooked and let the product explode on the street.” As the dealers cut the dose of fentanyl back and became more efficient at production, the drugs became cheaper to produce. Today, in the drug markets around Albuquerque, fentanyl pills can go for as little as one dollar a pill.

When you have a portion of the community who are now addicted to an easily manufactured and transported drug, there cannot help but to be a rise in crime to pay for and feed the habit. Quick, easy money is needed, whether that’s through stealing cars, home break-ins, or retail theft. Out of all property crimes, retail theft is probably the lowest risk and quickest way

Sgt. Donnie Hix

to get money for drugs. There are low odds of being caught, and if caught, low odds of being held accountable.

Vulnerable Population

Drug kingpins need people willing to do their dirty work. In Albuquerque, due to a confluence of factors, there are people willing to steal from retailers to fund their drug habits or to make ends meet. Some are petty thieves, some are gang members or drug addicts, or mentally ill, and some are homeless.

The effects of the 2008 crash were felt hard in Albuquerque, which had a large part of its economy based on oil and gas. That industry and subsequently, Albuquerque, were slower to recover than the rest of the country. Then an influx of population occurred. New Silicon Valley-type businesses, start-ups, and engineering firms began to move into the area, attracted by New Mexico’s Trade Corridor and favorable tax incentives. Long home to the Los Alamos National Labs and the Sandia Labs, the corridor was no stranger to brain power. But, according to Moody’s Analytics, only 3.2

percent of the residents are employed in high-tech jobs. With this growth also came disparities in income, fewer housing options, and increased housing prices.

From 2022 to 2023, Albuquerque experienced an 83 percent increase in homelessness. That jump is hard to comprehend and even harder to react to as a community if you don’t already have services in place. This is a vulnerable population. They are living in fear and often fall victim to violent crimes. Hix stated that “the homeless were banding together to stay safe” and that those who use drugs had pooled their efforts to make their fentanyl buys instead of risking robbery or attacks.

How do the dealers and fences get some of this population to engage in their retail theft schemes? According to Hix, it’s the lure of cheap drugs. “They [the fence] just wait at the bus stop and they say, ‘Hey, go get me bras and perfume from Victoria’s Secret.’ So, they do their thing, get a full bag of stuff, and then hop on the free bus back to the fence. This is about $700 worth of merch, right? They’ll give them like fifty pills.” Addicts can smoke anywhere from 10 to 100 pills a day.

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Total number of homeless people counted by Point-In-Time in Albuquerque

2009: 2,002

2011: 1,639

2013: 1,171

2015: 1,287

2017: 1,318

2019: 1,524

2021: 1,567

2022: 1,311

2023: 2,394

2024: 2,740

The many retailers we spoke to for this story, including big-box, specialty, and grocery stores, all of which wanted to remain anonymous, were in agreement that the free bus transit system acts as a super highway for thieves. It’s quick and easy to commit theft in one area and hop on the

The overall CAP25 Max-3 Heat Map illustrates the fluctuation in crime risk around Central Ave in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The three maps visually indicate that areas with a higher risk (depicted in darker red) correspond with occurrences of property and violent crimes (darker purple).

free bus to quickly escape to the other side of town, meet up with the fence, and buy drugs—all before the police are able to respond.

The city has attempted cleanups at illegal campsites and has invested in affordable housing and drug and mental health resources; however, the problem persists. During a Point-In-Time survey conducted in 2024, the city had 2,740 people living unhoused. There is much more to be done, and frustration in the community is mounting, with recent calls for a tougher response to vagrancy violations, but where will the manpower to enforce come from?

Property Related Crime

Violent Related Crime

Images courtesy of CAP Index

Central Ave: Hotspots of property and violent related crimes from back half of 2024 for Albuquerque, New Mexico. The darker purple, the more crimes there are near one another.

Politics and Accountability

Just like the rest of the country, politics in New Mexico and Albuquerque are in an upheaval. Some blame lax criminal laws on liberal policies instituted by the democratically controlled legislature and the governor’s office. Limited police powers, reduced sentencing and penalties, and early release for criminals happened in many states as a reaction to overcrowding and incidents such as the shooting of George Floyd and James Boyd. But the pendulum likely swung too far to the left with low felony theft thresholds, low or no-bond, and little or no accountability for minors, all adding to an already stressed criminal justice system.

What else is contributing to crime in Albuquerque?

Part of the Puzzle—Witness No-Shows

If criminals know there are no consequences for their actions, they are likely to re-offend. We heard from industry experts that the city has a nearly 50 percent no-show rate in court on retail theft cases. This state of affairs is due to many factors, according to Lourdes Saldana, regional vice president for ALTO, a company that assists retailers with their court cases and has a team in Albuquerque. Witnesses to retail theft cases must cross a number of hurdles. “Many individuals face barriers such as limited access to reliable transportation, lack of childcare, and difficulty taking time off work. Missed court appearances are sometimes the result of individuals not receiving timely or accurate court notifications. A general sense of fear or distrust toward the legal system may discourage individuals from appearing in court.”

Facing low associate headcount, some retailers may decide it’s just not worth it to send their store associates to court. And when they do go, they aren’t trained in how to testify. Sgt. Hix agrees, “They [retailers] don’t have an unlimited budget like law enforcement does for that overtime. So, they have to pay their person, their witness, to go to court. They have to pay them to go to the pretrial interview, things like that. And they don’t really have programs established for that.” He added, “Then, when you send a loss prevention person in there that’s not trained in public information release, they could say something against the company.” And many retailers don’t want to take that chance.

The court issues weren’t all the fault of no-show witnesses. The felony threshold

“There is now an increase in collaboration between the retail agency, the investigating agency, and the DA's office. For example, NMORCA holds monthly meetings where the retailers and investigators can meet with a representative from the DA's office to problem solve.”

DA Sam Bergman

in New Mexico is $500 for retail theft. Much lower than some other states, but up until 2023, New Mexico didn’t allow case aggregation. Said Hix, “They’re [criminals] not afraid because they know it’s just a misdemeanor summons. So even if we stop them, they know they’ll only go to jail for over $500 worth of property. And misdemeanor larcenies don’t always get reported, and they aren’t a priority for some law enforcement.”

Cop or Lawyer?

What about when the cases did make it to court and a witness showed up? In the case of New Mexico, police officers represented the state in criminal court. Most jurisdictions require the DA or state attorney to prosecute and take the onus off the officer, who typically needs to show up with a complete case report ready to testify.

Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bergman said, “Before I took office in 2023, officers who arrested suspects were required to prosecute cases. Through no fault of the officers (because they’re not attorneys), there was a dismal conviction rate of 15 percent. We changed that. Now our attorneys prosecute shoplifting cases, and officers are out of the courtroom and back on the streets fighting crime. Since 2023, the DA’s office has entered on 1,256 misdemeanor shoplifting cases that would have otherwise been prosecuted by police officers.”

Glimmers of Hope

“Everyone deserves the right to feel safe when they go into a store, right? Too often, that wasn’t the case in Albuquerque. Our team has been working closely with law enforcement and

DA Sam Bergman

retailers to change that,” said DA Bergman. Increased partnerships, tougher penalties, and focused enforcement activity have started to make an impact.

Partnerships: “There is now an increase in collaboration between the retail agency, the investigating agency, and the DA’s office. For example, NMORCA holds monthly meetings where the retailers and investigators can meet with a representative from the DA’s office to problem solve,” explained Bergman. “Discussions about declined and dismissed cases create opportunities for retailers and law enforcement to work to improve future investigations. In addition, retailers can collaborate and identify those offenders who are hitting multiple stores.”

We heard from multiple retailers and law enforcement that both the NMORCA and Albuquerque Retail Asset Protection Association (ARAPA) are beneficial in keeping each stakeholder informed. They act to streamline information sharing and prevent silos from forming. Founded in 2006, ARAPA has a greater focus on retail crime in the Albuquerque area.

NMORCA was founded by the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce in 2023 and also uses the online platform Auror to build cases and communicate with law enforcement across the state.

Each organization holds meetings to educate its members and continue to forge partnerships between retailers, law enforcement, and the DA’s office. Bergman is a supporter. “By having a DA representative attend ORCA meetings, retailers are kept informed about what is happening in court, and in turn, the DA’s office forms contacts with both law enforcement and retailers. That increases evidence collection as well as witness participation. All this makes it better for businesses and their customers, too!”

Anytime progress and steps forward are made, it’s essential to keep the

A Perfect Storm in the Desert

momentum going, especially with continued turnover for police and retail LP. When asked about this, Ken Cox, a retired retail asset protection leader and a founding member of ARAPA with extensive experience in the Albuquerque area, stated, “If the previous sergeant loved OCU [organized crime units] or loved going after ORC, then a new guy comes on and doesn’t get it, or understand it, he’s going to focus on other stuff—car thefts or burglaries.” Similarly, if a new LP manager or associate starts at a retailer, they aren’t going to have the connections necessary to really make an impact out of the gate. That’s why the ORCAs are so important—they facilitate continuity through conversation.

in manpower. An example can be found at the Coronado Mall owned by Brookfield Properties. Their spokesperson provided this statement:

Stiffer Penalties: Penalties for shoplifting were increased in 2023. According to the Bernalillo County website, “Now, prosecutors can combine and consolidate cases that occur within ninety days of each other. In the past, people who had been arrested and released from custody over and over to shoplift again, may now be charged with a felony.” Case aggregation and

Cox gary yim/ ShutterStock.com

building are key components in fighting ORC. Law enforcement and retailers can pull together resources and aggregate multiple misdemeanor cases for an offender in New Mexico under the $500 threshold to help hold them accountable with felony charges.

Technology: Working smarter and tapping into technology to solve problems may help fill some of the gaps

“Coronado Center has experienced a decrease in crime due to Brookfield Properties’ ongoing investment in security systems and technology. The mall partnered with Flock Safety, a manufacturer and operator of security hardware and software, to add automated license plate readers around parking. These readers help detect and identify plates that have been involved in crime such as car theft, organized retail crime, or a violent crime. The security team works with local officials such as the Sheriff’s Office and the New Mexico Department of Justice to utilize these technologies.”

This technology helps retailers and police connect the dots. Flock Safety has offered local law enforcement access to the technology at no charge.

Another example from Ken Cox regarding technology is the APD’s Problem Response Teams (PRTs) and their use of the Zello app to expedite responses to retail crime incidents. According to Cox, “instead of having to call the nonemergency number and either be put on hold and never picked up, or units are too busy... The Zello app made it instant like, ‘Hey, this is Ken. I’m at Ross. I’m at

mental health professionals out on 311 calls instead of police, freeing up officers to stay on the streets and address crime. This approach also connects residents who may be experiencing mental distress with an agency trained to handle those situations at the outset, instead of possibly risking arrest and clogging the courts.

Both APD and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office have been busy, with targeted tactical operations focused on retail crime and drug activity. In January of this year, APD’s ORC unit, Field Service Northwest, and Northwest PRT announced the results of an operation that cleared fifty warrants and produced thirty-three felony shoplifting charges. At the end of 2024, APD was able to announce some modest improvements in crimes against property, with a 2 percent reduction from 2023.

The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office has been productive with Operation Route 66. A collaboration between the DA’s office, the New Mexico State Police, New Mexico Corrections, and APD, the operation focused on the area around Route 66, known as Central Avenue or the International District, which had become a magnet for crime. Focused on all types of crime, including retail crime, many of the 400 arrests made so far were of

“Now, prosecutors can combine and consolidate cases that occur within ninety days of each other. In the past, people who had been arrested and released from custody over and over to shoplift again, may now be charged with a felony.”

Bernalillo County

Lowe’s or wherever, and I’ve got one here. Anybody in the area?’ And if they’re not busy, ‘Yep, I’m right around the corner. I’ll be right there.’”

Policing: Within the Albuquerque PD, Chief Medina and his team have been making changes beyond recruitment. Following a trend happening in other departments around the country, the Safety Department now sends trained

known criminals. According to Sgt. Hix, it’s putting pressure on the local bad guys to move or change their operations. “A guy I interviewed last week told me that they ‘don’t know who to buy drugs from anymore because you arrested everybody. You flipped our world upside down.’”

An interesting sidenote, on March 31, 2025, Chief Medina sent an emergency request for help from the New Mexico

Ken

“Before I took office in 2023, officers who arrested suspects were required to prosecute cases. Through no fault of the officers (because they’re not attorneys), there was a dismal conviction rate of 15 percent.”

DA Sam Bergman

National Guard to Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham. In the letter, he outlined the department’s need for National Guard forces, citing the high levels of drug activity and crime along the Central Avenue Corridor. He specifically asked for their help with securing crime scenes, medical and humanitarian assistance with the homeless population, and prisoner transport. According to the letter, “while significant improvements have been made in combating crime in Albuquerque, the situation in our community continues to be an emergency and requires additional resources. It is true that Albuquerque has seen a reduction in crime in certain categories, but the fentanyl crisis and crime crisis remain prevalent and are of such magnitude that they require resources from the state.”

It’s clear that Albuquerque PD is still struggling to meet staffing needs. Time will tell how the public receives the National Guard in their community. The hope is that APD will be freed up even further to fight crime.

What’s Next?

As with most societal issues, the retail crime problem in Albuquerque is a complicated mishmash. Each piece of the puzzle affects the other. When one element of society is out of balance, all others will be affected. Too much retail crime? Businesses shutter, communities go underserved, and retail deserts are created. Fewer jobs and housing shortages lead to homelessness. Drugs lead to crime. Police corruption leads to community distrust. There are no easy answers, but taking a hard look at the crime problem in totality, accurate and open reporting on crime data, collaborating between retail and law enforcement, and working together to lift up the community are the first steps. l

Stefanie Hoover, CFI, is vice president and editor‑in‑chief at Loss Prevention Magazine. She has over twenty years’ experience in retail loss prevention and worked as a solution provider. She serves on the LPRC Board of Advisors. She can be reached at StefanieH@LossPreventionMedia.com.

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David Thompson, CFI

Thompson is the president and partner at Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates, providing investigative interview and interrogation training to a global audience. He has served as a subject-matter expert in developing curriculum and providing consultation to investigators, attorneys, and the academic community. He can be reached at dthompson@w-z.com. © 2023 Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates, Inc

Did That Really Happen? Preventing Witness Contamination in Investigative Interviews

If you witnessed a car accident and were later asked to explain what you saw, what words would you use to illustrate the scene? Think of all the different terms or phrases we could use to describe the impact. Did the cars crash? Did they collide? Or maybe they bumped into each other, or one hit the other? As we identify what word to use to describe the accident, it’s often related to things like the perceived speed or the amount of damage we observed. An investigator may even ask several witnesses to describe the event, and each provides a different term which relates to their perspective of what they observed.

What causes this? Besides our perspectives or experience with other similar events (maybe we’ve seen accidents at much higher impact in our past than the other witnesses in comparison), there are a lot of variables that may actually cause a person’s memory to be altered when they are asked to recall an event. Research shows that even the way in which an investigator asks the question could alter a person’s memory. In fact, if the investigator asked,

“how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?” versus “how fast were the cars going when they crashed?” it has been shown to alter the way in which a person remembers the event.

In this example, witnesses who were primed with the “hit” question may remember a slower speed and less damage than those who received the “crash” version. This is a primary example of how investigators may contaminate a person’s memory simply by the way we ask a question. Additionally, with both questions starting with the phrase “how fast” the investigator is already suggesting that speed was a factor in the accident. It is possible that a witness may consciously align with the investigator’s perspective in their effort to help the investigation. It is also likely that a witness may unknowingly provide inaccurate details due to the suggestive and leading questioning.

We know that most of you are not conducting traffic accident investigations, but this example of witness contamination translates across employee

Research shows that even the way in which an investigator asks the question could alter a person’s memory.

When a witness provides information, it is helpful to encourage memory retrieval and thank them for their cooperation throughout. However, investigators must be careful not to confirm a witness’s recall as accurate or consistent with other evidence.

relations issues, fraud, theft, or any other fact-gathering conversation you may find yourself in. As we illustrate some of the key reminders below, we challenge you to think of how each premise relates to your specific investigations. Organized retail crime investigators often require conversations with store personnel to explain what they observed; those details can be essential in developing a case file for prosecution. Employee relations issues like workplace violence, threats, discrimination, or other inappropriate behavior are often reliant on an investigator’s ability to obtain accounts from witnesses. If we alter a witness’s memory and then rely on those details to make further case decisions, the foundation of our investigation is built on a fallacy.

Using Open-Ended Questions

This may be the simplest of advice, but it is often the most ignored. Asking a witness about our car accident in an open-ended format allows them to choose a word with free will, versus any implicit suggestion or contamination. “Could you tell me what you observed?” does not provide the witness any subjective terminology in which they may align their story with. This also allows the witness to start the story where their memory is most readily available, versus being forced to draw out a specific detail or in any order. These intricate pieces of information can be explored with further questioning, based on the witness’s initial response. In a workplace violence situation where two employees were observed in an altercation, these same rules may apply. If the interviewer asks, “how aggressive was Dave in that argument?” there is a suggestion that Dave was aggressive, and that the conversation made it to the level of “argument.” These subjective terms may suggest something different from a witness’s perspective, resulting in a contaminated recall of events. In these investigations, especially relying on the credibility of witness statements, this could mean the difference between a termination of an employee or not.

Another common occurrence in the loss prevention field is the fact-gathering interviews that take place with store personnel after an organized retail crime incident. If an investigator learns of a violent shoplifting event or organized crime interaction at a location, they will most likely ask store personnel about what they observed. An open-ended question like, “could you tell me about the experience yesterday in the store?” will yield more information with less contamination. However, in these cases it is possible that the investigator already has some information about the presumed suspects. This known information can be dangerous when attempting to question witnesses as it may result in leaked details. A common error could be initially asking the store personnel something like “was it a group of big guys wearing jackets?” or “did this group all have airpods in when they walked in the store?” Although this may be crucial information,

it would be more reliable if a witness can provide those details unprompted.

Avoid Confirmatory Feedback

When a witness provides information, it is helpful to encourage memory retrieval and thank them for their cooperation throughout. However, investigators must be careful not to confirm a witness’s recall as accurate or consistent with other evidence. When an investigator makes a confirmatory statement, such as “that makes sense, we thought it was an older male with glasses” they are increasing the confidence of the witness’s memory. This increased confidence is not a result of the witness’s actual recollection but rather the confirmation by the interviewer that they are “on the right track.”

If we think about this concept from an eyewitness perspective, we can see how easily it is for investigators to contaminate a person’s memory through confirmation. Using our organized retail crime example, an investigator may have several pictures of known shoplifters involved in an ORC ring that they show to a store associate. The witness may be unsure of the exact match, but because they want to help the investigator, they point at a picture of an individual that they believe looks like the person who committed the theft in their store. The investigator’s reaction to this identification can be dangerously impactful, as a simple statement like “I figured it was him” or “that’s what we thought” will provide confirmation to the witness they got it right. If this investigation moves forward and law enforcement interviews the store associate to obtain an affidavit of what they observed, we are now dealing with a contaminated memory. The store personnel will likely identify with the same picture they chose earlier, but this may be a result of the confirmation they got it right versus a reliance on what they actually saw.

Post-Event Discussion

Reflecting back to our car accident example, it’s possible that multiple witnesses observed this incident from the sidewalk or their own vehicles.

Naturally, as witnesses wait for first responders to arrive, there is going to be discussion between them. One witness might share how they couldn’t believe how fast one of the vehicles was traveling, and another may recall how one of the vehicles cut them off earlier. Another witness might interject themselves stating that they saw the light was red for at least five seconds before one of the vehicles entered the intersection. These post-event interactions can easily contaminate a witness’s memory, altering their version of events to align with their peers. It may also serve as confirmation of their own (potentially inaccurate) memory. This same phenomenon happens to all of us when meeting with a group of friends or family members who are recalling some event from years ago. As the story gets retold, and multiple people add their contributions, the resulting memory may be far from the truth—yet consistent among the involved parties.

In an ideal setting, investigators should attempt to isolate witnesses and interview them in close proximity to when the incident occurs to prevent post-incident discussions. These types of situations could be prevalent in the loss prevention industry anytime multiple witnesses are interviewed about an event. This can prove difficult for investigators when assessing credibility, as these statements may be very consistent with each

other—but not as a result of accurate recall, rather a product of post- event discussion. Investigators should be aware of this error and include this within their interview process, asking witnesses if they have talked to anyone or have seen any other coverage of the incident prior to the conversation.

There are a variety of other variables that may contaminate or alter a person’s memory. Investigators should be aware of things like dispositional risk factors, exposure to trauma, or the emotional state of the individual at the time of the event (and the time of recall). Exposure to media coverage or other publicly available information may contaminate memory. Interview methods, such as the Cognitive Interview, have been shown to increase memory recall while mitigating the risk for contamination. This is generally done through effective open-ended questioning, the use of silence, and allowing the interviewee to guide the conversation.

For more information on this topic in the field of memory research, check out the work of Elizabeth Loftus, PhD and John Palmer, PhD starting with their foundational paper that provided the context and data in the “car crash study.”

“Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction: An Example of the Interaction between Language and Memory.” Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 13.5 (1974): 585-89.

GERS:

CAN’T LIVE WITH ‘EM, CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT ‘EM

By Courtney Wolfe

Teen and tween shoppers have long been an essential source of revenue for retailers. However, this age group is also known to be... complicated. They’re going through an onslaught of overwhelming physical, emotional, and cognitive changes, and have an innate need to prove their independence. Pair this with a still-developing frontal lobe, and you essentially have a ticking time bomb of hormones and peer pressure on your hands.

thefts and property damage are the biggest concerns... This is not new, but the tactics teens are using to create the disruptions are evolving. Certainly, social media has played a large role in organizing and recruiting participants.”

Not So Innocent

While some might dismiss these disruptive instances as “just kids being kids,” the consequences of allowing this type of behavior are far-reaching.

This has become even more clear as of late, with ‘teen takeovers’ disrupting malls, shopping centers, and even standalone retail locations across the country. Last September, fifty masked teens rushed into a 7-Eleven in Los

“Chaotic flash mobs put customers at risk and retailer profitability is absolutely impacted by flash mob thefts and business disruptions,” Knetter said.

“Employees will find safer places to work and leave retailers with a shortage of manpower to assist customers. These

Despite teen takeovers and other mass disruptive events, retailers must balance discipline with making this treasured demographic feel comfortable in stores.

Angeles and ransacked the convenience store before speeding off on bicycles. In March of this year, several hundred teens came to the Meadows Mall in Las Vegas after a ‘takeover’ was encouraged on social media, and while police said they were mostly able to prevent anything too disastrous, multiple fights did break out. In January, a group of teenagers actually drove two motorcycles high speed through a food court in the Town Center Mall in Valencia, California. Police believe that one of the riders, a 14-year-old boy, was killed that same evening following a head-on collision just two miles from the shopping center. And the stories go on and on.

“This is an issue that retailers have been dealing with for a long time,” said Wisconsin Organized Retail Crime Association President Telly Knetter, LPC. “Flash mob-style events that disrupt business and often result in large

events can contribute to temporary and permanent closures for retailers, especially in under-served areas of cities.”

Peter Chie, CFI, operating vice president of asset protection and risk management for Bloomingdale’s, said his stores have seen several disruptive incidents recently. One such instance, which had just happened a couple days before we spoke in April, saw juveniles entering the furniture floor of the store and marking walls with racist graffiti.

“There is an inconsistency with both adoption and/or enforcement of an unaccompanied minor policy with certain properties that has had a potentially detrimental impact on tenants within the mall environment,” Chie said. “There’s not only that, but we’ve had issues with pranks. The YouTubers come in and they’re either skateboarding or doing something

“Flash mob-style events that disrupt business and often result in large thefts and property damage are the biggest concerns... This is not new, but the tactics teens are using to create the disruptions are evolving. Certainly social media has played a large role in organizing and recruiting participants.”

—Telly Knetter, LPC

physical in a store and causing a disruption. Those kinds of things happen pretty frequently out in California for us. We’ve been able to escort them out for trespassing in the building, but it’s still a business disruption.”

Joe Coll, former vice president of asset protection at Macy’s, said his stores have also seen quite a bit of disruption from unaccompanied minors, also mostly in the furniture department.

“There are incidents where large groups of unaccompanied teens do escalate behavior that does lead to harassment and criminal acts that affect customers,” Coll explained. “The larger the groups get, the more peer pressure to show off or perform for peers. If the

Knetter agrees that social media encourages teens to act more outrageously in the hopes of gaining online attention, or ‘going viral.’

“TikTok certainly propels some of this [disruption],” he said. “I don’t think the platform itself encourages it, but many of the events that happen are recorded and the videos are posted for likes and attention.”

Since malls have always been a go-to gathering place for teens, disruptive behavior is not new. But it is now less organic—amplified and intensified for social media, rather than kids goofing off for their own entertainment.

“[The disruption] is getting worse,” Chie said. “It’s always been there in some

loitering issue is not addressed, it does cause an escalation in bad behavior and, at the very least, an unpleasant environment for customers.”

Social Media’s Impact

Social media has changed the world as we know it, and today’s teens are likely impacted more than anyone. They are fluent technologists who have always lived with access to millions in the palm of their hands, and they know best how to wield that power—for good and bad.

“Social media has increased the size and speed at which a group can grow in store locations,” Coll said. “One side effect is that it increases the performative nature of the groups when a disruption does occur. They are ramping up bad behavior if they are on video or live streaming for social media attention.”

sort of way throughout the years, but I think it’s more prevalent today because of social media; everybody wants to be popular and get these clips, and they do that. Some people just want the attention. And unfortunately, with both parents working most of the time and kids getting their driver’s license at 16-yearsold, they’re out there in the mall. That’s the place where you used to hang out with your friends. Now they go there to cause mischief.”

What Are Retailers to Do?

In many ways, retailers can react to disruptive behavior from unaccompanied minors in the same way they would react to any other sort of disruptive behavior.

“The primary concern will always be the safety of employees and customers,” Knetter said. “Most retailer policies will

provide guidance to be a good witness and not try to physically stop bad actors.”

Typical de-escalation techniques and good customer service are always a good strategy.

“The first step is always customer service in any interaction where disruption is happening,” Coll explained. “Store colleagues and executives are always the first contact and give the same level of service and interaction we would provide to any other customer. Most interactions go smoothly and are positive in nature when dealing with teen groups.”

Scott McBride, chief global asset protection officer for American Eagle Outfitters, emphasized the importance of treating teen customers the same way you would treat adults.

“We prepare employees for any occurrence of disruptive activity, and we do that through our normal de-escalation training,” McBride said. “That along with the relationship building and continued communication with landlords and the mall security departments are important; there’s no one solution or magic pill. It’s always a dynamic between all of the players—the landlord or mall owner/operator along with their security team, and the retailers themselves not allowing things to escalate, not allowing incidents to become bigger problems. You have to nip it in the bud a little bit to try and set the tone for the true shoppers.”

Department store retailers might consider specific policies for their furniture departments, Coll advised.

“We have a no loitering policy in the furniture department of our downtown locations as well as internal memos that guide our teams for furniture-related

business disruptions,” he said. “This allows for police to be involved when a group known to repeatedly loiter or cause disruptions in the store is observed. Police will respond and obtain contact information, and the store will issue a trespass notice. If the same individuals are seen violating the trespass notice in the future, the store team with authorization is able to partner with police to arrest recidivists for trespassing.”

Dealing with the aftermath of disruptive incidents quickly and efficiently is also key.

“If they see they can do something and repeat that offense over and over again and nobody’s going to do anything about it and there are no repercussions, that gives them an open forum to do whatever they want to do,” Chie said. “We try to prevent that by reacting quickly. We take the graffiti down and immediately paint over it. So if they come back, they notice that everything they did is gone already, and hopefully that will send a message. But more importantly, we really try to get them identified through security and law enforcement to make sure they’re going to be penalized for what they did.”

Unaccompanied minor policies are another possible solution, though they are controversial. Retailers must walk the tricky tightrope of preventing disruptive behavior while making customers feel comfortable—and teen shoppers can be a large demographic, and a profitable one.

“We do not want to stop the teens that are not involved in disruptive behaviors from coming in and having a good guest experience and making a purchase they are going to be happy with,” McBride said. “All we need to do is address the behaviors that are inappropriate, and you can say that regardless of the age of the person,

“The larger the groups get, the more peer pressure to show off or perform for peers. If the loitering issue is not addressed, it does cause an escalation in bad behavior and, at the very least, an unpleasant environment for customers.”

—Joe Coll

“If they see they can do something and repeat that offense over and over again and nobody’s going to do anything about it and there are no repercussions, that gives them an open forum to do whatever they want to do. We try to prevent that by reacting quickly.”

—Peter Chie, CFI

it’s behavior based. When I look at the problem, I don’t see it as kids have got to go—it’s not about that. It’s that when you come into a store you should have a certain level of decorum and social responsibility for being in a space. So we ask that of our associates, we ask that of our customers, and we have this mutual contract that we’re going to treat each other with respect. When you violate that by raising your voice, making accusations, using profanity, or displaying threatening behavior, that social contract is broken and now you’re going to be held accountable for it.”

So while unaccompanied minor policies can seem like an easy fix, not everyone is on board.

“I think the biggest pushback to some of these policies is the fact that there are good kids out there, and if you ban all of these unaccompanied minors, what about those that actually want to go shop?” Chie added. “It’s a Catch 22.”

Strong partnerships with law enforcement and other community groups might be retailers’ strongest form of defense against disruption.

“Partnering with police departments’ school resource officers and community liaison officers is always a good place to start,” Knetter said.

“Partnerships with retail partners, local officials, DA’s offices, police, and local retail advocacy groups can be a key component of bringing attention and policy change to your area,” Coll added. “It is not an issue that can be resolved on your own—the community has to be galvanized to tackle an issue that affects us as a whole.”

Peter Chie said that his team makes sure to have frequent touch bases with mall security and law enforcement so that everyone is on the same page when it comes to dealing with disruption. This way, when an incident does happen, everyone knows how they should react.

“I think it’s kind of like an ecosystem where you have to drive collaboration and partnership,” Chie explained. “I’ve been an advocate for making sure there’s a trifecta partnership between law enforcement, mall security, and the retailer. Having a strong partnership between those entities is going to be the key in being aligned and able to handle these types of situations. So if you don’t have that right now, you need to, because that’s probably the most important thing. We have to work collectively together to stop the same madness from going on because these people are not only impacting a store—they’re impacting the mall environment, which impacts ultimately the traffic in the mall, which is going to affect everybody. Nobody wants that perception to be a negative one.” l

Courtney Wolfe is LPM’s managing editor focusing on creating and curating editorial content for the magazine’s print publication and website. Prior to LPM, she was managing editor for SDM Magazine, a trade publication for security systems integrators. She received her bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism from Columbia College Chicago. She can be reached at CourtneyW@ LossPreventionMedia.com.

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RILA Researches the Underreporting of

By Jacque Brittain, LPC

Is retail theft up, or is it down? Is the problem as rampant as many retailers claim it to be, or are the claims of devastating losses, organized retail crime, violent confrontations, and their impact on store safety and retail profits over-exaggerated in an attempt to cover poor performance and corporate mismanagement?

Perhaps more to the point, why is there such a tremendous gap between these conflicting points of view? Why do we have those with such passionate perspectives that can’t seem to find common ground? Why can’t we look at the statistics and reach a collective conclusion about what’s happening with retail crime?

As is the case with so many things, the real answers are hidden in plain view. While one may argue that numbers don’t lie, they don’t always tell the whole truth. What may appear to be accurate on the surface may not get to the heart of the matter unless we are willing to dig a little deeper.

A Global Gamechanger

No one needs to be reminded about how the last handful of years have altered the way we live, work, learn, and interact with one another. In many ways our response has been remarkable as we’ve navigated through the fear, pain, and isolation of a global crisis. In other ways we are still catching up, measuring the impact, and looking for answers to questions we haven’t even considered at this point.

From a retail perspective, many questions focus on the impact these events have had on retail crime. For many different reasons, a rise in retail crime was experienced and conveyed by the retail community. That was until specific reports were released, highlighted by a 2023 study from the Council of Criminal Justice (CCJ), which suggested that shoplifting trends and reported activity were down in many cities across the country.

The analysis added a different context to previous efforts measuring shoplifting trends, using data from local law enforcement agencies and the US Justice Department’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Used by law enforcement agencies across the US to collect and report data on crimes, NIBRS captures detailed information on each reported crime incident as a standardized way to measure what’s going on with criminal activity across the country. While the report’s authors acknowledged that their conclusions only reflected reported incidents that “almost certainly undercount total shoplifting,” they implied that shoplifting incidents were occurring at “below pre-pandemic levels.”

Naturally, this led to a firestorm across the retail community as critics and certain media outlets immediately seized on the reported data and began scrutinizing retail leadership based on the conflicting information. “Why are losses mounting and profits declining if retail crime is down? Are retailers exaggerating the problem to cover other issues?”

Getting to the Truth

“When the CCJ issued their report that claimed that shoplifting was down in major cities across the country, we knew that not to be true,” said Lisa LaBruno, executive director of the RILA Communities Foundation. “So, we started asking ourselves, how did this mixed messaging happen? CCJ is saying that retail theft is down, yet retailers are claiming theft is rising in many major cities across the US. We wanted to get to the bottom of it.”

As part of her work with the RILA-NDAA Vibrant Communities Initiative, Associate Professor Julie Hibdon with Southern Illinois University was asked to research

the discrepancy, along with the trends that resulted from this mixed messaging. Once they began taking a closer look, the answer quickly stood out—the research conducted by the CCJ, along with similar reports, relies exclusively on events reported to law enforcement. Unfortunately, if reporting practices for theft events change for any reason, data from law enforcement agencies will not provide an accurate representation of the problem.

“I think the story behind what’s happening with retail theft events is more complicated than it might appear on the surface,” explains Professor Hibdon. “There are a lot of factors that can directly and indirectly influence what, how, and to what extent these crimes are being reported.”

“For example, we need to consider the changes we have seen in resources and employee turnover that are affecting all industries—including both retail and law enforcement—and how this can impact crime reporting,” she continues. “There have been significant staffing drops in policing in many departments, which have limited their operating capacities. These staffing issues, coupled with higher rates of violence in 2020-2021 and speculated reductions in proactive police action, likely play a role in reporting.”

Policy and legal revisions in many states are also contributing factors. This includes bail reform, fluctuating felony thresholds, shifts in offending behaviors such as organized retail crime, e-fencing, and even the adoption of medical masks by offenders to elude identification.

“All of these factors—and possibly more can have a direct and immediate impact on how and when theft and related criminal activity is reported,” claims Hibdon.

Mixed Messages Distort Reporting Realities

While this reporting problem alone can result in a distorted view of crime data, this is not the only factor influencing the essential aspects of crime reporting.

Some law enforcement agencies tell retailers not to report every criminal event, implying that the department doesn’t have the necessary time or resources to respond. Many departments are overworked, under- budgeted, and under-resourced,

making it extremely difficult to meet the many demands of a changing society. In some jurisdictions, they may even take it a step further, issuing ordinance violations to retailers for reporting “too much” crime. Countless accounts support the dilemma faced by police in these circumstances, with departments across the country facing the consequences of being understaffed in the face of rising crime. In many situations, departments are having trouble finding and training new police recruits, with some markets facing hundreds of vacancies. Both current officers and potential recruits are demoralized by decisions to eliminate specialized units such as SWAT and K-9 teams, requirements to live in the markets where they work, local officials cutting police budgets, and even the general perception of police that the current climate has left on the community. All of this leads to the fine men and women of our police departments facing an uphill battle on many different fronts.

“When the CCJ issued their report that claimed that shoplifting was down in major cities across the country, we knew that not to be true. So, we started asking ourselves, how did this mixed messaging happen? CCJ is saying that retail theft is down, yet retailers are claiming theft is rising in many major cities across the US. We wanted to get to the bottom of it.” Lisa LaBruno

With rising expectations and fewer boots on the ground to meet those needs, something has to give. Decisions are made based on what priorities should carry the most weight, often leaving the retail community behind the eight ball. Despite crime occurring in some stores, retailers are being punished if they report “too many” incidents to police, the

Lisa LaBruno

Julie Hibdon

sentiment being that the retailers need to do a better job of ensuring that the crimes don’t happen in the first place. Ultimately, the victim is being blamed, with retailers being told that they aren’t taking enough steps to prevent theft in their stores.

“I think the story behind what’s happening with retail theft events is more complicated than it might appear on the surface. There are a lot of factors that can directly and indirectly influence what, how, and to what extent these crimes are being reported.”

Professor Julie Hibdon

Retailers are also less motivated to report incidents when reporting is too cumbersome. Many law enforcement agencies have online reporting tools to allow crime victims to report “non-urgent” criminal activity, which they consider most incidents of shoplifting. Anecdotally, retailers say they would report more theft if it were less burdensome and did not risk damage to their relationships with local law enforcement. Although online reporting could lead to more complete and accurate reporting by retailers, these tools are often underutilized for a variety of reasons.

Ultimately, this underreporting of retail theft perpetuates a false narrative that retail crime is down.

“Decisions about resource allocation are being made based on crime data,” LaBruno reminds us. “So, when a police department says, ‘we’re drowning—I need ten more cops,’ the local government says, ‘according to the stats, your crime is down, including retail theft.’ That’s a big part of why it matters—but it also matters so that we have accurate data. That should be our objective.”

The Survey: Numbers Tell the Story

“What we decided to do was take steps to determine what this underreporting might look like,” says Professor Hibdon. “And so, with the help of RILA and its Asset Protection Leaders Council (APLC), we sent a survey to member companies to compare their recorded external theft activity with what they documented as reported to law enforcement from 2019 through 2023.”

The survey was sent to both large retailers and smaller retailers, representing various retail formats, with questions focused on those numbers as well as dollar losses, threats to employees, injuries to employees, and other related topics for that five-year period.

The study had two primary objectives:

l To understand how often external theft events are reported to law enforcement.

l To examine trends in the proportion of external theft events that are recorded by retailers and then reported to law enforcement.

Findings reveal a notable disparity between external thefts documented within the retail organizations as compared to those documented as reported to law enforcement, underscoring the prevalence of underreporting within the retail sector.

Overall, when assessing the trends of external theft events recorded in internal systems compared to what is reported to law enforcement, the findings indicate a drastic increase in external theft, with the biggest increase occurring between 2021 and 2022.

Next, the reporting rate of external theft events was examined. The reporting rate is simply the number of external theft events reported to law enforcement divided by the number of external theft events recorded in retailer case management systems.

In 2019, the reporting rate was approximately 20 percent. But by 2023, the reporting rate for retailers responding to the survey had been cut to just 10.9 percent. Essentially, this reporting rate indicates very few retail theft events are reported to law

enforcement, and over the past five years, despite increases in external theft events recorded in stores, the rate that is being reported has essentially declined to about half of what was reported in 2019, prior to the pandemic.

Depending on the type of retailer, the trends in recorded and reported external theft vary considerably. Over the past five years, reporting rates have declined for mass/big box and grocery retailers. Specialty retailers, on the other hand, show increases in their reporting rates to law enforcement. When considering the average number of recorded events by retailer type, there are notable increases in events for mass/big box retailers and grocers, while the average for specialty retailers remained relatively constant. This indicates that the improved reporting rate for specialty retailers is likely due to increased reporting and not necessarily a declining number of events occurring in stores.

Finally, the survey also asked participating retailers about the losses associated

with external theft events, including the documented financial loss from external theft and the company’s net units lost from external theft events. On average, retailers reported a 32 percent increase in dollar loss from 2019 to 2023. Additionally, the average net unit losses across retailers increased every year, more than doubling between 2019 and 2023.

In summary, theft incidents are up dramatically in the stores surveyed, while those incidents reported to law enforcement have been cut in half between 2019 and 2023. Dollar losses are a third higher, and the amount of merchandise lost has doubled.

“The primary conclusions indicate that while the law enforcement data is showing reductions in retail theft, the retailer data is showing the opposite. It’s reflecting substantial increases. It’s not that retail theft is going down—the retailer sentiment is that this is a growing problem and has exploded post pandemic. All of this is supported by the data we collected and the interviews held with these retailers.”

Professor Julie Hibdon

“The primary conclusions indicate that while the law enforcement data is showing reductions in retail theft, the retailer data is showing the opposite,” shares Hibdon. “It’s reflecting substantial increases. It’s not that retail theft is going down—the retailer sentiment is that this is a growing problem and has exploded postpandemic. All of this is supported by the data we collected and the interviews held with these retailers.

“Furthermore, there’s a lot of shared sentiment from all involved that there is a clear need for more accurate reporting,” she continues. “All of the retailer data we gathered is supporting the things that retailers have been saying regarding the loss issues and ultimately the increase in retail theft. Unfortunately, due to the issues with underreporting, this is simply not being communicated to the extent that it should.”

Responsible Reporting

There are many factors that contribute to the current quandary of underreporting of retail theft. But if the narrative continues to focus on finger-pointing over the need to find productive solutions, very little will get accomplished. As a community and as a profession, we need to explore viable ways to communicate information in a way that is accurate, useful, constructive, and practical. Here are several recommendations collected from our reporting that deserve the industry’s attention:

l The need for more accurate and timely reporting: The importance of accurate and timely reporting was acknowledged by both retailers and law enforcement. Understanding what information to report, how it should be reported, when it should be reported, and the ability to share information in a way that tells the story is always an area of opportunity and something that needs to be underscored across the retail and law enforcement communities.

l The need for clear and consistent reporting guidelines: Compliance parameters for incident reporting that provide a true reflection of the nature of the criminal conduct occurring should be established and followed. Understating criminal incidents to meet constricted criteria for what should be considered a “reported crime” is counterproductive to the needs of the community. Reporting must reflect the true nature of the problem so that decision makers at every level can react accordingly.

l The need for collaborative communication: One of the factors leading to underreporting stems from retailers being concerned about damaging critical partnerships with law enforcement. Retailers and law

enforcement agencies must collaborate effectively to address this issue, ensuring that reporting is accurate and retailers are not discouraged from reporting theft incidents.

l The continued development of online reporting tools: Resources are limited for both law enforcement and retailers. Solutions such as online reporting for non-urgent crimes could help collect more accurate theft data without creating a need for an immediate response from law enforcement. Local jurisdictions may need to rethink some of the restrictions they have in place regarding their online reporting tools that prevent retailers from reporting theft incidents. The primary goal needs to shift to collecting accurate data that can then be relied upon by decision makers. The development and increased use of online reporting tools may address some of the underreporting from retailers. However, retailers need adequate education on how to use these tools and the importance of completing these reports for this to be most effective.

l The need for greater collaboration within the solution provider community: Reporting may largely involve a resource challenge, but it also presents a technology opportunity. Retailers need the solution provider community to work together to tackle our biggest challenges. Imagine the progress that could be made if case management systems worked together and had some sort of integration with law enforcement agencies. There’s room for vendor partners to innovate and help address the broader industry challenges we have with reported theft incidents.

l A clear perspective on case consolidation: To tell the full story, a common practice with investigations involving organized retail crime is to present the complete package rather than reporting theft events individually when they are associated with a larger case. In these events, dozens of incidents can be consolidated into a single report, which can skew the reported numbers provided to law enforcement. This pattern needs to be recognized and accounted for in data reporting on retail theft.

Putting It All Together

When it comes to the reporting of retail theft, the story remains layered—but those layers can’t be used to obscure the true message. There are a multitude of reasons why retail theft is difficult to quantify. Understandably, law enforcement agencies and politicians may be uncomfortable with seeing crime statistics go up with additional reporting—but hiding behind incomplete information is misleading, counterproductive, and a disservice to our communities.

Getting to more accurate retail theft reporting requires education at the local, state, and national level, and it is fundamentally necessary to interpret what’s really going on and improve outcomes. Partnerships with organizations such as RILA and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) can help facilitate these conversations. Understanding why more accurate crime reporting is needed will also need to be impressed upon politicians, the media, and the public at large. But it still requires a shared effort from all involved to put us on a better course and find the solutions we need and deserve.

“Decisions about resource allocation are being made based on crime data. So, when a police department says, ‘we’re drowning—I need ten more cops,’ the local government says, ‘according to the stats, your crime is down, including retail theft.’

That’s a big part of why it matters—but it also matters so that we have accurate data. That should be our objective.”

Lisa LaBruno

Recoiling from uncomfortable facts rarely leads to better outcomes, and for retailers, law enforcement, solution

providers, and communities to better address retail crime, more accurate reporting is necessary. The sole reliance on police data to understand trends in retail theft is currently telling an incomplete and misleading story. Ensuring we have the information we need must be the first step if we want to make intelligent and meaningful decisions to keep our stores and communities safe and secure.

If you are interested in downloading the full report, scan the QR code. l

Prior to joining the magazine,

was director of learning design and certification for Learn It Solutions, where he helped coordinate and write the online coursework for the Loss Prevention Foundation’s LPC and LPQ certifications. Earlier in his career, Brittain was vice president of operations for one of the largest executive recruiting firms in the LP industry. He can be reached at JacB@LossPreventionMedia.com.

With a full-shift battery, pre-record buffer, customizable display and AI-ready chipset, the R1 is the small format camera with next-level features to enhance retail safety.

the R1

Jacque Brittain, LPC, is the editorial director for LP Magazine

he

Jacinto, works for IKEA US as the US safety and security manager. He has been working in the retail loss prevention industry since 1991 and has been at IKEA for almost twenty-five years. Prior to IKEA, he worked in loss prevention for both Neiman Marcus and Macy’s. Before that, he worked in sales and support positions at other small retailers for several years.

The Evolution of the US Retail Theft Crisis

Whether you’re a retailer or a consumer (or both), you’re experiencing the direct and indirect effects of increased theft and violence—and you’re also paying for the increased costs as a result.

Make no mistake, I’m not a criminologist and I’m not a sociologist. And some of what I’ll cover here certainly crosses over into those disciplines. But I am a retail safety and security professional. I’d like to talk about the evolution of what’s happened and what’s happening in the retail industry from my perspective.

What Is happening? And Is it Just Retail?

The National Retail Federation (NRF) published an annual report in the past based on a survey of its retail members that outlines various data related to theft, fraud, and inventory shortage. On average, the participating retailers reported an annual inventory shortage of 1.6 percent (percent of sales).

There is not one single factor to blame; it’s been a bit of a slow-brewing, perfect storm of sorts that has created a ripe environment for thieves (professional and amateur) to take advantage of the situation in many, but not all, cities and states.

That’s aligned with what we’ve estimated for decades—what I call the 60/40 rule—that about 60 percent of losses are due to process failures and internal theft, and about 40 percent of losses are due to external theft. There is not one single factor to blame; it’s been a bit of a slow-brewing, perfect storm of sorts that has created a ripe environment for thieves (professional and amateur) to take advantage of the situation in many, but not all, cities and states.

Theft is not new—it’s ever present. We could go back even further, but let’s look at the last ten years or so. Some of these topics I’m about to cover are intertwined on the timeline and intertwined with each other and are not necessarily in any chronological order.

1. Change in theft and bail laws: Slowly, state laws on theft started to change to reduce the dollar amounts, reduce the severity of crime and punishment, reduce or eliminate bail amounts, or a combination of all. This could be attributed to many factors, including overcrowding of jails and prisons Example: My home state, California, passed CA Prop 47 in 2014. Part of that change included increasing misdemeanor theft from under $400 to

under $950. Some drug laws were also changed, reducing felonies to misdemeanors. This was a double-edged sword because drugs and theft are intertwined.

2. Many retailers stopped apprehending shoplifters: This slow change had to do with several factors, including increased risk of injury and death to loss prevention employees, and increased risk of lawsuits for false arrest or injury to the suspect. I started my loss prevention career (the career unbeknownst to me at the time), making apprehensions at Macy’s, and through those first several years, I didn’t have to think about getting killed at work. Getting in fights or being seriously injured? Sure. Someone pulling a gun? Maybe. A gun only happened once. But we’re living in different times now.

3. Law enforcement numbers dwindle: Retirement and turnover were slowly on the rise, but were accelerated by the 2020 pandemic and the George Floyd incident. This resulted in a surge of resignations and retirements in 2021, 2022, and 2023. The number of law enforcement recruits also saw a drastic decrease, and law enforcement is still trying to recover.

4. Longer response times: My third point is directly related to the fact that law enforcement can’t keep up with calls for service in many major cities, and property crimes like theft are low on the priority list.

5. Less prosecution: Connected to the change in theft laws, prosecutors, like law enforcement, had to prioritize cases. With not enough teeth in the laws and punishment for theft, prosecutors’ hands are somewhat tied. Some of that is slowly starting to change. The King County District Attorney’s Office in Washington and Yolo County DA’s Office in California (next to Sacramento) are taking strides in partnerships with retailers, local law enforcement, and the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), and are starting to prioritize the larger theft cases.

Vic Jacinto, CPP, LPC

6. Retailers reporting fewer crimes to law enforcement: Retail LP teams—many of which are practicing a hands-off approach—are not reporting all theft cases and crimes to law enforcement, which, of course, is a mistake. Paired with reduced response times and even less prosecution for cases, some retailers are either not reporting the one-off thefts, or they are waiting to aggregate information on the repeat offenders.

7. COVID-19 pandemic: The psychological effects of being bottled up and restricted from doing normal things were perhaps a factor. Job losses and financial strains, social and racial tensions, more attention to police brutality, demonstrations and looting, masks and this feeling of anonymity, thieves becoming bolder and more brazen, and smash-and-grabs (not a new phenomenon—just more popular), have all had an impact.

8. Weapons and force: I can’t speak to the exact “why” and the social economics of why more weapons have been used in thefts. Of course, there is the topic of gun laws, which I’m not here to discuss or debate. But crooks and thugs are willing to threaten and take life for property in a heartbeat. You’ve seen news stories of Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, and other cities where isolated pockets have very violent crimes, armed robberies, armed auto burglaries, and carjackings.

9. Organized retail crime: I’m not trying to minimize ORC, but it’s overused and an incorrect label some of the time. Not all thefts are ORC—many are just thugs and opportunistic groups of youths willing to gamble on not getting caught. More sophisticated? Some are. Organized in their efforts to coordinate, plan, and execute the crime? Sure. But the more sophisticated ORC operations have ties to larger, more nefarious criminal activity—fencing, money laundering, credit card and gift card fraud, drugs, weapons, sex trafficking and human trafficking, and terrorism. The root of theft and ORC is money and its pursuit. Some ORC groups are simple in that they steal to make a profit, and it goes no further than that, with no ties to larger criminal activities. ORC groups existed in the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s, and will continue to operate.

10. Online marketplaces: A vacuum created space for a virtual flea market, ripe for peddling and fencing stolen goods. So many have sprung up in the past several years—you can sell whatever you want online. It used to just be Craigslist and eBay, but we’ve now seen the emergence of Amazon, Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, and dozens more—all mostly unchecked and unregulated. A few are retail- and law enforcement-friendly and will assist in shutting down complex fencing operations or the simple one-person operation of stealing and selling power tools. Legislation (like the INFORM Act) has been introduced to help hold these online marketplaces accountable for regulating their sellers and investigating those selling stolen goods.

11. Social media: Social media is a blessing and a curse. It gives us more information at lightning

speed—news, mindless videos, social media influencers, and sites dedicated to not-so-great things. Good or bad, it’s a platform that is also used to promote crime and criminal activity—you can learn how and where to steal from, retailer apprehension policies, and which stores are easier to steal from.

12. Normalization of criminal behavior: Is there perhaps a slight normalization of theft? Could it be that the more the media and social media promote some of the crimes for sensationalism or glorification, the more copycats will arise? The fewer arrests and prosecutions, the higher the theft rates? Ride the train through Oakland and parts of the East Bay, and it’s like a war zone of abandoned and parted-out stolen vehicles—hundreds of them. There’s a lot to unpack on the issue of abandoned cars in Oakland, but it’s definitely a bit of the broken window theory at work.

A Turning of the Tide?

I see things starting to change, and here are several examples:

1. Oregon Senate Bill 340: Organized Retail Theft, aggregate theft of $5,000 or more in 180 days.

2. Washington State Initiative 2113 has retailers slightly encouraged as proponents have said the measure is needed to reduce property crime and car thefts, in particular.

3. California Prop 47 repeal/amendments through Prop 36. It’s not perfect, but it’s a start.

4. Several other states made changes to their laws in the past few years.

5. The Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act—or the INFORM Consumers Act—went into effect in June 2023.

6. NRF’s Fight Retail Crime Day and its work with lawmakers to help support the passing of the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA), which aims to increase federal enforcement of organized retail theft.

7. RILA’s partnership with the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) and their Vibrant Communities Initiative, and their National Store Walk Initiative to promote store walks with retailers and prosecutors.

Now What? What Can I Do?

As a security practitioner, stay vigilant and continue to harden targets. Conduct physical security assessments and analyze gaps. Use CPTED (Crime Prevention through Environmental Design) principles. Talk to employees. Keep the dialogue going. Share this article with them. Share this article with friends and family when the topic of theft comes up at your next gathering. When it comes to reducing theft, we must be willing to evolve our strategies, systems, and attitudes to create a safer and more secure environment for everyone.

“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” —Albert Einstein l

When it comes to reducing theft, we must be willing to evolve our strategies, systems, and attitudes to create a safer and more secure environment for everyone.

Why

Research Is Essential

By Christina Burton, PhD

How do you know what you know? Have you read it somewhere in a book or online? Did you hear it from a friend or family member? Did you witness it yourself? Did someone you respect reassure you that’s just how it works? Or perhaps it’s a mixture of all these sources?

More likely than not, you learn about the world around you via a mixture of what you experience, the type of media you consume, and the social networks you use. What about within loss prevention? How do you know “what works and what doesn’t”? Have you gone through training on how to conduct investigations? Have you searched for information on your own, or have you asked senior members of your team for advice on what to do?

All of these are ways in which we interpret the world around us and learn what is going on. Another way to learn about the world is through research, and it is very likely that research touches on all the previous ways mentioned (such as the news, friends and family, etc.) However, what makes research so different from all those other sources? Why should we value its input? To better understand why, it is important to understand what it is first.

What Is Research?

Research is a systematic way to study something to determine new facts on a particular topic. It is generally considered “empirical,” which means it is rooted in experiences rather than logical conclusions (think philosophy for the latter). In social science, we often suggest there are four main types of social research.

l Exploratory: concerned about investigating a topic without prior assumptions

l Descriptive: concerned about the frequency or characteristics of a phenomenon

l Explanatory: concerned about finding the cause and effect of something

l Evaluative or Applied: concerned about the effects and impacts of a program or intervention Research, then, tries to determine the characteristics of a phenomenon, and the “why and how” of its occurrence. No matter the type of research, all of those “things” must be measured in some way, such as through a survey, by asking questions, or witnessing it with our own sense. When we conduct research, we often will first need to make sure we can define what it is we are interested in studying (and there are often debates in research about whether those things are measured correctly. At the end of it all, though, research needs to answer

Statistics, especially those percentages or averages you may have seen in research studies, are only as good as the data that derives them.

certain questions so that we have a better understanding of what is happening. We can use an example to illustrate this point. Suppose we are curious about the relationship between drug use and crime. Do you think:

l Drug use ultimately leads to crime?

l Crime ultimately leads to drug use?

l There is a feedback loop between drug use and crime?

l There is something else that influences both drug use and crime?

l It is just a coincidence if there is drug use and crime?

Research tends to find that it’s unclear what is happening between drug use and crime. Some studies find there is a relationship where drug addicts and high-rate users of drugs tend to engage in “income-generating” crimes (like theft). Others have found the opposite—that crime preceded the onset of drug use. These are called “direct effects,” where one “effect” will lead to the other. When looking at violent crimes instead, some studies have found that drug use may influence our thoughts and feelings on violence (increasing them). That increase in violent thoughts can then increase the likelihood of violent behavior. In this way, drug

use is not directly causing violent behavior; rather, it is altering our thoughts, which then alters our behavior. This “pathway” of change is generally called an “indirect effect” in research because, in this case, drug use is indirectly influencing violent behavior through a change in our thoughts.

What if instead there is a feedback loop, where initial drug use leads to crime, and that crime leads back to further drug use? Some studies have found this exact process, especially in terms of those “income-generating” events mentioned earlier. In that case, offenders need money to feed their addiction, so they use crime to obtain money to purchase drugs. Once they need more drugs because of that addiction, the cycle repeats itself. This is known as a “reciprocal effect” in research.

However, what if there were factors that influenced both drug use and crime, but they do not interact with each other? For example, some studies have found that our peers (especially when we’re juveniles) can influence our drug use and whether we engage in delinquency. Drug use and crime, then, are independently influenced by our peer groups separate from each other. This is known as a “spurious effect,” and it is the bane of all research. You may have heard the expression “correlation is not causation”—it stems from this concern that just because we identify a relationship between two variables does not inherently mean that one causes the other. That requires additional conditions that certain research methods can accomplish. After all this, you may be wondering why we bother doing any research at all if it does not always neatly answer our questions. It is certainly a valid question, and, as a research scientist, I often have to navigate how to give a concise answer despite recognizing and knowing the challenges with all this conflicting information. However, research has many benefits to us within the loss prevention field. Below are five reasons why research is important for us to consider.

Reason 1: Research Avoids Our Natural Biases

We all make mistakes and errors in our understanding of the world. Sometimes we overgeneralize something about a group based on the limited experiences of a few people. Other times we misinterpret what we do have, or we choose the cases that match our conclusion. Sometimes we can jump to conclusions when interpreting what is happening in the world. And we could just make a mistake! We could have misheard or misread what we know, or it could be as

Why Research Is Essential

simple as misremembering information. We are all human, and it is perfectly natural to make mistakes.

To give an example of this, during one of the sessions at our 2025 IMPACT Conference, we asked members of the crowd (filled with loss prevention and threat assessment professionals) what they thought was the percentage of retail workers who felt unsafe at work. During the session, those audience members estimated it was 70 percent. However, data from the 2024 Voice of the Victim project (discussed in the next section) showed that only 27 percent of respondents felt unsafe at work.

Why this discrepancy? We could do a study on those audience members to determine “why,” but one theory could be that they are generally dealing with the harm done to their own employees in the course of their jobs. In other words, their exposure to those serious cases of harm may have skewed their view of the landscape for violence. This is just a theory, however; research could verify possible reasons for this discrepancy.

Research tries to reduce these issues through the scientific method. This is the systematic way we conduct research, with known steps and procedures that are both transparent and repeatable. Transparency is very important because it allows fellow researchers and practitioners alike to critique and improve upon the methods we use to collect and analyze data. So, don’t be afraid to criticize research in the hopes of improving it—we welcome the challenge!

Reason 2: Research Adapts to the Natural Changes of Our World

Our world is constantly changing as new innovations take hold, as social movements rise and fall, and as people change their preferences with the times. In some ways, though, people are also staying the same—people still need food and water, to connect with one another, and Tax Day within the United States is still April 15. With this in mind though, it is clear that our world is complicated, and sometimes we are just trying to distill the chaos into something meaningful and simple. Research can accommodate this need by breaking down those complicated pieces into something measurable and testable; a key component of research, after all, is defining what it is we are studying.

Additionally, research has context. Whenever we conduct a new survey, ask people for interviews, or look at the data

Research is a systematic way to study something to determine new facts on a particular topic.

collected by your organizations, that information is based on a certain place and a certain period. For example, in 2024, the Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC) in collaboration with Verkada and Harris Polling conducted a mixed-method study of retail workers across the United States to understand their feelings of potential victimization while on the job.

Surveys were conducted during the summer of 2024, at the height of the US political election season. Experiences captured in those surveys and interviews likely reflect some of those key concerns that may not be reflected by individuals surveyed today. Some of the Hispanic respondents, for instance, indicated they were concerned about how the political environment vilified them, and that the political environment was sometimes brought up in interactions with customers. However, would those same concerns be captured if the interviews or survey were conducted today?

This is why it is important to repeatedly measure and reliably measure trends over time—just as our world continues to change, we need ways to continually adapt and capture those changes. Additionally, if you need to make important decisions about any changes you need regarding your organization, having the most up-to-date data to inform that decision may mean the difference

between success and failure. Research can help with this and provide insights on the current pain points within the industry.

Reason 3: Research Expands Beyond Our Own Experience

Experience is a great resource we can use when trying to problem solve something. Often, we internalize what we’ve learned in the past and rely on it when trying to determine how to do something in the present and future. This can be incredibly helpful since we become faster and more efficient in solving our problems over time as we accumulate this internalized knowledge.

However, there are two concerns when we are solely reliant on our own experiences for all our decisions. First, our experience will be uniquely situated in a specific context. Think about what is acceptable to do today versus ten years ago; your experiences from ten years ago may have their limits in helping you navigate a changed world. This is the same concern presented in Reason 2. Second, experience can be limited to just ourselves or the few people surrounding us who may be able to help us with a particular situation. From a research perspective, we typically say this is an “N of 1” problem because any analysis we are doing or conclusions we are prescribing are only coming from one source. And it’s quite possible that someone outside of your social orbit has figured out a better and faster way to solve the problem you are concerned with, but how would you learn it if you’ve never met them?

Sometimes this can be fine for our research purposes. If we are doing a case study on something and we are just trying to figure out what something is and how it works, then observing one case can be useful. However, if we want research to advise about industry trends or provide recommendations about key considerations for an issue, we may want more data points, especially from those who have figured out those faster and better ways.

Reason 4: We Love Numbers and Stories for Our Arguments

We love to use numbers and stories to argue our point in a debate! Sometimes those numbers succinctly capture what we are trying to argue. For instance, we see headlines on the news that grab our attention, especially if there’s some statistic or percentage attached. You may have seen, for example, one of the big headlines circulating around the recent National Retail

Federation report conducted in partnership with the LPRC that found a “93 percent increase in average shoplifting incidents in 2023 versus 2019.” It is quite shocking and impactful, and we could use this information to convince others of the problems with shoplifting:

“See! It nearly doubled from pre- and post-pandemic, so we must do something to address it!”

On the opposite side of the spectrum, we may want to “humanize” our data points. We may not want to reduce people to simply numbers, especially when it deals with harrowing topics such as violence. Instead, we may want to contextualize data by people’s lived experiences, to understand how someone like us may have witnessed or felt based on those statistics. Using the Voice of the Victim project as another example, though we had collected survey data to partially inform our understanding of the state of violence among retail workers, we also wanted to make sure we captured people’s experiences. Why should these statistics matter, and under what circumstances might these numbers “make sense?” Again, think of how convincing using this data could be in an argument:

“See what happened with them? It’s clearly an issue that should be dealt with!”

While the above can be very useful, one word of caution whenever you use statistics or stories for your arguments: Statistics, especially those percentages or averages you may have seen in research studies, are only as good as the data that derives them. For example, if you find a study that claims “95 percent of participants stated they love body-worn cameras,” but the sample is primarily those that work for body-worn camera companies, then the value of that statistic for your argument is going to be questionable. Similarly, if you only interview individuals who have experienced violence while working in retail, you are missing the experiences of those that have not, which may be starkly different. Thus, while statistics and stories are useful tools for an argument, use them responsibly.

Reason 5: Research Can Suggest “What Works and Why”

Recall from earlier that one type of research which is done is called “evaluation research.” There are different types of evaluation research, but I’ll focus on two for this discussion. Sometimes, we are solely focused on the outcome of a program,

intervention, or new technology on an outcome of interest. This type of research is called an “outcome evaluation.” Perhaps we are interested in reducing shoplifting within stores, and your company has decided to use facial recognition technology as a deterrent towards this. We may want to see the levels of shrink, loss, sales, or other variables we are concerned about before implementing the facial recognition technology and compare them to having the technology six months later.

By doing this, we are evaluating how facial recognition technology impacts the outcomes of shrink, loss, and sales, and this informs us about the changes in the outcomes because of that intervention. However, what if we were also concerned about how employees were going to implement the technology? How should it be installed? What types of procedures need to be in place so that customers and employees feel safe and accept the technology? We could conduct a “process evaluation” to better understand how it is used, what steps are taken to install and

This is why it is important to repeatedly and reliably measure trends over time—just as our world continues to change, we need ways to continually adapt and capture those changes.

utilize the technology, and any problems when it was being used.

In this case, evaluation research tries to determine the outcomes of a particular intervention as well as how they are implemented. Other types of evaluation research include cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses, which focus on the return on investment based on designated outcomes. It could be very valuable to know, for example, how much it will cost to implement facial recognition technology and the types of outcomes that would be impacted by those costs.

An important note about cost-benefit analysis is that, when we conduct those kinds of analyses, we must assign a monetary value to something like “peace of mind.” This isn’t always easy—how do you place a price tag on something like happiness? Typically, we may have to look at proxies, such as insurance payouts, medical bills, etc. that are saved because of doing something. It’s not perfect by any means, but it does help at least provide some numerical value that we can use to compare the cost with the benefit of a technology or intervention.

Conclusion

Research can have several benefits within the loss prevention world. It can help us understand current trends beyond our own companies, provide us with data for our arguments, and help provide guidance on what could happen when new procedures and technologies are brought into your stores and distribution centers. Hopefully this list of five benefits inspires you to get involved in future research, encourage its use in the industry, and suggest ideas for research to explore. l

Christina Burton, PhD, is a research scientist at the Loss Prevention Research Council. She received her PhD in criminal justice at the University of Central Florida in 2023 with her dissertation “Understanding the Interactions Between Conservation Agencies and Rangers: A Mixed-Methods Approach.” She primarily focuses on survey design, situational crime prevention, intelligence-led policing and crime analysis, and environmental criminology. She previously received a master’s degree in criminal justice, a graduate certificate in crime analysis from UCF, and bachelor’s degrees in anthropology and biology from the University of Florida. ATHENA International has recognized her with their Emerging Women Leadership Fellowship award. She enjoys teaching and has been awarded the Outstanding Doctoral Student Educator Award within the Department of Criminal Justice at UCF.

Tom Meehan, CFI

Meehan is retail technology editor for LP Magazine as well as CEO of CONTROLTEK. Previously, Meehan was director of technology and investigations with Bloomingdale’s, where he was responsible for physical security, internal investigations, and systems and data analytics. He currently serves as the chair of the Loss Prevention Research Council’s (LPRC) Innovations Working Group. Meehan recently published his first book titled Evolution of Retail Asset Protection: Protecting Your Profit in a Digital Age. He can be reached at TomM@LossPreventionMedia.com.

Revisiting Your Business Resilience Strategy: The Key to Staying Ahead

Today’s news can often feel disheartening—sometimes even alarming. From unprecedented weather events—such as regions receiving over a foot of rain in less than 24 hours—to escalating global conflicts, the lingering effects of recent pandemics, and increasingly strict customs regulations and border security, the list of controversies and crises seems to grow by the day.

Although history books contain a great deal of wisdom, they cannot be solely relied upon to prepare us for the unique present and future challenges we face. Relying exclusively on historical experience runs the risk of making us somewhat complacent and leads us to think that all we have to do is look to the past to find ready answers for today and tomorrow. But we can’t allow ourselves to be lulled into a false sense of security.

While many businesses have adopted strategies to manage emerging threats, resilience requires more than a “set it and forget it” approach. We must revisit and check the strategy frequently to keep up with new challenges.

In previous articles I’ve shared a framework for managing threats and making organizations resilient in our rapidly changing risk landscape. While many businesses have adopted strategies to manage these emerging threats, resilience requires more than a “set it and forget it” approach. We must revisit and check the strategy frequently to keep up with new challenges. Threats to physical and cyber security are evolving with breathtaking velocity. Still, one principle remains unchanged: Keep it simple.

Why Revisit Your Resilience Strategy?

Companies must continually adjust their threat management strategies to changing circumstances. The model you set up two years ago might have seemed strong when you first implemented it, but the world is not static. We regularly see new technologies, major economic changes, fresh geopolitical tensions, and significant environmental changes that bring new challenges and vulnerabilities.

Leveraging the PESTEL Framework

All organizations are susceptible to external influences, which can come from many sources and substantially impact an organization’s functions. I have written previously about the PESTEL framework, which

is an invaluable tool for helping organizations categorize potential threats and think through their responses. Here are the six key threat areas identified in the PESTEL framework:

l Political. Obviously, changes in public policy, regulation, or the overall geopolitical environment can have a direct impact on an organization. Example: The United States holds presidential elections every four years and congressional elections every two years. In addition, state governments change hands just as regularly. These elections inevitably bring important changes that will eventually affect businesses.

l Economic. The health of the economy, inflation, labor costs, and changes in basic market conditions can make or break an organization. Example: The Trump administration’s aggressive tariff policy has deeply affected the stock market and the economy generally. The ultimate outcome, while not yet clear, will surely impact consumers and businesses in profound ways.

l Social. Demographic shifts, changes in what people do or buy, and the movements and trends that communities experience can directly affect an organization’s customer base. Example: In 2025, some people who once supported the move toward electric vehicles turned aggressively against one particular EV manufacturer (Tesla) to protest government policies they disagreed with. At a more mundane level, gradual changes in the makeup of a neighborhood can drastically affect the profitability of local businesses.

l Technological. Advances in technology bring great benefits to industry and consumers but also introduce new vulnerabilities. Example: Artificial intelligence has improved many aspects of life and business, but bad actors can use it to perpetrate fraud and misinformation, impacting businesses as well as individuals.

l Environmental. Sustainability is now an expected part of an organization’s portfolio. Meanwhile, events like floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters can cut deeply into an organization’s activities and resource availability. Example: The

catastrophic fires that hit Southern California in December 2024 destroyed more than 1,200 homes and many commercial structures. Total damage from the fires has been estimated at between $95 billion and $164 billion, including $75 billion in insured losses and $297 million in lost wages. The effects on California’s business climate will be reverberating for years to come.

l Legal. Organizations are directly affected by certain courtroom decisions. New laws and regulation changes filter down to an organization and have a very direct impact on how that organization functions. Example: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has imposed restrictions on emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases, impacting businesses throughout the country. These restrictions are often matched or exceeded by laws at the state level.

Keeping a fresh understanding of these areas allows you to act without being forced to respond to a given situation. You can respond with forethought rather than in the moment. And when you can do that, you can actually allocate resources to different places without being pulled in multiple directions—you can do damage control beforehand.

Steps to Strengthen Your Resilience

There are positive actions that can help businesses fortify their defenses against emerging threats. Here are four of the most important:

1. Conduct audits on a regular basis. Set up a schedule for the routine review of your physical and cybersecurity measures.

TRUSTED SINCE

2. Collaborate across departments. Foster constant communication among the teams for all-inclusive threat management.

3. Continually update. Use the PESTEL framework to keep an eye on possible emerging threats and adjust your strategies accordingly.

4. Plan for scenarios. Prepare contingency plans for the different kinds of threats you might face so you can act quickly and effectively when something happens.

A business’s instinct to survive is born from the uniform experience of its various parts. When a company is under threat, every area feels the pinch. In response, every area must contribute to overcoming the challenges. Some effective responses can be based on common sense, but others may seem counterintuitive.

Successful businesses prioritize their ability to bounce back from adversity—a trait that gained importance in the wake of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. But bouncing back requires a willingness to scrutinize all parts of a business and to be resilient at all levels.

Keep in mind that resilience isn’t just a static quality that one possesses, but rather a capability that must be dynamically and continuously developed. This is because what collapses isn’t static. The structures that hold up an organization aren’t just resilient; the organization itself must have a dynamic, resilient structure to withstand a long-term crisis. l

Advocating for Change: How Collaboration and Legislation Can Curb Strategic Cargo Theft

By Lauren Fritsky

The threat landscape in cargo theft, which Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) estimates costs US businesses between $15 billion and $35 billion annually, is becoming increasingly sophisticated and strategic. Organized criminal groups—many originating outside the US—now aggressively target supply chain vulnerabilities by remotely manipulating data, paperwork, and identities to gain access to freight under false pretenses.

There’s been a significant rise in this “strategic cargo theft,” with CargoNet’s annual analysis reporting a 27 percent increase from 2024 and the estimated average value per theft rising to $202,364, up from $187,895 in 2023. This is likely just the tip of the iceberg, as industry experts believe strategic cargo theft is vastly underreported.

“As supply chain criminals become more sophisticated, we have seen a troubling rise in fictitious pickups,” said Byron Smith, CFI, LPC, vice chairman of the International Supply Chain Protection Organization (ISCPO). “The industry has

responded proactively because securing the supply chain is not just about protecting cargo, but preserving the trust and business continuity of individual organizations and the global supply chain community in today’s environment.”

These crimes have implications for every participant in the supply chain, from the retailer to the end consumer and everyone in between. Sources we spoke with say it will require greater collaboration among many entities, more streamlined prosecution processes, and revised legislation to stay ahead of strategic cargo theft.

A Boundaryless, Often Silent Crime

Over half of Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) members have reported increased strategic cargo theft, and 30 percent have reported significant increases. The average loss per incident was $5 million, and several hundreds of millions when added together over the last two years. Where the criminal groups orchestrating some of this theft exist is virtually limitless, ranging from Mexico and Canada to Eastern Europe and everywhere in between. The goods stolen often end up being sold in the countries where the scheme originated.

“It’s a significant problem and only becoming more so,” said Jess Dankert, vice president of supply chain at RILA. “We see the nature of it spreading to being multinational and transnational groups who can do many things from behind a keyboard in an entirely other country.”

For instance, between 100 and 200 criminals with the same last name who originated from Southeast Asia and represent a small percentage of suspects have wreaked havoc in California and across the country, said Gerardo A. Pachuca, a retired deputy sheriff with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Pachuca, who spent the last 19 years of his law enforcement career assigned to the Cargo Criminal Apprehension Team (CAT), said the organized criminal group has been referred to across the US by law enforcement and victims in the freight transportation industry as the “Singh Crew.” In February of 2024, over $1.5 million worth of stolen goods found in a Riverside County raid was attributed to this group.

Now CEO of G.A. Pachuca Inc., which predominantly provides cargo theft awareness and prevention training in California, Pachuca says part of the problem with criminal groups originating

Byron Smith CFI, LPC

abroad is that it’s a family business. “When I was first assigned to the Cargo CATs team, we were arresting the grandpas, then we were arresting their sons, then the grandkids, and their uncles, cousins, and nephews,” he said. “Now, there’s a whole different generation of cargo thieves.”

The evolving transnational aspect of strategic cargo theft makes it murky to identify and prosecute. So, too, does the fact that several supply chain entities could be potential victims, says Alexandra Rosen, vice president of legislative affairs for the American Trucking Associations (ATA).

“You have the shipper that loses the load; you’ve got the unwitting motor carrier that provides a service and is never paid for it,” she said. “And you have the broker who now has to deal with misdirected rage from motor carrier victims and negative reviews because they are being asked to pay for loads they never brokered. So then they have to deal with the consumer side.”

Rosen pointed to recent testimony from the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Freight, Pipelines, and Safety in which Adam Blanchard, principal and CEO of Tanager Logistics and Double Diamond Transport of San Antonio, Texas, explained his experience with double brokering, in which fraudulent intermediaries broker a load to an innocent motor carrier. In one example, the thieves re-routed a shipment of energy drinks worth over six figures more than 1,000 miles from its intended destination.

“About a year ago, our American dream turned into a nightmare when some unscrupulous criminals stole our identity,” Blanchard testified. “By capitalizing on our good name, they tarnished the reputation we had spent over a decade to earn.”

He said his company was the target of anger from motor carriers who had also been scammed and blacklisted by factoring companies for fraudulent invoices and non-payment to those motor carriers. When his company tried to report these crimes, Blanchard said he kept hitting dead ends with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies—even the business’s insurance company refused to get involved.

“These are complex, multi-jurisdictional crimes often involving organizational theft groups,” he continued. “Yet, there is no unified, dedicated federal response. Thieves emboldened by the lack of investigations and prosecutions are growing the size and sophistication of their theft operations.”

JJ Coughlin, chairman of the Southwest Transportation Security Council, echoes this sentiment. His organization, which has members from the US and Canada, shares incident information in its BOLO and Alert Program and provides industry and law enforcement training at its annual conference.

“Cargo theft is often treated like a victimless crime, so it is really about getting authorities to understand the large economic impact of the crime and sentencing perpetrators appropriately for the economic damage they cause,” he said in an email.

David Johnston, vice president of the National Retail Federation’s asset protection and retail operations, said that cross-functional collaboration between retail functions, including asset protection, cybersecurity, and supply chain/logistics, is required as strategic cargo theft moves into the cyber realm.

“Together, they need to fully understand the vectors and tactics of these criminals so they can educate and inform law enforcement,” he said. “They also must coordinate and collaborate with their transportation providers.”

The Impact on Retailers and Consumers

RILA and NRF members ULTA Beauty and The Home Depot have seen strategic cargo theft escalate in their businesses over the last few years, including instances of fictitious pickups and double brokering.

They are taking several proactive measures to stop it.

“We have seen where illegitimate brokers have portrayed themselves as legitimate companies setting up a ‘good’ driver to pick up our load,” wrote Adam Stokes, LPC, the brand’s senior director of loss prevention, supply chain, ops, and enterprise security at ULTA Beauty. “Carriers pose as legitimate carriers and surf external load boards to acquire load data. In this scenario, we have seen both a legitimate carrier coming in to pick up the load and the bad actor.”

ULTA Beauty’s primary focus has been on robust internal training, equipping its teams with the knowledge to identify and prevent fictitious pickup shipments. They have also developed educational resources for drivers to raise awareness about the risks of fictitious pickups, as many are unknowingly involved in transporting stolen loads.

“We have extended this training to our freight brokers, ensuring they are well-versed in risk mitigation strategies,” he wrote. “We have also implemented sophisticated tracking technologies that enable us to promptly detect deviations from planned routes, allowing for swift intervention from our 24/7 security operations center in potential theft scenarios.”

Paul Ganz, senior director of supply chain asset protection at The Home Depot, said his company employs traditional and non-traditional tactics to protect its assets from origin to destination. He could not elaborate on the specifics but thinks that reducing the impact of the problem more broadly “starts with awareness, communication, transparency, and government interaction.”

“We work with our carriers all the time and make sure that they are meeting our expectations and requirements from both security and making sure that they can achieve the expectations that we set for them as a company, and a big part of that is we’re trusting them to move our product,” he said. When a product is stolen while being moved, it impacts the end consumer, and Ganz, as a consumer himself, keeps that in mind.

Alexandra Rosen

Paul Ganz

Adam Stokes, LPC

“The loss incurred ends up at some point costing the consumer. Prices are high enough today. We want to make sure that we are protecting the product movement.”

Glenn Master, head of asset protection, security, and crisis management at McLane Company and president and board chairman of ISCPO, participated in an LPM webinar on fictitious pickups last fall. He said consumers will see the impact on two fronts.

“One, replenishment is not made to stores, and second, online shoppers are not receiving parcels,” he said. “Both would result from an entire trailer load being stolen.”

Regardless of socioeconomic level, all consumers can feel the pain—especially during economic uncertainty.

“This crime impacts the US economy and is a domino effect, affecting everyone from the richest to the poorest,” Pachuca said.

Cultural Change and Collaboration Are Critical

Strategic cargo theft upends how retailers, shippers, and brokers have historically done business. Therefore, it necessitates cultural change within a retailer’s organization and stronger collaboration with insurers, law enforcement, government, and industry organizations.

“It comes down to a change in philosophy within the retailer’s organization,” Master said. “Just because you hire a third-party company or broker for transportation doesn’t mean you ship a load and hope it gets to its destination. Retailers need to understand the broker’s ability to track loads in real time and set perimeters with them for notification if that load goes off course or does not reach its destination in the time allotted.”

The NRF has seen extensive collaboration and cross-functional work between asset protection, cybersecurity, the supply chain, and logistics on the retail front.

“One of the things I think the retailers are paying more attention to now is knowing everybody in your supply chain and knowing who they are, where they’re doing their business, and if they have those capabilities when they’re thinking of bringing on more supply chain partners to work with,” said Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at NRF.

Supply chain industry organizations and private companies are also working to help in this area.

For instance, the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) has convened stakeholders to develop industry standards for freight and facility security, which many retailers and manufacturers have adopted to ensure a baseline expectation for freight security. ISCPO members have increased staff training, reviewing their driver vetting and verification procedures, real-time tracking, and collaboration with trusted logistics partners.

“The industry has responded proactively— because in today’s environment, securing the supply chain is not just about protecting cargo, but preserving the trust and business continuity of individual organizations and the global supply chain community,” Smith of ISCPO wrote in an email.

Two years ago in April, Dale Prax, a former owner and operator for over thirty years, launched FreightValidate, a carrier and freight broker identity verification and vetting system serving shippers, carriers, freight brokers, load-boards, and factoring companies. To maintain “FreightValidated” status, carriers and brokers must meet strict compliance requirements, including:

l Active motor carrier authority and DOT number

l Compliance with Principal Place of Business Regulations (49 CFR § 390.5T)—no P.O. boxes or virtual addresses; a physical location is required

l Active Unified Carrier Registration (UCR)—compliance with the Unified Carrier Registration Act of 2005 (49 USC § 14504a), ensuring carriers and brokers properly register and maintain UCR requirements

l Disclosure of affiliation with other FMCSA-regulated entities (49 CFR § 386.73, 49 CFR § 387.309, 49 CFR § 390.19), transparency in company ownership and associations

l No documented fraud history or double brokering activity

“The bad guys have more time, energy, and money to be proactive than we can react,” Prax said. “They are in it for a full-time job.”

Strengthening Law Enforcement and Government Response

Given both the multi-layered and multi-national nature of strategic cargo theft and how rapidly its tactics have evolved in recent years, it’s become challenging to keep up from a law enforcement and legislative perspective. Regulatory confusion and lack

of coordination have made enforcement inconsistent, as Blanchard’s testimony and other sources we spoke with highlight.

“No one knows who has jurisdiction,” Prax said. “The guy is trying to report to the police. The police say, ‘It’s not my job.’ The FBI says it’s not egregious enough because they want something with millions and millions of dollars.”

When he investigated for the LA Sheriff’s Department, Pachuca said it was hard to get the state-level district attorneys to file cases against cargo thieves who took product over state lines or committed wire fraud—they only wanted to deal with the local violations. The FBI and other federal agencies have only recently gotten aggressively involved on the West Coast.

Master said that at the state level, cargo theft must be viewed as something other than retail theft or commercial burglary. “It does not fall into either of these categories, and because of the complexity of brokering, most district attorneys are not educated on where the victimization ultimately falls, discouraging prosecution,” he said.

Last year, the Loss Prevention Research Council conducted a survey with the Supply Chain Protection Working Group (SCPWG) members about their experience with cargo theft. Most respondents (92 percent) reported cargo theft to local police. However: “These law enforcement groups have limited jurisdiction bound within state or city lines, which makes it difficult to prevent cargo theft given the interstate and international travel that occurs within the supply chain,” notes the related research report published by the LPRC.

Glenn Master

A spokesperson wrote in an email that, depending on the situation, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) may refer complaints to the US Department of Justice and the US Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General when warranted.

“We also actively engage with stakeholders in the trucking industry about the increase in identity theft across the industry and what FMCSA is doing to combat freight/broker scams,” the spokesperson wrote. “When complaints are submitted to the agency, they are investigated to the extent of FMCSA’s authority at which point we may refer the case to other federal partners.”

FMCSA is also using technology to combat strategic cargo theft. This month, it will implement a new ID verification process for new individual registrants. Later this year, it will roll out a new registration system. Once fully rolled out, the new registration system will include ID proofing, address verification, and other ways to identify scam entities.

At the time that this went to press, strategic cargo theft legislation was in flux.

While two separate bills—the Combating

“As supply chain criminals become more sophisticated, we have seen a troubling rise in fictitious pickups.”

—Byron Smith, CFI, LPC

Organized Retail Crime Act of 2023 and the Safeguarding the Supply Chains Act—were introduced last Congress, neither advanced to the House or Senate floor for a vote. In the 119th Congress, groups across the supply chain, including retailers, trucking, rail, and others, have worked with congressional staff to combine efforts and develop a more comprehensive approach to targeting theft across the entire supply chain.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is now pursuing a unified strategy through the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA), led by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada). Congressman Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) is leading identical legislation in the House. CORCA seeks to enhance legal frameworks, improve enforcement capabilities, and foster coordination across federal, state, and local agencies. The

Industry Groups and Resources Working to Combat Strategic Cargo Theft

National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) and RILA Vibrant Communities Initiative: rila.org/rila-ndaa-vibrant-communities-initiative

National Consumer Complaint Database: nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov/nccdb/home.aspx

ISCPO: iscpo.org/site/

NRF Loss Prevention Council: nrf.com/membership/committees-and-councils/ loss-prevention-council

Protect Your Move: fmcsa.dot.gov/protect-your-move

Registration Fraud: fmcsa.dot.gov/registration/fraud-alerts

FMCSA Office of Registration: fmcsa.dot.gov/registration

FreightValidate Fraud Reporting Resources: freightvalidate.com/fraud-alert

LPRC Supply Chain Protection Working Group (SCPWG): lpresearch.org/ working-groups-sign-up/

Supply Chain Coalition: A grassroots group involving several rail, road, and retail partner organizations, including:

l NRF

l RILA

l American Trucking Associations

l Association of American Railroads

l Intermodal Association of North America

l National Association of Manufacturers

l National Milk Producers Federation

l National Retail Federation

l National Shooting Sports Foundation

l NATSO

l Retail Industry Leaders Association

l Reusable Packaging Association

l Transportation Intermediaries Association

l US Chamber of Commerce

l US Dairy Export Council

l World Shipping Council

legislation would enable the prosecution of organized retail and supply chain crime groups using interstate or foreign commerce and establish an Organized Retail and Supply Chain Crime Coordination Center within the Department of Homeland Security’s HSI.

“Our goal in these negotiations was to ensure that the scope of the legislation sufficiently represented each industry’s needs in the bill, such as cargo theft, fraud,

and related crimes throughout all stages of the supply chain, including production, transportation, freight brokerage, processing, storage, distribution, and retail,” Rosen of ATA said. “We needed something that would hit the root cause of organized supply chain crime because it’s dire for our membership.”

Another bipartisan bill, the Household Goods Shipping Consumer Protection Act,

would equip the FMCSA with the tools to protect consumers from fraud perpetrated by scammers in the interstate transportation of household goods. Reintroduced in December, the bill would also strengthen penalties against bad actors. At the time of press, Rosen felt hopeful that the Senate would move this bill and CORCA forward.

“Without a federal solution, I don’t see a respite soon,” she said.

A Roundup of Recommendations

We asked some of our sources for closing thoughts on the most proactive ways retailers can prevent strategic cargo theft in 2025 and beyond:

The Home Depot: “The first question to ask the carrier is, ‘Tell me about what measures you take to ensure that the product that I load or that I ordered makes it to me on time.’”

ULTA Beauty: “We urge other retailers to critically evaluate their relationships with freight brokers, particularly regarding the use of external load boards, which have been identified as a significant vulnerability

in the supply chain. It is crucial to educate transportation teams on the pertinent questions to ask when engaging with drivers picking up shipments and reinforce the brokers’ contractual obligations.”

NRF: “Retailers should use dedicated carriers who own and operate trucks and transportation. Properly vet carriers, utilizing third-party vendors who can assist in the process. Build strong procedures around bill of lading creation to limit the ability to falsely recreate and communication protocols to confirm any changes across transit. Engage with organizations like CargoNet or ISCPO to stay ahead of theft trends and methods.”

SWTC: “Shippers must protect themselves by vetting their broker/carrier providers and contractually holding them liable for loss. They also need to establish points of ‘pickup control’ processes that document everything about any carrier/driver picking up their products for transportation. Shippers would also be better protected if they controlled their freight through visibility methods, geo- fencing monitoring, and specific protocols.”

RILA: “You have a supply chain leader, a government affairs leader, and an asset protection leader that are all collaborating on the same topic, and that is symbolic of what retailers’ internal processes should almost duplicate. Because it is walking away from, ‘That’s my lane, that’s your lane.’ It’s the collective resources that can come together.”

FMCSA: “It’s also up to individuals and businesses to protect themselves. Don’t give personal information out. If you suspect a scam, stop and report it. Do not give Electronic Logging Device (ELD) access or registration system information. This could let bad actors track and possibly steal your loads. Lastly—and most importantly—be vigilant.” l

Lauren Fritsky is a seasoned journalist and content marketer whose work has appeared on CNN, AOL, USA TODAY, Huffington Post, Travel+Leisure, Entrepreneur, Adweek, and many other websites. She’s spent the last eleven years writing about IT, adtech, martech, retail, and e commerce for global companies. Lauren earned a bachelor’s degree in English from La Salle University in Philadelphia. Contact her at Lauren.fritsky@gmail.com.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

To stay up-to-date on the latest career moves as they happen, visit the Professional Development page on the LPM website LossPreventionMedia.com.

To inform us of a promotion or new hire, email us at PeopleOnTheMove@LossPreventionMedia.com.

This edition of People On the Move is powered by the Loss Prevention Fondation

Professionals Advancing Their Careers

Linda Dolleman is now national account manager at 3SI Security Systems.

Jerome Cromwell is now a regional AP manager at Alo Yoga.

Sofia Rosende was promoted to VP of operations at ALTO.

Lauren Freede, CFE, was promoted to director of investigations at 7-Eleven.

Nathalie Jaramillo was promoted to senior district AP manager, Angie Rodriguez and Matthew Olden are now district AP managers, and James Knight was promoted to senior AP investigator at Abercrombie & Fitch.

Mohammed Aljassir is now a KSA profit protection manager at Adidas (Saudi Arabia).

William Wilson, Jr. is now VP of safety and AP at AHI Facility Services.

Drew Bankston, CFI, and Luis Rodriguez-Garate are now district LP managers at Albertsons.

Ajla Smjecanin, LPC, is now a security analyst II at ALDI.

Kurt Harris is now profit protection manager UKEU at AllSaints (United Kingdom).

James Iorio, CFI, is now senior program manager, global security service programs and strategy; Justin Gingery was promoted to senior manager AMER risk and resilience; Brad Hayes (United Arab Emirates) was promoted to senior program manager, worldwide operations security; Mollie Rebecca Stasi was promoted to senior investigations manager, global investigations; Adam Wollman, LPC, CPI, was promoted to senior program manager, field investigations; Nick Schenk was promoted to senior program manager, global security services; Lizbeth Anahi Esquivel Garcia was promoted to senior on road risk manager (Mexico); Mark Conner and Paul Witten, MA, are now senior resilience managers; Jake Porter (Australia) is now security and LP delivery services program manager; Britta LaRiviere was promoted to senior regional investigations manager, AMER investigations, worldwide operations security; Joe Troy Jr., MBA, was promoted to senior risk manager, AMER People; Patrick Blair, CFI, was promoted to senior manager, AMER security and LP; Michael Greenwell, MBA, LPC, was promoted to senior risk manager, site and operational risk; Joseph Carter, LPC, CFI, was promoted to senior risk manager, last mile; Natalia Merino Macedo (Spain) was

promoted to senior investigations manager, EMEA; Christopher Barth was promoted to regional investigations specialist; Kaitlin Cusumano and Gary Papka, CFI, are now investigations managers; Sushil Gaikwad (India) was promoted to program manager, international business safety and LP PMO; Gregory Barrett and Antonio Torres are now regional LP business partners; Annmarie Baldasare, Christopher Santiago, Richard Rivera, Faraz Naqvi, Louise Lloyd (UK), Clay Corderman, Trevor Thomas, Karen Torres Zenil, Michelle Rodriquez, Alex Schaefer, Michael Wareham, LPC, and Ahmad Chbib are now cluster LP managers; and Wes Evans, Andrew Higdon, MBA, LSS, and Lipsa Syal (India) are now senior security and LP managers at Amazon.

Ailton Gomes Freitas is now an LP supervisor at americanas s.a. (Brazil).

Daniel Lee was promoted to regional security manager, ChinaAustralia at Apple (Australia).

Christina Briggs is now senior manager of AP and resilience operations at Arc’teryx.

Djalma Soares Silva Junior is now an LP and asset security coordinator at Assaí Atacadista (Brazil).

Andre Villa is now lead principal architect, retail AP and ORC at AT&T.

Al Luna is now a regional LP manager at AutoZone.

Dave Adelman is now director of LP at Avolta.

Fernando Garbini is now an LP leader at Barbosa Supermarkets (Brazil).

Ryan Allen is now a market LP manager at Barnes & Noble.

Cameron Maurer, CFI, is now a regional AP manager at Bass Pro Shops.

Shaun Vanderwerf, CFI, was promoted to VP of LP at Bealls.

Victoria Burge-Thomas is now national operations and investigations manager at Bunnings (Australia).

Melissa Petrucelli is now director of asset protection operations and communications at Burlington Stores.

Edward Turner, CFI, is now a regional AP manager, and Steve McClard, Chris Kellett, CFI, LPC, and Raphael Bohner are now district AP managers at Burlington Stores.

Calandra Guiry is now associate VP at Canadian Tire.

Urszula Zielińska is now head of security and LP at CCC Group (Poland).

Shane Morin, CFI, LPC, was promoted to corporate LP manager at Bealls.

Michael Lumbard and Nathan Adam are now regional AP managers at BJ’s Wholesale Club.

Marc Johnson, LPC, is now a multidistrict LP manager II at Blain’s Farm & Fleet.

Lisa Caccomo, CFI, LPC, and Ignacio Garcia are now regional directors of AP at Bloomingdales.

Chris Harris, LPC, was named senior director of AP at Brookshire Grocery Company.

Angela Collins is now a regional LP manager at Canadian Tire.

Cary Roberts was promoted to director of AP at CarMax.

Claudio Alves was promoted to executive director of racial equity, D&I, and institutional relations at Carrefour (Brazil).

James Kleeberger was promoted to senior manager of safe and secure support; Vanessa Rodriguez is now a functional lead field safe and secure; and Patrick Crawford is now a field safe and secure manager at Carvana.

Romário Araújo was promoted to LP supervisor at Grupo Casas Bahia (Brazil).

Justina Reading, CFE, CFI, is now a regional LP manager, and Sean Slattery is now a field investigator at Catalyst Brands.

Dariusz Lijewski was promoted to regional security and LP manager at CCC Group (Poland).

Chris Dunne, CPP, is now the senior manager of corporate safety and security at CDK Global.

Pascal Quemeneur is now head of security and food safety at Central Retail (Vietnam).

Jeremiah Dawson is now a district LP manager at Charlotte Russe.

Flavio Musci is now MAS global sales director, RF and RFID labels at Checkpoint Systems (Italy).

Matt Roseberry is now senior manager of global security operations at Chipotle Mexican Grille.

Cumhur Arikanoglu is now head of health, safety, and security at Coca Cola Icecek Company (Turkey).

Brad Moody is now VP of security packaging and Gerard Hewison is now segment development manager, emerging technologies at CONTROLTEK.

Mike Connor is now digital integritycyber fraud, ediscovery, and legal services lead at Costco Wholesale.

Jackie Cato, CFI, LPC, was promoted to director of LP at Cracker Barrel.

Jim McDonald is now head of global security at Crane Worldwide Logistics.

Dave Mall is now internal investigations senior analyst; and Jason McIntosh and Zachary Goldstein are now regional AP leaders at CVS Health.

Rohit Negi is now a regional LP officer at Deerika Hypermarket (India).

Sean Coddington Jr., LPC, was promoted to DC supervisor of LP at DICK’s Sporting Goods.

Leobardo Medina Hernández is now senior loss prevention manager (Mexico); and Howard Erickson, Scott Tassinari, Joseph Evans, CFI, LPC, Dave Alves, and Bert Rushton are now regional AP managers at Dollar General.

Eric Marlow is now major crimes manager, southeast at Dollar Tree Stores.

Ana Cristina Goncalves is now an LP coordinator at Grupo DPSP (Brazil).

Dennis Mendez Santibañez is now director of LP and security at Ega-Kat (Chile).

Frank Lucatuorto was promoted to senior director of risk and AP and Canaan Peacock, CFI, is now a regional risk and AP manager at EōS Fitness.

Nicola Williams was promoted

Brett LeClair and Drew Kaplan are now market investigators at Family Dollar.

Mark Delgado is now an LP specialist at Fanatics.

Diane Ambrogio was promoted to fraud and quality assurance training coordinator at Fetch.

Nadana Manimaran, CSM, was promoted to manager II, AP and security at Flipkart (India).

Shannon Turner is now senior manager of LP operations and field manager; and Jeff Mclain, LPC, is now LP manager, DC and store systems at Gabes.

Robin Smith, Deshanta Crawford, and Valerie Ferguson are now area AP managers at Gap Inc.

Paul Jones was promoted to senior VP of sales, and Evan Lawson was promoted to VP of key accounts at Gatekeeper Systems.

Cory Smith is now director of global security and protective services at General Mills.

Kevin Brown is now a regional LP manager at GetGo Café + Market.

Thiago Henrique Aguiar is now an LP coordinator at GMAP Supermarkets (Brazil).

Jordan Rivchun was promoted to senior director, vertical and enterprise business development at Hanwha Vision America.

Matthew Richter, LPC, was promoted to senior area LP manager, and Joy Gauster is now an area LP manager at Harbor Freight Tools.

Gary Tattersall, MSc, was promoted to profit protection director (UK), and Walter Stampfl is now profit protection manager at Harding.

Quincy Quarles was promoted to VP of security at H-E-B.

Eric Roberts was promoted to senior manager of AP at HD Supply.

Justin Brown was promoted to associate director of global investigations at HelloFresh.

Doug Rajala was promoted to divisional AP manager (Canada); Veronica Villasenor, Tony Duenez, Allen Valasquez, Curt Carotenuto, Michael Mainville, and Sheahan Gomes (Canada) are now district AP managers; and Jeffery Rose is now an ORC investigator at The Home Depot.

Gavin Nunney is now a regional LP manager at Huws Gray (UK).

Michael Burch was promoted to senior director of AP and workplace services at GOAT Group.

Cometrius Nicholson is now a territory LP, safety, and quality manager at Goodwill Industries of Central Florida.

Evandro Ribeiro is now head of LP at GPA (Brazil).

Matthew Tracy, CFI, was promoted to regional security and LP manager

Mark Sutherland is now senior manager of LP, national field and supply chain at Indigo (Canada).

Chris Gibson, CFI, was promoted to senior manager of LP analytics at Inspire.

Heather Carson is now LP manager at James Avery Artisan Jewelry.

Ken Bolinger was promoted to area AP manager at JCPenney.

Raj Parmar is now head of LP (Canada) at JD Sports Fashion.

Filip Visnjic (Spain) was promoted to senior profit and AP project manager—Europe at JD Sports Fashion.

Phillip Andrews was promoted to crime and fraud investigation; Amber Warner is now profit protection field team manager; Nicki Juniper was promoted to head of pan partnership resilience, security, and shrinkage; and Isabelle Devereux, LPC, was promoted to shrinkage strategy and optimization manager at John Lewis Partnership (UK).

Mitch Myers is now a multi-unit LP supervisor at Kohl’s.

Carlos Cerqueira dos Santos was promoted to senior LP supervisor at Kona Transportes (Brazil).

Kim Hooper is now a division AP manager at Kroger.

Will Clive is now chief human resources officer; Ryan Gurney is now chief information security officer; Spencer Steed is now chief revenue officer; and Taylor Wetzel is now chief customer officer at LiveView Technologies.

Tyler McCurdy is now a regional manager, physical security and Todd D’Angelis is now a district AP manager at Loblaw Companies (Canada).

Christy Bauswell is now director of business development at the Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC).

Keven Smith was promoted to regional AP manager and Ivan Medina was promoted to multi-store AP manager at Louis Vuitton.

Caitlin Moore is now an LP coordinator at Lovisa.

Cody Myers, CFI, CORCI, was promoted to regional investigations manager; Kira Kendall-Henson, LPC, Desirae Paul, and Mitchell Cousino are now district AP managers; and Matt Evans and Michael Shaw, LPC, are now market ORC managers at Lowe’s.

Hannah Harville was promoted to AP manager, North America strategy and operations; Angel Déziga

Velázquez is now AP manager (Mexico); and Scott Noschang is now strategic initiatives, AP at lululemon.

Kenneth Ingram is now AP manager at Lumber Liquidators.

Richard Schnur was promoted to division special investigation manager; Jessenia Segura is now senior investigator, SD/OC/HI/ Guam; and Carrie De Casas was promoted to senior manager of AP training and compliance at Macy’s.

Chris McGlone is now a district LP manager at Marshall’s.

Pablo Nicolas Espinosa, APP PSP, was promoted to LP planning and design manager at Mercado Libre (Argentina).

Andre Martha was promoted to LP and security operations manager; Gabriele Santana is now an LP senior analyst; Carolina Conceição Lino de Souza is now an LP supervisor; and Grazielle Ribeiro is now an LP coordinator at Mercado Livre (Brazil).

Derrick Young, Sr., is now a regional LP manager, supply chain at Michaels Stores.

Andrew Silcox is now a regional LP business partner, and Ryan Torres is now LP manager at MINISO USA.

Joao Carlos Rocha da Silva is now manager of LP at Mobyan (Brazil).

Jake Wilson was promoted to director of AP operations at Nordstrom.

Dean Napolitano, LPC, was promoted to director of LP, USA, and Alex Geci is now a regional LP manager at Oniverse.

Elvira Vojnikovic is now corporate LP at PCC Community Markets.

Lee Clark is now security manager at The Perfume Shop (UK).

Brigette Ross, LPC, is now a market LP and safety manager at Petco.

Josh Bruckshaw is now a profit protection business partner at Pets at Home (UK).

Steve McCluskey is now senior manager of AP and safety and Melissa Opp was promoted to senior manager, ecommerce and investigations at PetSmart.

Jacob Lewis was promoted to director of AP at Pharmacann.

Alex Collins was promoted to senior manager of program management— store operations data analytics, PMO, AP systems; Reginald Remble and Danielle Decena are now senior regional AP managers; Brent Hamlin is now manager of investigations; and Ricky Chavira was promoted to market investigator at Nordstrom.

Yajayra Gonzales is now a district LP manager at Ollie’s Bargain Outlet.

John Wandell, CFI, is now the director of AP at Pilot Company.

Dan Heyward is now profit protection partner at Poundland & Dealz (UK).

Paul Ganz is now VP of security at Primo Brands.

Kierren Darke, CFE, is now head of LP at PUMA Group (Germany).

Mandy Aguilar, CFI, CORCI, is now a regional security manager at R+L Carriers.

Juan Escruceria is now senior manager of AP at Redi Carpet.

Daniel Oliveira is now an LP supervisor at Rede Supermarket (Brazil).

Robert Leonard was promoted to senior manager of LP and business continuity at Refuel Operating Company.

Will Ulin, LPC, is now an area AP manager at REI.

Mohit Singh Parihar was promoted to national lead, security and LP network operations at Reliance Jio (India).

Col Vipin Bhatia, Shauraya Chakra is now VP, national head of security and LP operations at Reliance Retail (India).

Lisa LaBruno has been named executive director of the RILA Communities Foundation.

Sarah Gilmore is now a senior director at the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA).

Shaun MacDonald, CFI, is now a regional security manager at Richemont.

Paul Smith is now a regional AP leader; Ashley App is now a senior AP analyst; and Abel Alvidrez, LPC, is now a senior store AP leader at RITE AID.

Adrian Sherry is now LP manager, UK and Ireland at Rituals (UK).

Brett Valente, CFI, CFE, was promoted to investigations and fraud manager at Rona (Canada).

Efran Ali was promoted to senior director of field LP; Daniel DeAvila Jr., CSM, was promoted to senior manager of LP and safety; Marlick Tavarez was promoted to senior transportation manager of LP; and Julian Moreno, Gelila Martinsen, and Brent Savage are now senior area LP managers at Ross Stores.

Aaron Adams is now a district LP supervisor at Rural King.

Steven Bond is now director of AP, Northern California division at Safeway.

Tyler Gregoire is now an area AP manager at Saks

Kenneth Hay is now an AP area manager at Sam’s Club.

Alair Macedo Paixao is now an LP coordinator at Santarém-Gardens Store Supermarkets (Brazil).

Jailson Barroso is now a loss prevention supervisor at Schipper (Brazil).

Emily Everett was promoted to senior fraud specialist, and Karen French and Brittany Osman are now district AP managers at SEPHORA.

Glenn Skinner, LPC, is now a market district LP manager, and Ryan Rupnick is now a district LP supervisor at Sierra.

Luca Forcignanò is now a district LP manager at Skechers (Spain).

Steven Troughton was promoted to manager of LP-Eastern Canada, and Madison Harker, CFI, is now national investigations manager at Sporting Life Group (Canada).

Cynthia Eisler is now an LP and safety specialist supervisor at Sprouts Farmers Market.

Brian Hanlon was promoted to director of safety and security at Staples.

Kevin Goldsmith is now senior engineer, cybersecurity at T-Mobile.

Antonio Fernando Brioso López is now profit protection manager at Tansley (Spain).

Ehab Zahran, CFI, is now VP of global AP, security, and safety at Tapestry.

Timothy Hines is now director of AP and safety operations at Tapestry.

Andre Mercado and Katie Herbert were promoted to AP directors; Mike Blaede, Kelcey Duffield, Brooklyn Young, MS, Robert Ijames, and Rolando Gallardo, LPC, are now AP business partners; and Steven Costello and Dorian Clark are now field investigators at Target.

Fiona Rimmer was promoted to incident prevention manager, Scotland North at Tesco (Scotland).

Bex Hammett is now head of stock control and compliance at TFG Brands London (UK).

Amelia Kani was promoted to head of risk analysis and prevention— Americas at TikTok.

Jen Connolly, LPC, was promoted to manager of loss prevention projects and programs; Ashley Wright was promoted to national physical and technical security manager (Australia); Brandon Duggins, LPC, was promoted to national task force investigations supervisor; Raphael Martinez, Jamil Wesley, and Nicole Garcea, CFI, are now regional LP managers; Fernando Vasallo, LPQ, Jeffery Burton, LPQ, Radosław

Przybyłek (Poland), Christian Koester (Germany), Lindsey Rockoff, CFI, and Jola Lewicka are now district LP managers; and Bryan Celestin is now district LP supervisor at TJX.

Amir Attaei was promoted to LP analytics manager at TJX Canada—Winners, Marshalls, Home Sense (Canada).

Sherry Cramer, CFI, LPC, LPQ, is now a regional LP manager, and Linda Chiappone, MBA, CFCI, is now a senior LP analyst at Torrid.

Luiz Junior is now a LP supervisor at Total Express (Brazil).

Justin Lakins was promoted to director of LP at Tractor Supply Company

Aaron Elliott is now a regional LP manager at Tractor Supply Company.

Edmundo Velazquez, MBA, MA, LPC, CFI, and Chris Rosson, CFI, are now directors of LP; Don Adkins is now manager of corporate security; Ahmad Johnson, CFI, José Gomez, LPC, and Kasi Koscielniak are now regional LP managers; Nikki Beffa and Beth Bognar are now area LP managers; and Shaun Lyons is now an ORC investigations manager at ULTA Beauty.

Sarah Meyer is now director of AP, retail at UNFL.

Nathan Raines, CORCI, CECI, is now an ORC manager at UNFI.

Zachary Parshall was promoted to senior area LP manager and Viviane Petracek is now an area LP manager at UNIQLO.

Rigoberto Harnandez, CFI, is now an LP business partner at United Pacific.

Timothy Berry is now manager of investigations at Urban Outfitters.

Joe Greco, CFI Legacy, is now the regional LP manager at Value Wholesalers.

Kenny Smith, LPC, CFI Legacy, is now a regional LP manager at Variety Wholesalers.

Erik Van Herik, CFI, was promoted to associate director, retail risk management and compliance at Verizon.

Lisa Capstick is now manager of LP at VetStrategy (Canada).

Christina Hamre is now travel safety and global intelligence manager; Kyle Smith is now an AP emergency operations center specialist; and Janessa Heslegrave is now a regional AP manager (Canada) at Victoria’s Secret.

Greg Lazette was promoted to major crimes investigations manager at Walgreens.

Christyn Keef, LPC, is now VP of customer experience; Jason Jackson was promoted to VP of the global security operations center; Mallori Warren is now senior manager, security threat management; Adiana Doobay-Jones is now a regional AP director; Alisha Fellows and David Johnson are now market AP managers; and José Luis Bernal is now an AP supervisor (Mexico) at Walmart.

Kyle Evangelista was promoted to manager of AP—retail stores at The Walt Disney Company.

José Augusto Neto is now security manager sports, LATAM at Warner Bros. Discovery (Brazil).

Jim Passarella is now manager of AP and security and Jennifer Sleeter, LPC, CFE, is now a senior AP adviser at Wawa.

Daisy Mendoza is now a safety and security adviser at Wayfair.

Henry Favor is now AP director at Wegman’s Food Markets.

Greg Bleakley, CFI, LPC, is now the senior manager of enterprise AP, and Dawn Burnham is now an AP analyst at West Marine.

Larry Martinez is now the head of AP at Wild Fork.

Haydar Sleiman was promoted to senior manager of ecommerce fraud at Woolworths Group (Australia).

Meghan Buckman is now LP manager, and Carolyn Butler is now business intelligence analyst at Zumiez. l

Supporting the Mental Health and Counseling Needs of Loss Prevention Professionals

By John W. Jones, PhD

As a certified clinical mental health therapist who has been recommending Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services since their inception, I have witnessed firsthand the importance of accessible mental health care in the workplace. Over the years, I have grown increasingly optimistic about the rise of teletherapy, especially in the post-pandemic world, as it has significantly expanded access to mental health services for employees at all levels—from entry-level workers to senior executives. In fact, as a certified mental health teletherapist, I’ve had the privilege of working with individuals across various industries through both face-to-face and virtual platforms.

While every profession comes with its own set of challenges, loss prevention professionals face particularly unique mental health risks. These risks are driven by constant exposure to crime, hazardous situations, and the ongoing pressure to ensure the safety of others. In this article, I will explore when professionals in these roles may benefit from counseling or psychotherapy, discuss the common psychological issues they face, and outline therapeutic options that can support them in maintaining both their mental health and professional success. This is obviously information and not clinical advice, but it is important for loss prevention professionals to be aware of their options.

I’ve seen firsthand the mental and emotional toll that these high-pressure roles can take. The demands of the job, coupled with frequent exposure to challenging and potentially dangerous situations, can often lead to significant stress and mental health concerns. For those in this field, seeking professional counseling is not just about addressing crises but about maintaining emotional resilience and mental wellbeing over the long term. Parenthetically, it should also be no surprise that even the retirement years can be impacted by mental health challenges.

Therapeutic Options for Loss Prevention Professionals

Therapeutic options for these professionals are diverse, and the right choice depends on individual needs. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is often employed to challenge negative thought patterns and behaviors that can arise from the stress and trauma associated with loss prevention roles. For individuals dealing with anxiety or trauma, CBT helps reframe irrational fears and develop healthier coping mechanisms. Another effective approach is Eye Movement

Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), which is particularly beneficial for those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). EMDR works by helping individuals process traumatic memories in a less emotionally distressing manner. The Veterans Administration (VA) has embraced EMDR with their returning warriors.

While every profession comes with its own set of challenges, loss prevention professionals face particularly unique mental health risks.

For more chronic conditions, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) provides tools to accept difficult thoughts and emotions without becoming overwhelmed by them. ACT focuses on aligning behavior with core values and finding meaning at work and in life, which is particularly useful for professionals who may feel disconnected from their roles due to burnout or occupational stress. Of course there are many types of psychotherapy and counseling services, in addition to medically-based psychiatric programs, but CBT, EMDR, and ACT provide a good set of examples.

Teletherapy and in-person counseling both offer valuable means of accessing care, depending on the professional’s preferences and logistical needs. For loss prevention professionals who may work irregular hours or in remote locations, teletherapy provides flexibility while still offering consistent

support. Table 1 summarizes illustrative treatment options.

Common DSM-5-TR Diagnoses Among LP Professionals

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR), is a manual published by the American Psychiatric Association that classifies and defines mental disorders. Working in environments with high demands and frequent confrontations can lead to psychological stressors. Below are some of the most common DSM-5-TR diagnoses for loss prevention professionals that might prompt self-referral or company-referral for counseling or psychotherapy:

1. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

l Definition: PTSD occurs after exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or violence. Symptoms include intrusive memories, nightmares, flashbacks, and hypervigilance, as well as avoidance of trauma reminders.

l Illustration: A loss prevention professional might develop PTSD after experiencing a violent robbery or an assault in the workplace. They may avoid certain parts of the store where the incident occurred or feel hypervigilant, always scanning for threats, even when off duty.

2.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

l Definition: GAD involves excessive worry about a variety of topics, events, or activities. It is often accompanied by restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and irritability.

l Illustration: A loss prevention officer could develop GAD due to the constant pressure to prevent theft and ensure safety. They might worry excessively about potential security breaches, causing them to feel on edge, fatigued, and unable to relax even after work hours.

3.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

l Definition: MDD is characterized by persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and a lack of interest in activities. It can also involve changes in sleep, appetite, and concentration.

l Illustration: A loss prevention professional facing constant stress and lack of recognition might develop MDD. They may feel unmotivated to go to work, experience trouble sleeping, and struggle to focus on their tasks, believing that their efforts are not making a difference.

Table 1. Types of Therapy Available

Type of Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)

Psychodynamic Therapy

Family Systems Therapy

Marital/Couples Therapy

Group Therapy

Teletherapy

Description

Focuses on identifying and challenging negative thought patterns to influence behavior positively

Used for treating trauma and PTSD by reprocessing distressing memories using eye movements

Encourages acceptance of thoughts and feelings without resistance while focusing on value-driven actions

Combines CBT with mindfulness practices to manage emotional regulation and interpersonal relationships

Focuses on finding solutions in the present time and exploring hopes for the future

Explores unconscious feelings and past traumatic experiences to resolve current psychological issues

Treats family dynamics as a whole, helping resolve conflicts by improving communication and understanding

Focuses on improving communication, resolving conflicts, and fostering emotional intimacy in relationships

Provides support and perspective from peers—ideal for issues like addiction, stress, or trauma

Counseling delivered via HIPPA-compliant online platforms, offering flexibility and accessibility to care

Table 2. Comparison of LP Professionals With and Without Counseling

Criteria

Emotional Regulation

Job Performance

Interaction with Colleagues

Ability to Handle Stressful Situations

Absenteeism

Long-Term Career Stability

Sought Counseling

Improved emotional regulation with coping techniques; able to manage flashbacks and anxiety more effectively

Gradual improvement in job performance; able to focus and meet job expectations after recovery

Healthy interaction with colleagues; more open to communication and teamwork after therapy

Able to manage stressful situations with learned strategies, reducing panic and hypervigilance

Less absenteeism due to fewer PTSD-related symptoms like anxiety and avoidance

Increased likelihood of staying in the profession with stable mental health

4. Acute Stress Disorder (ASD)

l Definition: ASD involves the development of severe anxiety and other symptoms within a month of a traumatic event. Symptoms are similar to PTSD but occur immediately after the trauma and last for a shorter duration.

l Illustration: After witnessing or being involved in a violent confrontation, a loss prevention officer might experience intense distress for a few weeks, including difficulty sleeping, flashbacks to the event, and avoiding the scene of the incident.

5. Substance Use Disorder

l Definition: Substance use disorder occurs when an individual uses drugs or alcohol in a way that causes significant impairment or distress, such as using substances to cope with stress, developing a tolerance, or experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

l Illustration: A loss prevention professional may turn to alcohol or drugs to cope with the high stress and emotional toll of the job. Over time, they may find themselves needing more of the substance to unwind and perform, eventually leading to substance dependence. Each of these disorders are tied to the specific challenges and stressors faced by loss prevention professionals, who work in high-risk, high-stress environments. Recognizing these symptoms early can lead to more effective intervention and recovery. Table 2 highlights the job

Did Not Seek Counseling

Struggles with emotional regulation; frequent outbursts, difficulty controlling anger or anxiety

Declining job performance due to overwhelming stress, concentration difficulties, and avoidance

Distant or strained relationships with colleagues, increasing workplace isolation

Difficulty managing stressful situations, leading to panic attacks or freezing during critical moments

High absenteeism due to frequent anxiety, fear of the workplace, and other PTSD symptoms

High risk of burnout or leaving the profession due to unmanaged PTSD symptoms

relevance of seeking professional counseling for any type of disorder listed in the DSM-5-TR.

Case Study 1: PTSD After a Violent Confrontation

Background: John, a 42-year-old loss prevention manager at a large retail chain, had years of experience handling theft and security breaches. One evening, while confronting a shoplifter, the situation escalated, and the individual pulled out a weapon. Though the event ended without serious injury, John’s mental health took a severe hit. He began experiencing flashbacks,

For loss prevention professionals who may work irregular hours or in remote locations, teletherapy provides flexibility while still offering consistent support.

nightmares, and hypervigilance whenever he was in the store, particularly near the location of the incident.

Symptoms: John showed clear signs of PTSD, including difficulty sleeping, avoiding the site of the confrontation, and increased

anxiety when performing his duties. His family noticed his irritability, and he started isolating himself, even from his colleagues.

Intervention: John’s employer noticed his behavioral changes and encouraged him to seek counseling through an employee assistance program. Through therapy, John received cognitive-behavioral therapy and exposure therapy, which helped him face and process his trauma. Over time, John learned coping mechanisms, such as mindfulness and grounding exercises, to regain control of his work environment without being overcome by flashbacks.

Outcome: After six months of therapy, John returned to a more balanced state. He could continue his work, though he remained vigilant about managing his PTSD symptoms. His workplace supported him by offering adjusted duties and regular check-ins, ensuring he stayed mentally healthy.

Case Study 2: GAD Triggered by Daily Stress

Background: Sarah, a 34-year-old asset protection officer, was responsible for monitoring several high-risk stores in a bustling city. Her job required constant multitasking, and she often worked long hours, covering for colleagues who were absent. Sarah had always been meticulous, but as her workload increased, so did her anxiety. She began to experience symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder, including racing thoughts, difficulty concentrating, and constant worry about whether she was performing well enough.

Symptoms: Sarah’s anxiety was relentless. Even at home, she would worry about potential thefts or security breaches she might have missed. She experienced muscle tension, headaches, and a growing sense of dread every morning before work. Her personal life began to suffer as her focus remained on her job.

Intervention: Sarah sought help after recognizing that her anxiety was impacting her ability to function. She started seeing a therapist who specialized in GAD. Cognitive-behavioral techniques were employed to help her challenge irrational fears and learn stress management strategies. She also began practicing deep breathing exercises and progressive muscle relaxation to calm her anxiety during intense moments at work.

Outcome: Through consistent therapy, Sarah learned to manage her anxiety and set boundaries between work and home life. Her company also adjusted her schedule, ensuring that she could take time off when

Self-Help Groups

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) www.aa.org

Narcotics Anonymous (NA) www.na.org

Gamblers Anonymous (GA) www.gamblersanonymous.org

Al-Anon/Alateen www.al-anon.org

SMART Recovery www.smartrecovery.org

Overeaters Anonymous (OA) www.oa.org

Recovery Dharma www.recoverydharma.org

Emotions Anonymous (EA) www.emotionsanonymous.org

needed and avoid burnout. Sarah continues to use the coping techniques she learned, and she remains effective in her role without feeling overwhelmed.

Conclusion

Loss prevention professionals face unique stressors that can impact their mental health. By understanding the common psychological challenges such as PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, and burnout, both individuals and employers can take steps to ensure early intervention and proper care.

Professional counseling or psychotherapy offers a path to healing, helping professionals cope with the emotional toll of their demanding jobs. As the case studies in this article illustrate, with the right support, individuals can overcome their mental health challenges and continue to thrive in their careers.

Promoting a workplace culture that values mental well-being is not only vital for the health of individuals but also for the long-term success and resilience of the company. l

John W. Jones, PhD, is the Executive Vice President of R&D and Professional Certification Services at FifthTheory, LLC. Dr. Jones is a Licensed Psychologist in Illinois where he provides clinical mental health counseling and business consulting services. He has more than thirty years of experience in loss prevention psychology and is the principal thought leader for FifthTheory’s Psychology Informed Loss Prevention Professional (PI LPP) certification program. His current areas of research include the psychology of workplace violence and incivility, employee theft and collusion, on the job illicit drug use, trauma informed leadership, and teletherapy based EAP services.

What Dragonflies Can Teach Us About Retail Crime

By Barry Mince, CFI, LPC

Dragonflies exhibit fascinating behavioral patterns—they’re incredible creatures. Studies conducted over the last five years indicate that dragonflies possess a brain feature referred to in part as “predictive focus” and “target trajectory,” suggesting that dragonflies can predict the path of both predators and prey, as well as anticipate and estimate future movements and placements of objects.

Recently, I noticed how a dragonfly swarm works in sync, flying in a networked pattern, exchanging touches and communication. Those who took rest did so carefully, ever aware of their surroundings, and taking off at any perceived discontent or threat. What lessons can we learn from dragonflies? We observe many similar patterns in retail crimes, with patterns and rationalizations relative to dynamic phenomena affecting retail crime.

The Psychology of Fraud: Understanding the Risk-Benefit Calculation in Retail Crime

First, let’s explore a simple rationalization of a participant in organized retail crime and fraud, with a money cycle as the overarching theme. This rationalization is relevant to the actions of retail theft and fraud—the “why,” the need, the want, and the challenge. Even these most basic concepts apply in advanced ORC operations, particularly ones involving fraud. The methodology of profiting can act as a separator.

Some participants view fraud as a pastime; others may commit fraud for greed, need, or under pressure. Social media plays an increasingly significant role in this space.

There are elements of planned deception in fraud. Being detected is a risk, but not desired. Fraudsters endure great lengths of work to remain successful, sometimes to spare injury, embarrassment, and most of all, accountability. However, it’s more attractive for fraudsters to persevere because of the perceived low risk. There may be a belief that retailers don’t know about fraud, don’t investigate it, won’t investigate, can’t investigate it, or just do not care. Likewise, a fraudster may not have a level of worry; then, the above is not a concern. This further relates to the expectation of benefits and weighs the level of need and desperation. Relative to the participant, fraudulent actions are fueled by a multitude of factors, both internally and externally. It takes a person to commit the act. Even if that person is not the mastermind, if there is a convenient benefit, then the risk-benefit calculation enters. It is natural for people to calculate risk due to the need to preserve success; we aggressively protect what is financially successful. Just as with our dragonfly friend, there is a of risk vs. benefit and careful evaluation of the setting.

The Art of Deception in Retail Fraud

As linear concepts, if fraud is compared to the physical theft of goods, even

the common booster understands that there is more exposure with the physical theft of goods, and that means a higher probability of being detected and identified. My opinion is that “frauds” are transactional, both as people and as processes. That does not necessarily require the presence of a financial transaction. Fraudsters tend to like getting lost—or wrapped up—in a transaction to make it appear to be something else. Fraudsters and their frauds try to introduce confusion, which allows for the possibility of misinterpretation either by the establishment or the investigator. Fraud likes to have a case of mistaken identity. Fraud likes to hide in the details.

Next, let’s explore the idea that fraudsters invent prescriptions for how to carry out their scheme. As our dragonfly prescribes its approach based on setting, risk, and continuous evaluation, so does a possible offender in retail crime. Our example of fraud is one of several other examples of the risks, calculations, and prescriptive approaches that a participant will consider before and during the action. While one actor may not be exactly like another, just like our dragonfly, each one may use common patterns and rationalizations to accomplish its goals. And while dragonflies may come with the natural ability to form prescriptive focus for survival and success, some of our retail crime actors have gained agility within these themes by encountering

complex dynamics fueled by social and environmental phenomena.

Social Media’s Role in Facilitating Retail Crime

It is increasingly tiresome to contemplate the multi-pronged attack on the retail industry. People minimize what they have done (or are going to do) and rationalize a way to evade personal responsibility. When that is alleviated, there is no perceived harm done. However, the most recent threats come from social media.

Found on social media platforms are online challenges, how-to guides, technical descriptions, and materials reminiscent of recruitment and training—it’s fun, but profitable, so why stop? Then, people minimize what they are doing because their perception is that once it’s done, it’s over, and nothing else happens to anyone because of it. So, they engage in the cycle and the repetition. There is a subscription to convenience. The more convenient the delusions believed by retail crime participants, the more the level of seriousness is minimized. In obsessing over their ledger, many bad actors possibly become trapped in the incessant cycle of money transfer.

The Swarm Mentality: How Fraud Networks Evolve and Adapt

Let’s think back to our dragonfly swarm network. As we imagine the swarm as one among countless others, we can also imagine how it resembles ORC and fraud networks. Retail crime networks often study their surroundings, attempting to prescribe approaches and plans, and perform countersurveillance on the retail system, much like our dragonfly tries to estimate and predict the outcome of its survival based on how it moves, where it lands, and how long it stays. Any threat of discontent can send it flying away, diminishing the potential for analysis and capture. Information is shared among other participants via this network and system of intelligence.

Now, let’s acknowledge some important available data and literature that provides insight into several of these dynamic phenomena. In the 2020

Fraud endures lengths of work to remain stealthily successful—sometimes to spare injury, embarrassment, and most of all, accountability.

Retail crime networks often study their surroundings, attempting to prescribe approaches and plans, and attempting to perform countersurveillance on the retail system, much like our dragonfly tries to estimate and predict the outcome of its survival.

National Retail Security Survey, 33.3 percent of respondents indicated that LP budgets remained flat, despite the same respondents indicating a higher threat level priority from five relevant risk areas, including ORC, e-commerce crime, and internal theft and fraud. Unfortunately, the trend is nothing new. An article published in 1972 by Noel B. Zabriskie, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Maryland, indicated results from a study on consumer fraud, where 12 percent of the observed retail interactions were fraud-related. The same study showed results where the observed retail interactions were “probable fraud of two types,” which included criminal intent. The study implied that stores needed to develop mechanisms to separate legitimate and illegitimate interactions.

Navigating Complex Challenges in Loss Prevention and Retail Investigations

This brings us to acknowledge some key concepts regarding the importance of loss prevention and retail investigations. A short column in LPM from 2022 references Auror Co-CEO Phil Thomson’s confirmation that “key challenges include the surge in aggression and violence in stores, changes in law enforcement response and legislation, impacts of lockdowns, rapid growth in online marketplaces, and the subsequent and continued rise in ORC.” The column also highlights a podcast hosted by Jacque Brittain, LPC, with Scott Pethuyne, LPC, and Molly Pollard (both with Zebra Technologies at the time), in which they explain the challenge of the “do more with less” initiatives by corporate departments. In the podcast, Pethuyne and Pollard both shared insights into the headwinds faced by LP teams in combating retail crimes and added to

the reasons why companies should consider technologies like prescriptive analytics to supplement staffing. Outsmarting the enemy in a changing retail landscape is as important as the correct placement of physical personnel; we should be using all tools available. With ORC and fraud, perhaps retail corporations lack coping mechanisms, which are again amplified by a lack of employees to perform reviews of major theft and fraud incidents.

To further supplement our efforts in outsmarting bad actors, Cory Lowe, PhD, provided a “model of deterrence” in his 2022 LPM article “5D Retail Theft Prevention.” In this model, Lowe emphasizes that strategy must be one where offenders “see it, get it, and fear it.” Noted in Lowe’s presentation of this model is the fact that offenders must believe the solution is a “credible threat.” Aside from this one model, I highly recommend reading Lowe’s entire article.

It’s no secret that social media platforms are bolstering the capabilities of ORC networks and amateur shoplifters. The mechanisms of how this is happening are described beautifully in Neil Spencer’s 2021 LPM article on “alt-tech” social networks. Quoted and

provided below are several excerpts from the article:

“Over the past year, tens of millions of people have abandoned mainstream platforms like Facebook and Twitter. In their place, users have shifted to a growing collection of new offerings that promise less content moderation and more privacy features. That creates new challenges for loss prevention teams. On one hand, more users have turned these alt-tech sites into an invaluable source of threat intelligence. But they can also serve as havens for nefarious groups like cyber criminals, shoplifting rings, and other bad actors.”

Spencer further points out social media platforms that have attracted ORC groups. Of note is the collective of spin-off platforms behaving like a “Shoplifters’ University.” Spencer says, “Organized criminal groups may have once coordinated their activities on mainstream websites. But today, these groups are far more likely to use alternatives... Security teams that fail to monitor these sites could be caught off guard by a threat that they later discover was published right in plain sight.”

These platforms are themselves becoming a phenomenon, complete with all the materials, players, and support needed to maintain behavior inviting of activity, driving retail crime and fraud. Some fraudsters will couple their view of these phenomena (as a means to succeed) with their rationalizations to form patterns.

Consider these final points in Garrett Seivold’s 2022 article in LP Magazine:

“Success here... requires an attack on multiple fronts with a variety of tactics. It demands industry-wide coordination and store-level solutions, high tech investment, and basic protection.” Sievold includes a few points made by Brian Neimeyer in the same article,

where Neimeyer described contributing factors to crime, including “social media facilitating coordination among thieves, lack of enforcement surrounding these types of crimes... fewer consequences for offenders who are caught, and an accessible online marketplace to sell stolen goods.” A suggested strategy from Daniel Binder in the same article is to “continuously align fraud and theft prevention with sales strategies.” It is past time for us to realize that all these concepts are in the employ of businesses and boosters.

Lastly, while data provides valuable scientific insight, it is convenient for us to ignore how much we still do not know. This is best articulated in a 2021 article by Cory Lowe, PhD, and Read Hayes, PhD, that addresses the unknown side of our supporting data and research into ORC networking. According to Lowe and Hayes, “there is simply a lot that we do not know.” The main ideas are that there are still knowledge gaps in our

understanding of ORC, definitional differences need to be accounted for when analyzing data we claim to know, we must consider the section of knowledge we do not know, and we must continue to seek advanced understanding through better research and data.

Practice makes perfect. The rule of persistence and the law of numbers are critical considerations for both investigators and bad actors. One reason why large retailers should have robust investigations departments at all levels of the enterprise is that, when necessary, their capabilities can be used. Thieves are counting on retailers’ lack of awareness or investigative capabilities to succeed. ORC groups are banking on success because they know retailers follow rules and must play catch-up. Where does it stop? When does it end? A theft can take only minutes to conduct, but an investigation takes however long it takes—weeks, months, possibly years.

Eventually, though, luck will run out, time will run out, funds will run out, and greed will take over, causing missteps and negligence. We cannot rest only on these expectations to catch the bad actors. We must be aggressively proactive in the implementation of systems, execution of protection measures, and investigation of exceptions. We must be aggressively reactive by following the trails, leaving no stone unturned, and positioning ourselves well. Surely, we can all remember when we caught a dragonfly or two, can we not? l

Barry Mince, CFI, LPC, is a retail loss prevention professional specializing in investigations and organized retail crime. He serves as vice chair for LAMAORCA and has seventeen years of experience providing retail crime case resolution. Barry actively engages in academic opportunities with ORC, AP industry partnership networking, and investigative interviewing. He is based near New Orleans.

Creating Smarter, Safer, and More Connected Stores

Frontier technologies and advancements in AI are transforming the ways that retailers can address safety and security in their stores—and Verkada is at the forefront of this transformation. There are two foundational elements that are force multipliers for retailers: visual intelligence and the ability to quickly call for help.

Smarter Security with CloudEnabled Visual Intelligence

Verkada’s cloud-enabled video security solutions are revolutionizing the ways that retailers can leverage visual intelligence for safety. With AI and computer vision, retailers have invaluable insight into every stage of a customer’s visit: from license plate recognition at parking entrances to dynamic floor plans, POS integration, and exception-based reporting. AI-powered features like Line-Crossing or Loitering Alerts can automatically flag suspicious behavior during store hours, or be set as alarms after-hours. These alerts can trigger deterrents—like audio

warnings—or notify security teams or law enforcement with a link to a video feed in real time. In cases of repeat shoplifting, intelligent search capabilities like Verkada’s History Player Search feature eliminate the time-consuming process of manually reviewing footage. LP staff can instantly pull up footage of a person of interest saving precious time and improving accuracy in investigations.

Instant Response with Integrated Panic Buttons

The second critical area for retailers is the ability to call for help. Panic buttons offer a fast, discreet way for employees to call for help—and when they are natively integrated with cameras through Verkada’s cloud-based Command platform, they can instantly alert security teams or law enforcement (or both) with a link to a real-time video of the scene. This critical visual context drives efficiency in response and, importantly, helps give staff peace of mind.

Unlocking Operational Efficiency

What’s especially interesting is that the same tools retailers use for safety are also unlocking operational insights. With Verkada’s AI-powered video security cameras, customers are monitoring occupancy trends, dwell time, and foot traffic patterns throughout a store, supporting more efficient staffing, merchandising strategies, and more. As technology continues to evolve, Verkada’s integrated Command platform is giving retailers the solutions to stay ahead—enabling them to create safer, smarter, and more efficient stores.

CAP Index

In Uncertain Times, Smarter Budgeting Starts with Smarter Security Data

Retailers are no strangers to navigating uncertainty—from shifting consumer habits to labor shortages to supply chain disruptions. But today’s economic climate adds a fresh layer of complexity to budgeting decisions. With inflation concerns, unpredictable market conditions, and mounting pressure to do more with less, retail organizations are re-evaluating how they spend across the board, especially when it comes to security.

For retailers managing multiple locations—and often, mobile employees—the challenge isn’t just staying secure, it’s making sure every dollar in the security budget is doing meaningful work. That’s where objective crime risk data becomes a powerful ally. Instead of spreading security resources evenly across all sites or reacting to incidents after the fact, retailers now have the tools to allocate budgets based on actual risk, protecting people, safeguarding profits, and maximizing ROI.

The Cost of Guesswork in Retail Security

A common approach among retail security teams is to start with a baseline level of protection for all stores and make adjustments as incidents occur. While this reactive method might seem practical in the short term, it can quickly become inefficient, especially as organizations expand or risks shift.

Poorly allocated security budgets don’t just waste money; they expose stores to unnecessary losses. Underestimating the risk in a specific location can lead to incidents that harm employees, customers, or your brand reputation. On the other hand, overspending on low-risk sites ties up funds that could be better used elsewhere.

Even worse, ineffective budgeting can threaten future funding. If security leaders can’t clearly demonstrate the value and ROI of their investments, they risk having

their budgets cut in future planning cycles—a dangerous precedent in a retail landscape where threats are growing more complex.

Objective Data: The Foundation of Smarter Budgeting

Retailers don’t need to guess anymore. Tools like CAP Index’s CRIMECAST Reports and Data allow businesses to evaluate the external crime risk at each store, warehouse, office, or service territory—using objective, up-to-date, and location-specific data.

By analyzing crime patterns and trends, retailers can:

l Deploy resources with precision, ensuring the right level of security, in the right places, at the right times.

l Avoid overspending on locations that don’t warrant high security.

l Anticipate and prevent issues rather than simply reacting to them. With objective data, retailers can make informed security decisions and back them up with neutral, third-party justification when advocating for budgets with senior leadership.

Five Ways Crime Risk Data Helps Retailers Optimize Their Budgets

1. More Precise Resource Allocation One-size-fits-all security strategies are a budget killer. CAP Index’s crime risk models help retailers zero in on exactly where—and when—security is most needed. For example, a store may only require added security during certain hours or peak seasons. Middle-risk locations, which often make up the majority of a retailer’s footprint, benefit most from this approach. They’re not

clearly high or low risk, which makes a nuanced, data-driven plan essential.

2. Smarter Site Selection and Expansion

Retail real estate is a long-term investment, and the security risk profile of a location can dramatically impact operating costs. CAP Index helps internal real estate teams factor risk into their site selection process. This not only helps predict necessary security investments and potential loss prevention costs but also strengthens negotiations with landlords. Retailers can make more confident decisions about where and when to expand based on real crime risk data.

3. Proactive Property Management

Vandalism, break-ins, and loitering can rack up maintenance and operational costs. With localized crime data, property managers can better anticipate issues and prioritize upkeep in higher-risk locations. A proactive stance prevents small problems from escalating, protecting the bottom line and ensuring a safer, more welcoming customer experience.

4. Targeted HR and Operations Strategies

Crime data isn’t just for security teams, HR and operations leaders can also use it to protect frontline workers. Knowing which stores or regions have elevated risk allows for tailored training and intervention

strategies, like de- escalation tactics or increased staff presence during certain hours. These strategies not only reduce incidents but help improve employee morale and retention in challenging environments.

5. Safer Mobile Teams

Retail is more mobile than ever. Delivery drivers, service technicians, merchandizers, and auditors regularly work off-site—often alone. CAP Index data helps organizations build safety protocols and determine cost- effective security options for mobile employees based on the areas they serve. This is especially valuable as retailers grow curbside pickup and last-mile delivery services in urban markets with varying crime levels.

Budgeting in a Volatile Economy: Why Now Is the Time

Economic uncertainty makes all spending feel riskier, which is exactly why data-driven budgeting is so critical right now. Retailers that use objective crime data to inform their security strategies are better positioned to:

l Defend budgets with clear, measurable data.

l Avoid costly mistakes tied to outdated or anecdotal information.

l Demonstrate ROI across departments, from security to HR to real estate. This approach isn’t just about cutting costs—it’s about maximizing impact. When resources are allocated based on need, every dollar stretches further, and retailers can maintain—or even enhance—protection without unnecessary overspending.

Regular Reassessment: The Secret Weapon

Crime risk is dynamic. What was true a year ago may not be true today. That’s why data-driven security budgeting isn’t a one-and-done exercise. Retailers should reassess crime data annually, or more frequently in volatile areas, to ensure their strategy reflects the current landscape. However, it’s also important not to overreact to short-term changes. An uptick in incidents might reflect a temporary situation, not a long-term trend. That’s why working with expert data models like those from CAP Index helps separate the noise from the signal, offering actionable insight instead of guesswork.

From Security to Strategy

Ultimately, crime risk data isn’t just a security tool—it’s a strategic asset. By incorporating it into broader business planning, retailers can:

l Avoid blind spots in budgeting.

l Coordinate cross-departmental initiatives.

l Bolster employee and customer confidence.

l Protect long-term brand health. Especially in uncertain times, knowledge is power, and objective data is the key to smarter decisions. Whether you’re trimming expenses, expanding cautiously, or simply looking to optimize how you operate, aligning your security budget with actual risk is a smart move that pays off financially and operationally. To learn more, visit capindex.com/ industries/. l

See how our risk model reduced security costs for a leading food retailer by more than 25%.

Checkpoint Systems

RFID in the Retail Supply Chain: Driving Efficiency, Accuracy, and Loss Prevention

The retail supply chain is undergoing a transformation with RFID technology at the forefront of this evolution. As the industry adapts to increasing complex, multi-channel fulfillment and rising consumer expectations, RFID solutions are becoming essential for retailers seeking to enhance visibility, improve accuracy and streamline operations. RFID technology has emerged as a powerful tool to address these challenges, providing retailers with a high-level of precision and efficiency.

While RFID is not a new technology in retail, its implementation has evolved significantly in recent years. The pace at which retailers are adopting RFID solutions is accelerating, leading to transformative impacts across various segments of the industry. Checkpoint Systems is witnessing a surge in RFID adoption across multiple retail categories including multi-brand retailers, large wholesalers, and businesses looking to enhance supply chain security and loss prevention. These advancements are revolutionizing supply chain operations and enabling retailers to streamline

processes, optimize inventory management, and reduce shrinkage.

The Shift in RFID Adoption Among Multi-Brand Retailers

One of the most significant trends in RFID adoption is its growing use among multi-brand retailers. Traditionally, these retailers relied on their suppliers to tag products at the store level, allowing them to track product movement on the selling floor. However, there has been a fundamental shift towards pushing RFID deeper into distribution centers for enhanced inbound and outbound authentication. This transition enables retailers to achieve greater visibility into their inventory and improve overall supply chain efficiency.

Even in hybrid environments where some items are RFID-tagged while others are

not, innovative supply chain solutions can differentiate between tagged and untagged products. This ensures virtually absolute visibility into the movement of products while maintaining standard procedures for untagged items. The result is a streamlined process that optimizes labor, enhances accuracy, and provides automated validation of received shipments and ready-to-ship orders.

Streamlining Shipments from Dock to Door

Ensuring accuracy in inbound and outbound shipments is crucial for retailers. When shipments arrive from vendor partners, it is essential to verify that each carton or pallet contains exactly what was ordered. Without proper validation, errors can lead to stock inaccuracies, backorders, or lost sales, which

can have a significant impact on revenue and customer satisfaction. RFID can help eliminate these issues and provide highly accurate shipment verification through RFID scanning. By implementing RFID scanning in distribution facilities, retailers can match incoming shipments against expected delivery manifests, ensuring that all received goods align with purchase orders. This automated verification process reduces the need for labor-intensive manual audits, minimizes errors, and accelerates the receiving process. Retailers with extensive vendor networks particularly benefit from this efficiency, as it saves both time and resources.

Similarly, outbound validation ensures that shipments leaving the distribution centers are accurate and complete. As e-commerce continues to grow, retailers must manage an increasing number of direct-to-consumer shipments and store replenishment orders. By validating outbound cartons and pallets with RFID, retailers can prevent shipping errors that lead to dissatisfied customers and inventory shortages. Store personnel also benefit from RFID-enabled shipments, as they can quickly integrate incoming inventory with minimal manual scanning—significantly improving operational efficiency.

Optimizing Supply Chains with RFID: The Rise of Case and Pallet Tagging

While RFID has traditionally been applied at the item level in stores, an increasing number of retailers are now implementing RFID solutions at the case and pallet levels. Brands supplying major retailers can leverage case or pallet tagging to ensure shipment accuracy and avoid costly chargebacks.

Case- and pallet-level RFID tagging provides multiple advantages, including improved shipment authentication and

enhanced supply chain visibility. By scanning tagged cases and pallets in bulk, employees can efficiently build shipments while reducing the risk of packing errors. Stores receiving these shipments can verify their contents quickly, ensuring that the right products are sent to the correct locations. This level of precision is essential for retailers looking to transition seamlessly between physical and digital sales channels.

Additionally, case- and pallet-level RFID tagging enables retailers to collect valuable data on product movement throughout the supply chain. By tracking when and where a pallet was prepared, how it moved through distribution channels, and when it arrived at its destination, retailers can gain actionable insights to optimize inventory management. Over time, this data-driven approach enhances supply chain efficiency and improves overall business operations. As organizational capabilities and budgets expand, retailers can transition to full item-level tagging to further enhance visibility and control over their inventory.

Fostering Security Through RFID-Based Loss Prevention

Beyond operational efficiency, RFID technology plays a crucial role in strengthening loss prevention across the retail supply chain. Distribution centers, like physical stores, are vulnerable to internal shrinkage, lost merchandise and other types of inventory loss. By implementing RFID readers at key exit points—such as employee locker rooms, loading docks and warehouse exits—retailers can intercept unauthorized movement of tagged merchandise and prevent theft.

RFID-based security measures serve as both a deterrent and an active tracking tool. If a tagged product moves into a restricted

area or leaves the facility without proper authorization, the system triggers an alert, allowing security personnel to investigate the situation immediately. This approach helps prevent theft, reduce shrinkage, and ensure that valuable merchandise remains within the supply chain.

Furthermore, RFID technology can be used to track high-value business assets such as barcode scanners, mobile computers, and handheld devices. These tools are essential for daily operations and their loss can disrupt workflows and incur unnecessary costs. RFID-enabled audits allow retailers to quickly verify the location and status of critical equipment, ensuring that essential resources are accounted for at all times.

The Future of RFID in Retail Logistics

The widespread adoption of RFID technology is indicative of a broader shift in how retailers view supply chain management. Rather than perceiving RFID as a niche tool for in-store inventory tracking, businesses are recognizing its value as a comprehensive solution that enhances accuracy, efficiency and security across the entire supply chain.

As RFID technology continues to evolve, its applications in retail logistics will expand further. Advancements in RFID tag affordability, improved scanning infrastructure, and integration with AI-driven analytics are comprised to drive even greater adoption. Future innovations may lead to fully automated RFID solutions that seamlessly integrate with robotic systems, optimizing warehouse operations and fulfillment processes.

For now, the immediate benefits of RFID adoption—enhanced accuracy, reduced labor costs, improved security, and data-driven decision-making—are compelling enough for retailers to invest in the technology. Checkpoint Systems is at the forefront of these advancements helping businesses implement, manage and optimize RFID solutions tailored to their unique challenges.

RFID has proven to be a game-changer in retail logistics, providing unprecedented clarity in product and asset movement. By embracing RFID solutions, retailers can enhance their ability to respond to customer demands, safeguard inventory from loss, and improve overall operational resilience. As supply chains become increasingly complex, RFID stands as a critical enabler of efficiency and security, helping retailers navigate the challenges of modern retail with confidence. l

SOMETHING GOOD

LP Magazine is recognizing the unsung heroes of the loss prevention and asset protection industry. In this ongoing column, we highlight those who are going above and beyond to help their community and world around them to be a better place. Whether it be an individual or a team, donating time, money, or bringing joy to others—we want to say, “thank you” and let our readers get to know you better. To nominate an individual or an entire LP team, fill out the form at losspreventionmagazine.com/something-good.

Getting to the Heart of the Matter

HScan the QR code to learn more about the AHA and how you can help.

aving a good heart is a quality that is deeply admired by just about everyone. Those selfless individuals who show kindness, compassion, and empathy toward others make the world a better place, seizing opportunities to make a positive impact and often inspiring others to be more caring, considerate, and generous. They are always the first to lend a hand to those in need. They listen, practice forgiveness, and show respect toward the people around them. They strive to be better, but also feel genuine joy in the happiness of others.

Of course, having a good heart is incredibly important in other ways as well. Beating about 2.5 billion times over the average lifetime and pushing millions of gallons of blood to every part of the body, a strong and healthy heart ensures efficient circulation, providing the body with the energy it needs to perform daily activities while delivering oxygen and nutrients and removing the waste products of metabolism. Without a healthy heart, your body cannot function properly.

The Dilemma

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. The term “heart disease” refers to a combination of several types of heart conditions, the most common being coronary artery disease, which affects the blood flow to the heart and can cause a heart attack.

“As the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke, for more than 100 years the American Heart Association (AHA) has been striving to save and improve lives,” reveals Brianna Demotto, development director with the AHA in Madison, Wisconsin. “Funding and volunteer efforts are deeply critical to achieving these goals, supporting awareness, research and development, and other essential initiatives.”

Annual Golf Outing and Heart Walk

That’s what makes the contributions of the team at Blain’s Farm & Fleet so important. Working closely with the AHA, they host an annual golf event, the Bert Blain Shootout, to raise funds and awareness to bolster longer and healthier lives. Through fundraising, raffles, auctions, and other charitable donations, the event has become a cornerstone of support for the AHA in the community. Along with the annual Bert Blain Memorial Heart Walk, they have raised more than $6.8 million over the past 30-plus years to support lifesaving research, advocacy for healthier communities, and improved patient care while providing equitable health opportunities for everyone.

“For many years, Dan Boutelle has been the driving force behind the Bert Blain Shootout Golf Outing,” says Demotto. “This iconic event has become a cornerstone of support for the AHA in the Madison and Milwaukee markets. Through this tireless commitment and leadership, the event has become a powerful force in advancing the mission of the AHA, providing vital support and hope to families impacted by heart disease and stroke across the community.”

“It’s an honor to be a part of this lifesaving mission,” says Dan Boutelle, physical security/LP technology manager at Blain’s Farm & Fleet. “Advocating for healthier communities, lifesaving research, and improved care is something we can all get behind. Nothing unites us like doing good together.”

Additional Steps

But the impact doesn’t stop there. Blain’s has also installed automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in every store, distribution center, and the corporate office—a lifesaving initiative that is already paying dividends. “We encourage all our store managers to be CPR certified and AED trained,” Boutelle continues. “This has directly resulted in eight lives being saved in our stores since the program started.”

A good heart is a tremendous benefit. Demonstrating the spirit of service and dedication, Dan and his colleagues at Blain’s Farm & Fleet are seamlessly blending professional expertise with a personal mission to create a healthier and safer world. These remarkable efforts demonstrate how such dedication can create a lasting ripple effect that benefits an organization, a community, and beyond. l

Dan Boutelle

The Bert Blain Shootout raises funds and awareness to bolster longer and healthier lives.

Outdated techniques don’t stand up to modern, evidence-based methods. Today’s investigations demand more than intuition and pressure—they require strategy, structure, and skill. It’s time to stop playing games and enroll in a WZ Investigative Interviewing techniques course to learn ethical, effective techniques that lead to reliable results.

If you haven’t experienced the latest in WZ training ... It’s time to stop playing games. Get back into a WZ training class and refresh your skills with the latest, research-backed methods!

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Make the right move.

Whether you prefer the energy of an in-person class or the convenience of live virtual training, getting WZ trained has never been easier. Choose the format that works for you—and walk away with the skills to conduct better interviews.

RESEARCH BASED

STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION

CERTIFICATION

The Loss Prevention Foundation (LPF) is a leader in educating and certifying retail loss prevention and asset protection professionals by providing relevant, convenient, and challenging educational resources. The LPF is dedicated to elevating the industry through its accredited LPQualified and LPCertified courses. For more information, visit losspreventionfoundation.org.

Spotlighting Loss Prevention Certified Professionals

TJX

I recently completed the LPQ, and it was an exceptional learning experience. The course content was meticulously structured, offering a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. The material was thoughtfully designed, covering critical aspects of loss prevention with both depth and clarity, which allowed me to apply the concepts effectively. This course has significantly enhanced my skills and confidence in implementing loss prevention strategies. I now feel well prepared to tackle a variety of challenges that may arise, and I highly recommend these courses to anyone seeking to excel in this field.

Elias Zavala, LPC The Home Depot

Enrolling in the LPC course through the Loss Prevention Foundation was a transformative experience. The course was comprehensive, covering topics ranging from risk management to security technology and shrinkage control. It challenged me to think critically about loss prevention strategies and apply advanced concepts to real-world scenarios.

The exam tested my ability to analyze complex situations and make informed decisions, encouraging me to deepen my knowledge and identify areas for growth. Earning the LPC certification has significantly boosted both my confidence and leadership skills, allowing me to approach challenges with a more strategic mindset. This certification has enhanced my professional credibility and opened new career opportunities. I highly recommend the LPC to anyone seeking to advance in the field of loss prevention.

ThinkLP

As someone new to the loss prevention world, the LPQ course was instrumental in helping me understand key concepts, metrics, priorities, and their overall impact. It enabled me to have more informed and effective conversations with my customers. Ultimately, this has allowed me to build stronger relationships and better align with the matters most important to my customer portfolio.

Ross Kloeber, LPQ The Home Depot

The LPQ curriculum is well structured, covering essential topics such as operational controls, investigations, auditing, and safety procedures. It helped me develop a deeper understanding of the challenges faced in retail security and how to implement effective loss prevention strategies.

What I appreciated most was the course’s practical approach—combining theoretical knowledge with real-world applications. Whether you’re new to the field or looking to advance your career, the LPQ certification is an excellent investment in professional development. Earning my LPQ has not only enhanced my expertise but also opened doors to new opportunities within the industry. I feel more confident in my role and well prepared to tackle loss prevention challenges.

I highly recommend this certification to anyone serious about a career in loss prevention.

Michael Benninger, LPC Blaue Linie Investigations

Going through the LPC course allowed me to expand my knowledge of retail operations and enhance my skillset in loss prevention. Earning the LPC has given me the opportunity to make a greater impact on day-to-day operations and beyond.

Samantha McCauley, LPQ ThinkLP

In my role, I have the privilege of working closely with loss prevention leaders across various industries. The LPQ course provided not only a strong foundation in core loss prevention principles but also a deeper appreciation for the complexity and significance of their work.

It gave me the tools to better understand the challenges they face every day—whether managing shrink, supporting investigations, or driving safety and compliance—and how I can be a more effective partner in helping them achieve their goals. This course is a must for anyone looking to truly align with and support LP professionals.

John-Paul Bonilla, LPC, LPQ T-Mobile

The loss prevention industry often feels segmented, forcing LP professionals into silos that can restrict their potential and hinder the growth and success of the field as a whole. Whether you come from big box, specialty retail, a distribution center, or another environment, the LPC course does a phenomenal job of breaking down those barriers.

It presents a wealth of knowledge across industry formats and—perhaps even more impressively—demonstrates how to practically apply what we’re learning while more effectively leveraging our own experience. I strongly encourage all LP professionals to take this course, whether you’re just starting out or have decades of experience under your belt.

Newly Certified

The following are individuals who recently earned their certifications.

Recent LPC Recipients

Michael Benninger, LPC, Blaue Linie Investigations

Francis Sorrentino, LPC

Fabiola Loza, LPC, Discovery Clothing

Kristi Overby, LPC, LPQ, Motorola Solutions

Mikala Ochs, LPC, Bealls

Will Rutty, LPC, REI

Kate Dube, LPC, REI

Chris Butts, LPC, REI

Elias Zavala, LPC, The Home Depot

John-Paul Bonilla, LPC, LPQ, T-Mobile

Gina Stephens, LPC, Purpose Financial/Advance America

Andrew Barborak, LPC, REI

Lucas Jenswold, LPC, LPQ, Festival Foods

Fernando Martinez, LPC, Burlington Stores

Louis Shi, LPQ, LPC, TJX

Kayla Carey, LPC, LPQ, Festival Foods

Steve McCluskey, LPC, PetSmart

Quinn Law, LPC, Lowe’s

Timothy Garvin, LPC, AAFES - Army Air Force Exchange Service

Veronika Antoniotti, LPC, ORIS Media

Bradley Zaretsky, LPC, Whole Foods Market

David Saleaumua, LPC, Bealls

Wade Cupkie, CFE, CFI, LPC, Fiserv

Stephanie Rigby, LPC, Walgreens

Dillon Wadsworth, LPC, The Home Depot

Sean Anselmo, LPC, OnTrac

Steven Torrez, LPC, Kohl’s

Cody Duncan, LPC, Cresco Labs

Recent LPQ Recipients

Ramnath Kamakoti, LPQ, Target

Robert Munger, LPQ, University of Cincinnati

David Zeleny, LPQ, ThinkLP

Nash Brunner, LPQ, University of Cincinnati

Bennett Rowland, LPQ, University of Cincinnati

Ross Kloeber, LPQ, The Home Depot

Mark Bell, LPQ, California State Agency

Brian O’Keefe, LPQ, ALTO

Melissa Martinez, LPQ, Goodwill Industries of South Texas

Dave McLean, LPQ, Sony Pictures

Entertainment

Cole Carthern, LPQ, TJX

Ashton McNeal, LPQ, TJX

Cole Schreiner, LPQ, The GIANT Company

McKenzie Perdue, LPQ, TJX

Abril Farias, LPQ, TJX

Mackinley Magner, LPQ, TJX

William Greene, LPQ, TJX

Jordan Dolan, LPQ, TJX

Alexandra Code, LPQ, ThinkLP

Adam Contois, LPQ, ThinkLP

Amber Hart, LPQ, Envysion

Sam McCauley, LPQ, ThinkLP

Mustafa Tasabat, LPQ, ThinkLP

Jaison Joy, LPQ, ThinkLP

Stephen Small, LPQ, ThinkLP

Nicole Marshall, LPQ, ThinkLP

Lewis Tillman, LPQ, Papa John’s

James Harmon, LPQ, TJX

Leonardo Lawrence, LPQ, TJX

Devin Brooks-Henderson, LPQ, TJX

Brendan Moretti, LPQ, TJX

Lawrence Napoli, LPQ, TJX

Douglas Walker, LPQ, TJX

Beth Lyons-Lewis, LPQ, TJX

Melanie Haegele, LPQ, TJX

Stephenie Puente, LPQ, TJX

John Morris, LPQ, ALTO

Nathan Aehle, LPQ, ALTO

Simon Isham, LPQ, ALTO

Matthew Bradds, LPQ, The Home Depot

Danielle Walsh, LPQ, ALTO

Christie Desouza, LPQ

Garett Matthews, LPQ

Zachary McCullough, LPQ, Fred Meyer

Lauren Carman, LPQ

Simone Harris, LPQ

Chloe VanStone, LPQ

Anne Livingood, LPQ

Noah Covell, LPQ

Will Tippett, LPQ

Jordan Hamilton, LPQ

Michael Hauge, LPQ, 7-Eleven

Henry Fuselier, III, LPQ

Christopher Conley, LPQ, Meijer

Steven Fisher, LPQ, Academy Sports + Outdoors l

200+ exhibitors

3 days

27 sessions 50+ speakers

CIS Security Solutions

Retail Under Siege: The Rise of ORC and the Tech Fighting Back

There are many methods of organized retail crime-from the more subtle method of befriending cashiers to get information, fraudulent returns or pickups, and The Shopping List to the sometimes violent and destructive flash mobs, sweeps, or smash-and-grabs. ORC groups often target specific, highly desired merchandise known to be easily resold, such as baby clothes, electronics, cosmetics, health and beauty products, and high-end fashion merchandise.

The current luxury handbag market in the US is estimated to be worth about $13 billion and is projected to grow to $20 billion by 2030. As an accessory item, luxury handbags can be one of the most expensive items that women accessorize with, after jewelry. Major fashion houses like Dior, Gucci, Hermes, Valentino, Chloe, Louis Vuitton, and others sell luxury handbags for prices ranging from hundreds to millions of dollars.

We’ve all seen flash mobs stealing luxury handbags online, on TV, or in person. It starts with several bodies moving in tandem. Maybe they are already positioned in the fashion retail store ready to move, sometimes they rush into stores like a scene from a heist movie. They’re part of a calculated operation. This is organized retail crime in 2025.

In a matter of seconds, designer shoes, handbags, and clothing are swept into arms and bags. Then, just as quickly, this mob scatters and disappears, leaving empty racks and shelves behind—in and out in just under two minutes. The thieves have found that stealing luxury handbags and clothing is more lucrative than robbing a bank.

Thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars of merchandise is lost in a matter of seconds. Employees are in shock, shaken by the sudden turmoil and how fast this coordinated attack happened. And what happens to the merchandise? It is already on its way to the online and black market pipelines before store managers can even fill out the forms and file a report.

However, the retail industry isn’t just standing by and watching it happen. They are fighting back on multiple fronts through a combination of technology, partnerships with law enforcement, and proactive security measures, including tethering the products to the fixtures.

Innovation Born from Urgency CIS Security Solutions creates solutions that help our clients protect their valuable assets. We offer products that are economical, sustainable, and quick to achieve return on investment while securing valuable merchandise at the Zone 1 level, at the fixture. We have become a leader in innovation, and the evolution of our products has been saving our clients millions of dollars per year, while preventing loss of assets and increasing sales.

Many years ago, our clients told us they were having problems with luxury handbag thefts. They were running cables through the handles of multiple handbags to secure them, but thieves were cutting the cables and taking all the handbags at

one time. Sometimes they were unnoticed because no one was around to see them until they escaped through a fire exit or pushed a full cart out of the door, setting off the alarms. By then it was too late to catch them as they drove off in the vehicle waiting for them near the exit.

We had ideas for products years ago, but technology had to catch up first. By 2022, development was underway on the Gen6 SP (Smart Padlock), a new generation tether that connects to a smart padlock tag via a sleek plug-in system, creating a multi-alarmed circuit from tether to padlock tag. It had to be intuitive, secure, and built for speed. Early models showed promise in lab tests, but the true trial came in multi-store pilot programs. Results from the pilot tests were analyzed and we made some changes, with the valuable input from our clients.

No Pins. No False Alarms. No Nonsense.

In 2023, the Slide Padlock Tag was born. With a smooth locking slot, the Gen6 SP tether slides and secures in place right into the Smart Padlock Tag—simple for staff, impossible for thieves. It features dual-frequency EAS technology and an IR detacher safeguard, so any unauthorized attempt to remove the tag or tether sets off a piercing alarm.

And best of all? Associates can now remove or transfer merchandise with ease using an all-in-one decoder. One press deactivates the alarm and releases the Slide Tag from the tether; plug into a new Slide Tag and the alarm is instantly reactivated. Customers still get to feel, try on, and interact with the merchandise while the item remains fully protected and secure. Security no longer comes at the cost of customer experience.

Securing the Rack: Meet “The Boot”

But locking down individual items was just the beginning. What about when multiple high-value items are displayed on shared fixtures like 4-way racks and H-racks?

Enter The Boot. The Boot is a rugged security solution built to secure up to 10 Gen6 SP recoiling tethers directly to a store fixture. The first prototype looked like something from a dystopian workshop: metal plates, bulky screws, and a vibe somewhere between Mad Max and Steam Punk. It worked—one store saw a return on investment within 24 hours of installing it. Engineers then refined the design into a clean, solid unit that fits seamlessly around fixture legs, using just two security screws and top-and-bottom swivel locks. The latest version installs in minutes and has now been deployed across 2,000-plus retail locations in the US and Canada with more rolling out every month.

A Safer, Smarter Shopping Experience

High-volume theft, once considered an inevitable loss, is no longer untouchable. Retailers are pushing back with innovation that works behind the scenes—making stores safer, smarter, and ready for whatever the next wave of organized retail crime throws at them.

The takeaway? High fashion may still be vulnerable to theft trends, but thanks to evolving retail security tech like The Boot with Gen6 SP Slide, luxury handbags and clothing are no longer vulnerable to ORC mobs, yet they ARE accessible to customers.

What’s Next?

The proof of concept is there. The ROI is there. Loss percentages are falling while sales are rising as our products protect the merchandise. As our retailers’ needs arise, we can adapt and create solutions to protect their merchandise. As the needs of our clients evolve, so will we and so will our products.

What are your needs? What are your wants? Let’s have a chat and find the right solution for you. Call 772-287-7999 or email info@cisssinc.com. l

CONTROLTEK

Authorized Presence Detection: A Smarter, Privacy-First Approach to Retail Security

In today’s fast-paced retail environment, staying ahead of safety and security challenges takes more than traditional surveillance—it requires a smarter, more proactive approach. As threats become more sophisticated, retailers must rethink how they protect their stores, people, and products by shifting from reactive systems to intelligent, real-time solutions designed for modern retail.

CONTROLTEK is leading this shift by combining artificial intelligence, spatial awareness, and identity recognition into a single, holistic platform that delivers smarter security without compromising

privacy. At the core of this approach is an advanced system that fuses ToF LiDAR and RFID technologies through AI-driven processing—creating a dynamic solution that empowers retailers with real-time visibility, accurate presence detection, and proactive detection of unauthorized individuals in sensitive areas.

Understanding the Technology: ToF LiDAR Meets RFID

At the heart of this solution lies a sophisticated fusion of ToF LiDAR and RFID technologies. While each is effective on its own, their integration creates a new

level of accuracy and adaptability for retail environments.

ToF LiDAR, which stands for Time of Flight Light Detection and Ranging, uses laser light to measure distances and detect movement. By emitting light pulses and measuring how long they take to bounce back from objects, ToF LiDAR creates highly accurate three-dimensional maps of any space. In retail, this means generating a detailed, real-time model of a store’s environment—including the presence and motion of individuals within it.

More importantly, ToF LiDAR does not rely on traditional video surveillance. It

doesn’t capture facial features or record identifiable video footage. Instead, it collects point-cloud data—a representation of spatial presence that tracks how people move without revealing who they are. This not only protects individual privacy but also ensures that monitoring remains compliant in sensitive environments.

RFID, or Radio Frequency Identification, complements ToF LiDAR by providing identity verification. Employees or authorized personnel are issued RFID tags—typically embedded in badges, access cards, or vendor passes—that are read by strategically placed RFID readers when someone enters or exits a monitored zone.

When the system detects a person through ToF LiDAR and matches that presence with a corresponding RFID tag, access is confirmed. But if someone appears in a restricted area without an authorized RFID signal, the system identifies them as unknown or unauthorized—triggering a real-time alert.

Closing the Gaps in Traditional Security

Many traditional retail security systems rely heavily on video surveillance, which can come with limitations. Cameras may miss critical areas like back-of-house zones, stockrooms, or employee breakrooms. Reviewing video footage is often time-consuming and reactive, rather than real-time. And in many jurisdictions, video monitoring in certain areas may be restricted or raise ethical concerns.

This Authorized Presence Detection solution fills those gaps by offering a non-invasive, always-on method of monitoring without capturing images or audio. It can be deployed in areas where video surveillance isn’t appropriate, providing an added layer of security while maintaining compliance with privacy laws and internal policies.

In addition, the solution is scalable and flexible. It can be customized to monitor specific zones—like sensitive storage rooms or entry points to restricted areas. It can also integrate seamlessly with broader security infrastructure.

Built with Privacy in Mind

Perhaps one of the most compelling features of this solution is its privacy-first approach. By avoiding the use of cameras, video, or facial recognition technology, this system eliminates many of the legal, ethical, and bias-related concerns commonly associated with video surveillance. This makes it an ideal choice for areas where video isn’t permitted or

appropriate—like back-of-house zones, employee spaces, or customer-facing areas where privacy is a top priority.

In an era where data privacy is under increasing scrutiny, solutions that prioritize privacy while still delivering robust security are a welcome evolution. This technology empowers retailers to maintain trust while reinforcing their security efforts.

RFID-Powered Versatility Beyond Detection

Unlike traditional sensors, this RFID-based solution goes beyond simple detection, leveraging RFID technology to deliver both security and operational value. Beyond its role in identifying authorized personnel and powering the detection system, the same RFID infrastructure can be used for a variety of retail applications—such as real-time inventory tracking, asset management, and advanced loss prevention analytics. This multifunctional approach allows retailers to get more out of a single investment, creating operational efficiencies while gaining deeper visibility into merchandise movement and store operations.

Real-Time Detection, Real-Time Response

Retailers adopting this advanced solution gain several operational advantages. Real-time alerts mean security teams can act the moment an unauthorized presence is detected—rather than discovering an issue after the fact. The system supports remote monitoring, allowing store or regional managers to stay informed even when offsite. And by learning behavioral patterns and adjusting its sensitivity accordingly, the system reduces alert fatigue and streamlines response workflows.

In short, this solution is not just a passive observer—it’s an intelligent partner in protecting people, property, and products.

Advanced Sensor Fusion & Integration

Through the use of sensor fusion, meaning it can be connected with a wide array of systems to create a fully integrated security network, the solution can be integrated into your existing ecosystem. Whether it’s a Video Management System (VMS), a Public Address (PA) system, or an audible alarm, the platform can trigger alerts exactly where and when they matter. Notifications can be configured to reach store personnel, security teams, or remote monitoring centers—via loudspeaker, text message, email, or any alerting method

your team already uses. It’s designed to fit into your current ecosystem and extend your visibility across the store environment.

Key Benefits at a Glance

To summarize, this next-generation solution delivers:

l Real-time spatial detection using LiDAR to track the movement and presence of individuals

l Identity verification through RFID, confirming whether individuals are authorized to enter sensitive areas

l AI-driven intelligence that learns patterns, flags anomalies, and reduces false positives

l Instant alerts for timely intervention

l Privacy-preserving design suitable for non-surveillance zones

l Support for broader security integration including VMS, PA systems, and alarm triggers

l Multi-use RFID infrastructure that extends beyond security to inventory and operational efficiency

A Smarter Future for Retail Security

As retail security continues to evolve, solutions that blend technology, intelligence, and privacy will shape the future. By combining AI with ToF LiDAR and RFID, this system sets a new standard in proactive and responsive security. Retailers looking to modernize their security infrastructure and protect what matters most now have a smart, scalable option built for today’s challenges while evolving for tomorrow’s challenges.

Built by Experts, Designed Around You

At CONTROLTEK, we have a team of experts in RFID technology, who work closely with our clients to understand their unique challenges and then build tailored solutions that meet those needs. By leveraging RFID and other advanced technologies across multiple use cases—from security to inventory management—we help retailers streamline operations, reduce shrink, improve safety, and gain deeper insights into their business. Our customer-first approach ensures that every solution is both practical and powerful.

Want to learn how this solution can impact your store? Contact us today at sales@controltekusa.com. l

The LP Magazine Founders’ Awards offer a means to celebrate industry accomplishments on an ongoing basis, recognizing the loss prevention professionals, teams, solution providers, law enforcement partners, and others who demonstrate a stellar contribution to the profession.

LPM Founders’ Awards Celebrate Industry Professionals

The ability to influence change is a product of drive, creativity, and determination, but it also requires a unique ability to create a shared vision that others will understand, respect, support, and pursue. Each of the following recipients reflects that standard of excellence, representing the quality and spirit of leadership that makes a difference in our lives, people, and programs. Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of our latest honorees.

EXCELLENCE IN LEADERSHIP

Joe Laufenberg, LPC Senior Director of Asset Protection at Festival Foods

EXCELLENCE IN LEADERSHIP

Scott McBride Chief Global Asset Protection Officer and Chief Security Officer at American Eagle Outfitters

“My greatest accomplishments will always be the moments when someone reaches out and tells me I made a difference in their life,” says Laufenberg. “Helping others find purpose and meaning in their work and aligning their talents to areas where they can make a real impact on the business is what I’m most proud of. Those moments stay with me more than any metric or milestone.”

Joe began his career in asset protection while attending college and quickly found it was something he truly enjoyed. He built Festival Foods’ loss LP program from the ground up, developing a team and a department that has steadily expanded its scope. “I’ve stayed in the field because I’ve always loved the variety of the work and the opportunity to see the positive impact we’re making in the business. Every day brings a new challenge, and that’s what continues to drive me.”

Reflecting on the qualities of leadership, Laufenberg feels he has learned a tremendous amount from his own experiences. “I’ve had the opportunity to work with many great leaders throughout my career. What stands out most is how they meet their team where they’re at. They take the time to understand their people beyond a transactional level. They learn their values, recognize what makes them unique, and help them align their strengths with the work. They lead with authenticity and create an environment where others can be their true selves.”

“Leadership isn’t about position or hierarchy—it’s about being a leader among leaders. They ask questions, listen first, stay humble and hungry, and empower their team to take ownership. They don’t just accept change—they lead through it. That’s the kind of leader I work to be, because at the end of the day, it’s about making a difference in the lives of others.”

“I believe in the inherent leadership of every team member, regardless of their role,” says McBride. “Each person possesses unique skills. Our responsibility as leaders is to identify and amplify these strengths, fostering an environment where individuals can achieve their full potential. By doing so, we not only drive success—but also fulfill a profound purpose.”

Scott feels that his experience with the United States Marine Corps forged his core principles, which include an attention to detail, decisive action, and the understanding of organizational dynamics. “My journey was built on a foundation of discipline, leadership, and a relentless drive for excellence. I then expanded my skillset through education and diverse roles in construction and corporate sales, but it was a part-time position at American Eagle Outfitters that brought me into the world of retail. I quickly excelled, leveraging my interpersonal skills and operational acumen to rise through the ranks to store manager.”

Transitioning to a publicly traded company in 1995, the need for robust accountability and compliance at American Eagle became paramount. Recognizing the value of a dedicated asset protection function, the new CEO and newly appointed LP director turned to proven leaders from the store management ranks to pioneer the company’s LP department, which marked the beginning of Scott’s LP career. As his journey continued, he was appointed director of LP in 2007, eventually culminating in his appointment as chief global asset protection officer and chief security officer in 2021.

Scott feels his greatest achievement lies in cultivating the assets of his team. “Trust is our most valued asset, along with an unwavering commitment to integrity and the success of those we serve. It’s important to create opportunities for growth, seizing opportunities to learn, innovate, and expand your responsibilities while employing a philosophy where collective strength amplifies individual potential.”

Impact Security, LLC

Elevating Retail Security: Retrofitting with Bullet-Resistant Glazing

DefenseLite ® solutions are engineered to protect against organized retail crime

Retailers, facing increasing threats from organized retail crime (ORC) and violent attacks, are prioritizing the protection of employees, customers, and inventory. The peace of mind that comes with these advanced security measures is invaluable. Security breaches, such as smash-and-grab incidents and firearm-related threats, have made advanced security measures essential. Retrofitting existing glazing systems with bullet-resistant solutions effectively strengthens vulnerable areas without requiring material replacement.

Impact Security, manufacturer of DefenseLite® Retrofit Security Glazing, designs engineered solutions that strengthen existing glass against forced entry and ballistic threats. These systems enhance safety without compromising aesthetics or disrupting operations. With trained and authorized installers across North America, Impact Security ensures retailers can easily access high-performance security upgrades that deter crime and protect at-risk facilities.

RiotLite™ RL27: Fortifying Glass Storefronts Against Threats

Glass storefronts are among the most vulnerable entry points for criminals. The RiotLite™ (RL27) system has been independently tested to meet ASTM F3561 to a Level 3 standard. This advanced laminate system consists of stacked, optically clear 27 mil film applied to existing glass, creating a formidable barrier against break-ins and forced entry threats.

Beyond security, RiotLite provides additional benefits, such as UV protection, which reduces the fading and deterioration of interior furnishings and inventory. The clear laminate structure absorbs the impact

of blunt force attacks, preventing shattering and delaying intrusion attempts. By choosing RiotLite, retailers can significantly enhance their storefront security without replacing existing storefronts.

AccessShield™ BR Doors: Reinforcing Entry Points

AccessShield™ is a high-performance door glazing system that fortifies commercial entryways against forced entry and ballistic threats. Using a patented extrusion system, it retrofits into most standard door lite openings, accommodating polycarbonate or glass-clad shields from 0.25” to 1.25” thickness. Ideal for retail, office, and public spaces, AccessShield™ enhances security without affecting accessibility or architectural design.

DefenseLite® Pro: Advanced Bullet Resistance for High-Risk Retailers

For retail establishments facing extreme threats, DefenseLite® Pro delivers the highest

level of retrofit ballistic protection. This system is tested to UL ASTM F3561 Level 8 standards, ensuring robust defense against forced entry attacks. DefenseLite Pro is retrofitted onto existing glazing using heavy duty mechanical fasteners and thick polycarbonate shields. This overglaze design enhances durability and absorbs the energy of forced entry attempts, discouraging criminals from continuing their attack. Luxury goods stores and other high-risk retailers benefit from this solution’s ability to protect storefronts without altering the building’s visual appeal.

DefenseLite® TW: Bullet-Resistant Transaction Windows for Retail Security

Transaction areas, such as cash registers, customer service desks, and cashier booths, are common targets for theft and violent incidents. DefenseLite® TW, Bullet-Resistant Transaction Windows, create a secure barrier between employees and potential attackers while maintaining clear visibility and communication.

Designed for convenience and security, these windows feature built-in transaction drawers or trays to exchange cash, documents, or other items securely. Gas stations, convenience stores, and high-risk retail establishments benefit from these protective barriers, which reduce the likelihood of successful theft attempts while ensuring employees can safely perform their duties.

A Comprehensive Approach to Retail Security

DefenseLite Retrofit Security Glazing Systems provide a layered security strategy to combat organized retail crime and violent threats. Solutions like RiotLite RL-27 laminates (Level 3 protection), AccessShield BR doors, DefenseLite-TW transaction windows, and DefenseLite Pro reinforce entry points, storefronts, and transaction areas while preserving aesthetics.

For a Threat Level Assessment, contact the DefenseLite team at info@defenselite.com l

Flock Safety

How Flock Safety’s Technology Keeps Employees Out of Harm’s Way

Employee safety is paramount for businesses. At its core, employee safety involves measures and protocols designed to protect the well-being of individuals in potentially dangerous situations.

For retailers, this means creating an environment where employees can perform their duties without fear of harm, especially during violent incidents. In retail stores, employees are often the first to encounter these threats. Without the right tools, they might feel compelled to intervene directly—putting their own lives at risk. But how can retailers ensure employee safety in a world where threats are increasingly complex and unpredictable?

Flock Safety provides a comprehensive suite of security solutions designed

to bolster employee safety measures, offering retailers and their staff peace of mind. From license plate recognition (LPR) cameras to advanced video solutions and gunshot detection technology, Flock empowers retailers to protect their teams while preventing them from engaging in dangerous situations.

Building an LPR Security Perimeter Around Your Stores

Flock Safety’s LPR cameras automatically capture and catalog license plate data from vehicles entering or exiting a property. In the event of a theft incident or other crime, security personnel can simply add the suspect’s vehicle to a custom hot list. This triggers an alert when the vehicle

returns, enabling security teams or law enforcement to respond quickly—without requiring employees to directly engage with suspects. Instead of running after a fleeing criminal or confronting them on the premises, employees remain safe while the technology works in the background to track known offenders.

Flock Safety’s LPR cameras also work to protect your staff by building a virtual safety perimeter around your premises by allowing the early detection and intervention of any potential threats, before they’re able to enter your store. Flock Safety builds virtual zones of coverage with technologies like:

l Flock Safety Falcon® License Plate Recognition (LPR) Cameras: LPR technology identifies and tracks vehicles entering and exiting your premises. By flagging vehicles associated with known threats, security personnel can detect and respond to potential offenders early.

l Flock Safety Condor™ Video: AI-powered live and recorded video provides continuous monitoring of your premises. These cameras offer real-time video feeds and recorded footage, ensuring comprehensive coverage.

l Flock Safety Raven® Audio Detection: Audio detection triggers alerts when sounds such as gunshots are detected, enabling security personnel to investigate and respond quickly. By stopping potential offenders before they’re able to reach the point of entry, you’re able to better guarantee the safety of your employees by proactively stopping threats before they’re able to act.

Automating Threat Detection with AI-Powered Technology

Flock is at the forefront of utilizing AI-powered technology for 24/7 threat detection. Flock’s video cameras are equipped with People Detection Alerts that can be configured to automatically detect individuals in restricted areas during unauthorized times, such as after hours.

Additionally, Flock’s PTZ cameras feature Guardian Mode, which automatically detects and tracks people and vehicles, capturing detailed images around the clock—even overnight or when no physical camera operator is present.

Flock’s new mobile security trailer—equipped with two PTZ cameras and a 360-degree camera—also works to proactively detect and deter people from entering parking lots and other restricted areas during off-hours. With its bold design and flashing blue lights, the mobile security trailer sends a clear message to potential offenders: You’re being watched. They also integrate seamlessly with Flock’s LPR cameras, linking vehicle data to video evidence. This empowers businesses to move beyond visual deterrence alone and to obtain actionable intelligence that security teams can use and law enforcement can leverage to close cases more efficiently.

Whether used to secure parking lots, shopping centers, construction sites, or utility facilities, Flock Safety’s Mobile Security Trailer helps ensure both threat prevention and accountability. Equipped with three high-performance cameras, including two AI-powered PTZ cameras and one panoramic camera for 360-degree coverage, the trailer offers comprehensive monitoring for a variety of situations. Its loudspeaker delivers live or pre-recorded warnings, reinforcing its ability to deter trespassing, theft, and other unwanted activities. Meanwhile, security teams receive instant alerts for unauthorized individuals or suspicious vehicles, ensuring rapid response when it’s needed most.

Fighting Violent Crime to Protect Customers and Staff

Flock’s gunshot detection system can also make a significant impact on employee safety. This advanced audio technology instantly identifies the sound of gunfire, pinpoints its location, and alerts law enforcement within seconds. In active shooter situations, this rapid response capability can save lives by ensuring that law enforcement arrives faster. More importantly, employees are not left to assess the danger themselves or make split-second decisions in high-stress situations.

detection, paired with LPR and video, can protect employees and keep them safe with faster response times—and more background information on critical incidents.

Creating a Culture of Safety

Using gunshot detection in conjunction with LPR cameras provides the crucial evidence needed to identify perpetrators and resolve incidents. For employees, this means that their role in security incidents can shift from reactive to observational.

One in seven people in the US live near a recent gun-based homicide. Gunshot

At Flock Safety, we believe that employee safety is about more than just technology—it’s about creating a culture where employees feel supported and protected. By integrating LPR cameras, video, and gunshot detection into your workplace violence prevention plan, you’re investing not only in the safety of your business but also in the well-being of your team. Proven safety benefits include:

l Reduced physical risk: Employees remain out of harm’s way, relying on technology to handle potentially dangerous situations.

l Faster law enforcement response: By providing automated, real-time alerts and actionable objective evidence to law enforcement, employees can rest assured that swift action will be taken.

l Increased employee satisfaction: Knowing that the business has invested in advanced security solutions makes employees feel safer and more valued. Let technology do the heavy lifting so your employees can focus on what they do best—without fear of violence or other threats. Learn more by visiting flocksafety.com. l

ThinkLP’s Advanced Crime Linking Network: Predicting and Disrupting ORC

Organized retail crime has evolved far beyond simple shoplifting into a complex, interconnected threat that requires sophisticated countermeasures. Traditional loss prevention approaches, which focus on isolated incidents rather than patterns across seemingly unrelated events, often fall short in detecting and disrupting these criminal enterprises. This is where innovative crime linking solutions can make the difference.

Imagine You’re a Store Detective

You’re working your usual shift, keeping an eye on the store floor. A man catches your attention—he’s lingering near high-value items, glancing around nervously. A customer catches your attention—they’re loading their cart with multiple identical items, such as several bottles of the same premium skincare product. The quantity alone suggests resale rather than personal use. Under your company’s hands-off policy, you don’t confront the suspect directly. Instead, you document the behavior, gather evidence, and report the incident.

Later, while reviewing security footage and transaction records, you notice similar patterns at other locations. The same products, the same bulk quantities. One report leads to another, and suddenly, what seemed like isolated thefts reveals a coordinated network funneling stolen goods to online marketplaces. The suspect is part of a larger ORC network operating across multiple locations. What started as catching ‘one’ shoplifter has now turned into uncovering a sophisticated criminal operation.

“This (not-so-fictional) scenario highlights how every reported incident—whether from a cashier, floor associate, or security team—provides critical intel for dismantling ORC networks,” explained Tony Sheppard, VP of Retail Risk Solutions at ThinkLP and former LP practitioner. “Crime linking

solutions are designed to help investigators connect the dots across all levels of reporting, uncover patterns invisible to individual stores, and collaborate with law enforcement to stop ORC in its tracks—even in organizations without dedicated detectives.”

Today’s Challenge: Connecting Dispersed Criminal Activities

ORC has evolved far beyond simple shoplifting into a complex, interconnected threat that demands sophisticated countermeasures. The scope of ORC extends far beyond store walls, infiltrating vulnerable points throughout the supply chain.

“Traditional security measures often focus on catching individual shoplifters, but that’s no longer enough.”

Based on recent legislative actions and crime trends reported by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), ORC groups steal substantial quantities of merchandise, costing US retailers $121.6 billion in 2023, with losses projected to exceed $150 billion by 2026. In 2024, nine states enacted twenty-three laws to combat ORC by enabling cross-jurisdictional prosecution and increasing law enforcement funding. Seventeen states have established ORC task forces to coordinate efforts against multi-jurisdictional crime rings.

“In the past, traditional security measures focused on catching individual shoplifters—but that’s no longer enough,” Sheppard added. “To effectively combat ORC, you need to monitor, trace, and connect incidents that may initially seem unrelated. What looks like a ‘normal shoplifter’ could be part of a larger network targeting multiple locations and product categories. The ability to identify these connections is critical to disrupting these sophisticated criminal enterprises.”

ThinkLP’s Crime Linking Solution

ThinkLP’s platform leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI, fully opt-in) and natural language processing to analyze unstructured data—such as case narratives and suspect descriptions—to identify behavioral patterns with remarkable accuracy. This capability allows investigators to connect individuals to crimes across multiple locations and timeframes.

“It takes a connected network to disrupt organized crime,” Sheppard emphasizes, “and ThinkLP delivers exactly that. As the largest network of businesses linking incidents, we empower retailers to resolve cases faster by connecting critical data across organizations, law enforcement, and industry partners.”

By linking incidents involving repeat offenders, organized theft rings, and cargo thefts, ThinkLP provides a comprehensive view of criminal activity.

Sheppard directs special attention to the importance of human oversight in investigations: “Tech can’t testify in court. That’s why we put the matching in your hands. Detecting repeat offenders and confirming matches ensures that the evidence you present is admissible in court. This approach empowers trained investigators to make informed decisions while maintaining accountability.”

Collaborative Capabilities for Investigations

The true strength of ThinkLP’s solution lies in its collaborative features. Through secure data sharing across its extensive network, organizations can work together on investigations involving multiple brands, companies, and law enforcement agencies. This interconnected system creates an ecosystem where criminal patterns become increasingly visible as more data points are connected. As a result, ORC rings find it increasingly difficult to operate undetected.

Comprehensive Investigation Solutions

ThinkLP’s Complex Investigations module offers a holistic approach to managing every phase of an investigation—from the initial incident to courtroom proceedings. Key features include:

l Centralized Case Management: All details—evidence, witness statements, incident reports, related vehicles, addresses, and product losses—are tracked in one secure hub.

l Chronological Analysis: Events are charted chronologically to identify patterns or gaps in criminal activity.

l Geographic Insights: Incident locations are pinpointed to spot trends and prioritize resources effectively.

l Activity Tracking: Actions, decisions, and communications are recorded with timestamps for accountability.

These solutions unify investigations by linking incidents involving booster groups, fences, vehicles, and addresses into a cohesive case file that can be shared with law enforcement or prosecutors at any stage.

“The AI doesn’t make decisions for you; it assists you.”

ThinkLP is committed to developing AI features that prioritize transparency and accountability. The platform’s opt-in AI automatically suggests links within your organization or external sources, but ensures data sharing occurs only with permission. Matches are reviewed by investigators before being confirmed—providing flexibility while safeguarding sensitive information.

“The AI doesn’t make decisions for you,” Sheppard explains, “it assists you. By suggesting potential connections, it allows investigators to focus on what matters most

while maintaining control over every step of the process.”

Real Impact on Crime Fighting

Traditional approaches to loss prevention are no longer sufficient. ThinkLP’s crime linking solution offers the advanced technology, predictive intelligence, and collaborative capabilities needed to effectively combat sophisticated criminal networks targeting your organization.

With ThinkLP, you’re not just gaining access to a crime linking platform—you’re joining the largest network of businesses dedicated to connecting incidents and resolving cases faster than ever before. Their solutions transform your loss prevention team from reactive investigators to proactive protectors of your company’s assets, reputation, and people. Safeguard your bottom line, crack down on organized retail crime, and stay ahead of evolving threats with the industry’s most advanced crime linking platform.

A New Way of Loss Prevention

Traditional approaches to loss prevention are no longer sufficient. ThinkLP’s crime linking solution offers the technology and collaborative features needed to effectively combat sophisticated criminal networks—and they are not done innovating yet. Stay tuned for more details on their image matching, video analysis, and law enforcement collaboration enhancements.

“Loss prevention isn’t just about responding to theft anymore,” Sheppard clarified. “It’s about being able to trace connections between incidents and uncover larger networks. With the right tools and data, businesses can not only resolve cases faster and prevent future losses but also create a safer environment for both shoppers and employees.”

About ThinkLP

ThinkLP is the industry leader in loss prevention and safety intelligence software, providing retailers, logistics businesses, and other enterprises with powerful tools to predict, prevent, and investigate theft, fraud, and safety incidents. Their innovative platform combines advanced AI technology with deep industry expertise to deliver actionable insights that protect assets, people, and profits. l

Gatekeeper Systems

From Isolated Events to Actionable Insights: Unleashing the Full Power of Purchek® Technology

R

etailers today face an escalating battle against retail theft—one that demands smarter strategies and more intelligent tools. As pushout theft and organized retail crime become more prevalent and aggressive, retailers must move beyond reactive loss prevention methods. It’s no longer just about recovering merchandise—it’s about preventing incidents before they happen, keeping employees safe, and turning every event into meaningful, actionable data.

Gatekeeper Systems is meeting this moment with a powerful solution: Purchek® Technology. What was once seen as a simple deterrent against shopping cart theft has evolved into a sophisticated intelligence system that not only protects merchandise but also empowers retailers to make better operational decisions—faster, smarter, and more efficiently than ever before.

The Modern Reality of Retail Loss Prevention

Security guards at exits, CCTV footage, and manual investigations were once considered enough. But in today’s environment—where incidents can go viral in seconds, and criminal tactics evolve rapidly—these tools

simply don’t keep up. What’s needed is a dynamic approach that bridges prevention and intelligence.

Retailers need more than deterrents. They need real-time visibility. They need automation. They need tools that connect the dots—not just after an incident has occurred but before it impacts profit, safety, or reputation. That’s where the solutions offered by Gatekeeper Systems come in.

What Sets Purchek® Apart

At its core, Purchek® is a cart behavior-based system that automatically stops shopping carts filled with unpaid merchandise from exiting a store. It locks the cart wheels at the door, deterring theft without confrontation. But what truly sets it apart is what happens after the cart is stopped.

Each triggered event captures a 20-second high-definition video clip, records key metadata such as time, location, and cart contents, and feeds it into a centralized investigative system. It’s not just prevention—it’s intelligence in action.

Retailers receive Situational Awareness Reporting to know:

l When theft attempts are most likely to occur.

l Where repeat offenses are concentrated within store layouts.

l What products are being targeted most frequently.

l Who the suspected offenders are, including identification of ORC patterns. This level of insight allows LP teams to make smarter decisions: adjusting guard placement, repositioning merchandise, or redesigning store layouts to mitigate risk before it escalates.

From Prevention to Intelligence: A Fully Integrated System

Purchek® becomes exponentially more effective when paired with Gatekeeper Systems’ managed services and innovative face matching technology, FaceFirst, an

AI-powered facial recognition solution now part of Gatekeeper Systems’ offering.

The FaceFirst solution enables real-time offender alerts. If a known pushout offender re-enters the store, FaceFirst can notify LP teams immediately—before any incident takes place. The result is a shift from reactive surveillance to proactive protection.

“With the addition of FaceFirst to the Gatekeeper Systems portfolio and the ability to alert managers that known offenders have entered the store with actionable direction, the scenario changes from reactive to proactive. This changes the game.”

Mike Lamb, veteran loss prevention executive

In-store teams are no longer left guessing. Instead, they gain:

l Rapid event classification and tagging by professional investigators.

l Seamless integration with case management systems.

l Chain-wide visibility into theft patterns and operational vulnerabilities.

With Purchek® and FaceFirst working in tandem, loss prevention becomes a coordinated, intelligence-led operation across the entire retail network.

A Smarter Framework for Retail Security

Gatekeeper Systems recommends a structured, five-phase approach that transforms pushout prevention into a cycle of continuous improvement:

1. Detect: Identify theft attempts automatically with cart-locking and HD video capture.

2. Verify: Gatekeeper’s investigative team confirms and classifies incidents, enabling loss prevention teams to focus on strategic tasks.

3. Enroll: Following store policies, verified offenders are enrolled to FaceFirst’s

encrypted database with policy-driven response actions.

4. Enrich: Merge data from multiple sources (e.g., CCTV, license plate readers, visitor history) to build offender profiles.

5. Action: Distribute intelligence across departments for immediate changes in staffing, store layout, and theft response protocols. Prepare cases for prosecution against your most rampant offenders. Each phase feeds the next, enabling LP teams to stay ahead of emerging threats while strengthening interdepartmental collaboration—from operations to merchandising to IT.

Real-World Impact Across the Enterprise

The benefits of the Purchek® ecosystem go far beyond security. It’s about total retail health:

l Reduced Shrink: Fewer thefts mean fewer lost sales.

l Violence Prevention: Less confrontations at the door, just locked carts and a clear message to would-be offenders.

l Improved Efficiency: LP teams are freed from hours of video review and empowered with actionable summaries.

l Staff Optimization: Use data to schedule employees where and when they’re most needed.

l Faster Response Time: Detect emerging threats in near real-time and act before loss compounds.

In short, it turns every incident into an opportunity for strategic improvement.

Why It Matters Now

Retail theft is no longer an isolated nuisance—it’s a national concern, affecting not just merchandise but safety, labor efficiency, and the shopper experience.

As Mike Lamb, a veteran LP executive and strategic advisor, explains: “No single solution is a silver bullet, but Purchek® is one arrow every retailer should have in their quiver.”

The question isn’t whether retailers should invest in better loss prevention—it’s how fast they can transform it into a competitive advantage.

See It in Action at NRF Protect 2025

Ready to experience how Purchek® and FaceFirst work together to transform retail security?

Join us at NRF Protect 2025, taking place June 23–25 in Grapevine, TX, and discover the future of theft prevention. Gatekeeper Systems will be at booth #622, and you can find FaceFirst at booth #308.

Our team will be on-site to demonstrate how integrated technologies stop pushout theft at the door while delivering the insights you need to protect your people, your products, and your profits.

Smarter prevention starts here. Let’s connect at NRF Protect. l

Celebrating 25 Years of Research, Innovation, and Making an IMPACT: The Loss Prevention Research Council’s Journey

By Cory Lowe, PhD

This year, the Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC) celebrates its twenty-fifth year working to advance LP effectiveness to create safer people and places. Today, the LPRC boasts over 450 reports on the LPRC Knowledge Center, more than 105 retail members, and over 170 solution provider members. As Dr. Read Hayes (the executive director and founder of the LPRC) often jokes, the LPRC is a 25-year overnight success.

A Vision Realized: The Founding of LPRC

The LPRC was founded in 2000 by Dr. Hayes in partnership with several retailers. At that time, many leading organizations were engaged in benchmarking, frequently modeling their strategies after the most prominent players in the field.

One of the most influential leaders in 2000 was King Rogers, the VP of assets protection at Target at the time. He recognized that much of what retailers were doing did not have any evidence; furthermore, the research that did exist lacked methodological rigor. Dr. Hayes also recognized this problem; he had collaborated on the first National Retail Security Survey and, in 1991, he published his first book, Retail Security and Loss Prevention He also researched employee theft, civil recovery, LP training programs, and conducted interview research with offenders and customers.

chose to establish a collaborative entity committed to advancing the science of retail crime prevention.

loss merchandise, understanding the causes of loss in supply chains, and merchandise protection research.

During its first decade, the LPRC expanded offender interview research and established its initial working group on benefit denial strategies (tactics designed to reduce the payoff for offenders). Early studies also evaluated EAS systems, CCTV, PVMs, protective containers, and employee dishonesty deterrence. By the mid-2010s, multiple working groups were underway, and the LPRC began producing about twenty-five research reports annually. It also welcomed solution providers as members and launched new summits and events.

In 2014, the organization opened its first lab at UF Innovate Square, enabling preliminary testing of LP technologies and offender-informed research.

Who We Are Today: The Five Pillars of the LPRC

Rather than continuing to operate on instinct and imitation, Dr. Hayes, along with King Rogers, Bill Titus (OfficeMax), Ed Wolfe and Chad McIntosh (The Home Depot), Gary Johnson (Barnes and Noble), Dan Doyle (Beall’s), Keith White (Gap Inc.), Dave Gorman (Walmart), and Ben Guffey (Kmart)

Their mission was ambitious but essential: to generate reliable, research-based insights that could be directly applied to the evolving challenges of retail theft, fraud, and workplace violence. By creating a research council that unified loss prevention professionals and researchers, these founders laid the groundwork for a new era—one in which innovation would be tested, data would guide strategy, and collaboration would lead the way.

Within a few years, the LPRC would host its first IMPACT conference at Walt Disney World, with content focused on the highest

Today, the LPRC’s work is built on five foundational pillars: Research, Innovate, Collaborate, Inform, and Engage. These guide our evidence-based efforts to combat retail crime and enhance community safety.

Be a Part of This 25-Year

“Overnight Success”

As Chad McIntosh, one of the LPRC’s founding members, always says: We are doing things that are not replicated anywhere else in the world.

We invite other retailers, law enforcement agencies, and technology partners to join the LPRC community. Together, we can build a safer and more secure retail environment for the next twenty-five years and beyond. l

LPRC SaferPlaces Dashboard: Gainesville, Florida

2024 Integrate Scenario—Law Enforcement Response

LPRC SOC Lab for Integrating Surveillance, Response, and Coordination

LPRC SOC Lab for Integrating Surveillance, Response, and Coordination

Zebra Technologies

Transforming Loss Prevention with Workcloud Actionable Intelligence

Your inventory system says you have stock. Your shelves say otherwise. The culprit? Phantom inventory—the silent profit drain that’s hiding theft, decreasing sales, and costing retailers millions.

Phantom inventory refers to stock that appears in inventory records but isn’t available for sale due to theft, misplacement, supply chain errors, or a host of other potential causes. This inaccuracy not only masks the true cause of losses but also leads to missed sales opportunities and negative customer experiences.

Retailers lose millions annually due to inventory distortion and shrinkage, with phantom inventory being a major factor in those losses. But what if you could see, track, and act on phantom inventory in real time—before small issues turn into large ones?

The Retail Loss Prevention Challenge

Loss prevention teams have access to more data than ever before, yet many retailers struggle with outdated systems and processes that slow down efforts and limit visibility.

Reactive methods such as rotating cycle counts, searching for shelf holes during sales floor recovery, and relying on store incident reporting to track losses can only take a retailer so far in understanding when and where phantom inventory might be present. A more effective approach would be to pair these traditional methods with state-of-the-art technology, allowing the retailer to be more proactive and efficient at scale.

Introducing Workcloud Actionable Intelligence

Zebra’s Workcloud Actionable Intelligence is an advanced analytics solution that transforms inventory visibility from a guessing game into a

real-time weapon against loss. Here’s how it works:

l AI-Driven Anomaly Detection: Automatically and continuously compares stock records with sales performance metrics and other data-driven indicators, flagging mismatches instantly.

l Automated Alerts: Notifies teams the moment a potential phantom inventory situation is identified, enabling immediate investigation.

l Smart Tasking: Directs the right person in the right place to verify high-risk items, saving time and reducing unnecessary labor.

l Closed-Loop Execution Monitoring: Captures task resolution details, allowing the retailer to ensure issues are being corrected properly while also enabling higher-level root cause analysis and value tracking.

l Employee Accountability: Tracks who adjusted inventory records and when, deterring internal theft.

Scenario 1: Catching Internal Theft

An employee engages in refund fraud for high-value products, artificially increasing the on-hand quantity for those products.

Workcloud Actionable Intelligence connects the employee’s register activity to the inventory records, establishing that the products showing up in the employee’s refunds are also exhibiting symptoms of phantom inventory. Actionable Intelligence then automatically alerts loss prevention, enabling them to stop the theft early before it becomes a months-long issue.

Scenario 2: Addressing Organized Retail Crime

An ORC crew repeatedly targets a specific SKU across multiple nearby store locations.

Workcloud Actionable Intelligence identifies the recurring inventory discrepancies and triggers an alert that contains the details of the activity across all of the affected stores, allowing loss prevention to partner with law enforcement and apprehend the group before inventory losses stack up.

Scenario 3: Avoiding Out-of-Stocks

A delivery error leads to a pallet of product being delivered to the wrong store; however, the retailer’s assumed receipt process has still credited the original store’s on-hand inventory. As a result, the retailer’s allocation and replenishment systems are seeing an inaccurate picture of the store’s inventory.

Workcloud Actionable Intelligence identifies that the product’s sales are not aligned with the on-hand inventory and sends an alert to the store team, directing them to perform a cycle count, correcting the inventory, and triggering replenishment to avoid missed sales.

Real-World Impact

The effectiveness of Workcloud Actionable Intelligence is evident in its real-world applications:

l A national retailer reduced phantom inventory by 65 percent within six months of deploying Workcloud Actionable Intelligence.

l A grocery chain cut shrinkage by 40 percent after implementing phantom inventory pattern detection and automated alerting.

Beyond Loss Prevention: Better Inventory Management via Operational Excellence

Within the loss prevention industry, we know that typically the stores with a

high degree of operational excellence are also the stores that have the best shrink results. With Actionable Intelligence, retailers can turn off cumbersome reporting and move to managing inventory by exception, making operational excellence easier for stores to achieve. In this “push” versus “pull” environment, analysts and store teams spend less time digging through data and more time taking data-driven, properly prioritized actions that improve inventory accuracy and operational compliance. Sales performance, shrink, damages, and perishable waste are just a handful of areas where retailers see significant improvement by using Actionable Intelligence to help them better manage their inventory. This wide range of benefits means that retailers can effectively address both sides of the shrink equation: reducing losses while increasing sales.

Conclusion: Protecting Profit with Workcloud Actionable Intelligence

Phantom inventory thrives in the dark, but Zebra Technologies brings it into the light. With Workcloud Actionable

Intelligence, retailers can eliminate blind spots, stop theft before it impacts profits, and avoid missed sales due to out-of-stocks. Ready to take control? Schedule a demo today and see how much you can save.

Visit Us at NRF Protect – Booth #617

Experience the transformative power of Workcloud Actionable Intelligence firsthand at NRF Protect. Join us at booth #617, where you can see our solution in action. Discover how Zebra’s advanced analytics can help you combat phantom inventory, enhance operational excellence, and protect your profits.

Zebra Technologies—smarter visibility, stronger results. l

Falk focuses on social media, daily e-newsletters, interviewing LP experts for magazine articles, and crafting email blasts. Prior to LPM, she was a digital content marketing intern for Tyler Technologies—the leading CAD software provider in the US—where she was awarded ‘Spotlight Intern’. Allie received her bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Detroit Mercy in 2022, where she was awarded Communications Student of 2022. She can be reached at AllieF@LossPreventionMedia.com

Popular Articles on the LPM Digital Channel

The LP Magazine website and digital channels offer loss prevention and retail professionals a myriad of thought leadership articles from a wide range of industry experts, original articles from LPM writers, webinars, podcasts, whitepapers, and much more. There is new content updated to the website daily that is featured in our e-newsletter. To ensure that you don’t miss this important information, subscribe to our digital channel at losspreventionmedia.com/email/ or scan the QR code on the left.

To ensure that you don’t miss any important loss prevention information, subscribe to our digital channel by scanning the QR code above.

How Loss Prevention Is Leveling Up the Gift Card Fraud Fight

Gift card fraud has become the most reported form of financial scam, with organized crime groups exploiting it to fund larger criminal enterprises. As tactics evolve, retailers are turning to AI and open-source intelligence to stay ahead, detect patterns, and protect both consumers and their brands.

Available On-Demand Now: ORCAs in Action ORC March Madness Webinar

Catch up on all the action from former DHS powerhouse Edward Dolan, bringing deep intel from years on the ground across Latin America; HSI’s Alan Prejean, whose global work on counterfeit goods and cross-border crime has set the standard; NEORCA’s own Adam Berg, the intel link behind New Enagland’s ORC investigations; longtime loss prevention leader and NEORCA President Ken Spurling; Retail Crime Strategist David Johnston from the National Retail Federation; Dr. Jay Kennedy, leading the charge against illicit trade through the USA-IT coalition; and former HSI executive turned USA-IT Spokesperson Alysa Erichs, tackling trade-based crime at the national level.

Allie Falk Assistant Editor

Inside Scoop Podcast with David Lund | Ep. 97

What’s David Lund, CFI been up to in that basement in Pittsburgh? In this episode of Inside Scoop, Stefanie Hoover, CFI chats with David and learns about how he’s adapted to life at WZ and the recent changes with CFI Evolved. Spoiler alert—David is loving life! Tune in to pick up some of the positive energy this industry leader is putting out there.

From Reactive to Proactive: How AI Is Transforming Retail Loss Prevention

Retailers lost over $121 billion to theft last year—a number expected to top $150 billion by 2026. As criminals embrace AI to exploit system vulnerabilities and scale fraud, traditional loss prevention methods are no longer enough. New research highlights how AI-powered analytics and generative AI are helping retailers shift from reactive to predictive strategies, detect complex threats, and proactively reduce shrink.

Decision Making for Investigators

Revisit this previously recorded WZ Instructor Insights video with Brett L. Ward, CFI, on decision making. How many choices—both personal and professional—would have been made differently with the ability of foresight? Join Brett as he discusses decision making in an interview space.

Remembering Walgreens Employee Erick Velasquez, Who Was Fatally Shot on the Job

Erick Velasquez, a Walgreens employee, was tragically shot and killed in Madera, California on March 31st. The gunman, Narciso Gallardo Fernandez, targeted Velasquez randomly after traveling over 80 miles. Velasquez managed to call 911, but despite medical efforts, he passed away. Fernandez was arrested and faces murder charges. But now, the community mourns the loss of a devoted father and husband.

Record-Setting Attendance Again at IMPACT 2025

The 2025 LPRC IMPACT conference drew over 670 attendees and featured a sold-out expo. It highlighted innovative loss prevention solutions, hands-on tech demonstrations, and educational sessions on fraud and theft trends. Networking opportunities, including a golf tournament and app, helped foster collaboration among retailers, solution providers, and law enforcement to combat retail crime. l

New content is updated on the LPM website daily and is featured in our e-newsletter.

New Product Spotlight

NEW SOLUTIONS FROM LEADING LP SUPPLIERS

This New Product Spotlight section provides readers with information on new products and services from leading retail asset protection solution providers. If your company is looking for new technology or solutions, please check with these vendors as well as the other advertisers throughout the magazine. Visit LossPreventionMedia.com for more information about these new offerings.

Appriss® Engage: Protect Your Profits from Fraud and Abuse in Real-time with Frictionless Returns

Protect profits while giving each customer the experience they deserve. Engage provides real-time protection with AI-driven, behavior-based recommendations to streamline returns, claims, and appeasements. Unlike other solutions, Engage uses data from all channels to ensure accurate return and claim decisions—preventing fraud and abuse wherever consumers shop.

Axon Outpost for Enterprise Security

Axon Outpost brings cutting-edge ALPR and livestreaming to any location. Designed for rapid deployment and rugged performance, it captures license plates and vehicle details in real time—powered by solar or AC. Integrated with Axon Fusus, it delivers unmatched vehicle intelligence for retail, healthcare, education, and public safety environments.

Put Your Guards Where They Matter Most

You’re spending millions to protect your people and property — but are those guards in the right places? CAP Index’s Guarding Optimization Evaluation delivers hard data and expert analysis to uncover over-guarded sites, underprotected risks, and wasted spend.

No fluff. Just a smarter, proven strategy to maximize protection and ROI.

Ready to get more from your investment? Scan the QR code to see how it works—and where to start.

The CIS Boot Has Been Proven to be Highly Effective, with Great ROI!

Durability: Robust materials withstand both physical tampering and environmental wear, ensuring long-term reliability and security.

Tamper-Resistant Design: Engineered to prevent sweeps and unauthorized detachers, provide an additional layer of security, and discourage theft.

Seamless Integration: Compatible with existing fixture styles.

Visible Deterrence: Serves as both a physical barrier and psychological deterrent, reducing theft.

Checkpoint’s

Alpha High-Theft Solutions GPS

Keepers®

Security Devices and Cableloks® Security Devices Powered by Ensurity

A nearly undetectable GPS solution to allow asset protection teams and law enforcement to track the movement and exact location of stolen assets when GPS enabled devices leave a store in a crime event. Create positive ROI by recovering stolen assets, apprehend criminals, track ORC tactics, and reduce annual crime events.

Discover How Purchek® and FaceFirst Can Unlock the Full Value of Your Loss Prevention Solutions

Enhanced Exit by CONTROLTEK®

CONTROLTEK’s Enhanced Exit uses RFID technology to instantly alert retailers when unpaid merchandise leaves the store. Point-of-sale whitelisting ensures paid items won’t trigger alerts. Dynamic alerting notifies retailers of single or multiple item exits, helping them quickly identify potential ORC theft events and enabling swift action and faster investigations.

Gatekeeper Systems’ Purchek® technology and FaceFirst AI-enabled face matching software do more than stop pushout theft—they uncover patterns, identify repeat offenders, accelerate case building, and empower retailers to respond proactively to ORC and violence. Let’s connect at NRF Protect: Booths 622 (Gatekeeper Systems) & 308 (FaceFirst) to learn more about how Gatekeeper Systems’ solutions can help protect your people, products, and profits.

DEFENSELITE® AccessShield™: Fortifying Retail Entrances

with Unmatched Security

DEFENSELITE® AccessShield™ stands as the zenith of forced entry defense. Designed to effortlessly substitute standard entrance doorlites, it thwarts illegal access and smash-and-grab incidents. Offering a budget-friendly solution for retrofitting retail access points, AccessShield™ and AccessShield™-BR minimize vulnerabilities, ensuring your premises are fortified and invulnerable. Available in forced entry and bullet-resistant options.

Alarming Concealed Pin Tag

A major upgrade to the already popular Concealed Pin Tag, the Alarming Concealed Pin Tag adds even more security to the exceptionally effective solution. Retailers who have already realized the cost savings of the one-piece design can now benefit from enhanced deterrence as well. Custom colors and branding are available.

LVT & Agentic AI

LVT’s introduction of Agentic AI in the recent product launch is revolutionizing physical security. Agentic AI now allows LVT units to detect and deter bad actors with automated callouts based on characteristics such as clothing color and even items the person is carrying, allowing for increased human efficiency and protection.

Fight Organized Retail Crime with Nedap

Retailers—think you’re powerless against organized retail crime? Think again. With Nedap’s iD Cloud LP, you can fight back. Get alerted to bulk theft, identify exactly which items were taken, and use that data to help law enforcement recover stolen merchandise.

R1: The Retail Body Camera

The R1 is the latest retail body camera from Reveal, purposefully designed to boost wearer safety. Compact yet powerful, the R1 offers a full-shift battery and pre-record buffer to capture footage before recording activation. A customizable front display supports overt recording messages or retailer branding.

The No-Server Face-Matching Solution

Stop retail crime before it starts.

Get real-time, highly accurate alerts with edge-based face matching.

No servers. No IT footprint. No hassle.

Just faster setup, safer stores, and better ROI – all with a deep commitment to privacy.

Capture ORC, Capture Everything.

Unlock the full potential of ThinkLP’s platform for comprehensive investigations, including organized retail crime (ORC). Get a complete picture of your investigation by tying together suspects, vehicles, boosters, fences, and other related items across maps and timelines. Accelerate case resolution and enhance your asset protection strategy.

‘The Plan’ for Workplace Violence Prevention

Whether you need everything or just key components, The Plan offers complete support for your workplace violence prevention strategy. Initial training is supported by a monthly cadence of education and awareness materials, with tools to facilitate employee feedback and event reporting—keeping prevention efforts active and up to date.

a division of SEMM Holdings

Curious about our solution?

Jacque Brittain, LPC Editorial Director

Brittain is the editorial director for LP Magazine. Prior to joining the magazine, he was director of learning design and certification for Learn It Solutions, where he helped coordinate and write the online coursework for the Loss Prevention Foundation’s LPC and LPQ certifications. Earlier in his career, Brittain was vice president of operations for one of the largest executive recruiting firms in the LP industry. He can be reached at JacB@LossPreventionMedia.com.

Embracing the Power of Storytelling

When you think about the leaders you admire most, what are the qualities that stand out? What makes that person shine above others, grabbing your attention and motivating you to be the best version of yourself? Most of us can quickly rattle off a list of valued and respected qualities—confidence, integrity, compassion, fortitude, humility, flexibility, validation, support, and credibility are just a few. But what is it that helps bring the package together? One of those key qualities is the ability to tell a story. Storytelling is a powerful and persuasive skill that is critical to effective leadership. This interactive art helps us interpret, prepare, and present information in a way that effectively sends a message and drives understanding. It is essential to ensuring that the right conclusions are drawn and the best decisions are made in every form of communication we share.

These aren’t the stories that start with “Once upon a time” but those that help us share our thoughts and ideas in a way that is genuine, thoughtful, and perceptive. Rather than simply offering a narrative of information, compelling storytelling helps build credibility and understanding. It generates a depth and breadth of perception that helps us lead, influence, inspire, clarify, and ultimately get things done. It is a quality that is admired by most, mastered by few, and something we should all strive to get better at.

Since the beginning of human history, storytelling has helped people see the world from different perspectives, enhancing empathy and understanding.

Why It Matters

Contemplating all the different ways we communicate ideas and information daily, it’s not difficult to comprehend why storytelling is so important. Whether writing an email, sharing a presentation, or simply having a conversation, we want to ensure that we successfully convey our meaning and our message in a way others can relate to. Storytelling champions interaction, innovation, and growth by generating the energy needed to share perspective, influence change, and drive results.

When it comes to storytelling, report writing is a skillset that often comes to mind—and for good reason. This has become a common point of contention and opportunity for loss prevention professionals as leadership, law enforcement, and prosecutors attempt to interpret narratives and make crucial decisions based on the information presented to them. While a well-written report can sway a decision or seal a conviction, a poorly written document can harm both credibility and outcomes. Considering the efforts and

resources we put into everything we do, we want our reports to be clear, concise, and complete. On the other hand, it would be nothing less than irresponsible to disrupt an investigation or lose a case due to a poorly written report. With the role of loss prevention continuously evolving and our teams regularly taking on additional responsibilities, improving these skills should be an ongoing ambition regardless of position or level of leadership. Whether we need to win over a colleague, a team, a supervisor, or a company executive, effective storytelling is essential.

Storytelling Tips

Developing your storytelling skills takes practice, but will make a notable difference in your ability to grow and develop as a leader. Here are a few basic tips to help you along:

l Have a clear message. When crafting a story, have a definitive idea of what you’re building toward and why what you’re sharing is significant.

l Have a clear structure. While there are many ways to structure a story, make sure the story has a clear beginning, middle, and end to help clarify meaning and draw conclusions.

l Engage your audience. Great storytelling requires connecting with your audience. Always consider your audience and present information in a way they can relate to and understand.

l Narrow the scope. Some tend to include too many details, diluting the core message. Include key points, but don’t overwhelm with unnecessary details—unless the situation calls for it.

l Give your perspective. This can play a pivotal role in shaping how the story is received, breathing life into the narrative, enhancing understanding, and helping highlight key points.

l Make it your own. Your writing style and choice of words are your distinctive voice as a storyteller, lending depth and personality while adding authenticity. Since the beginning of human history, storytelling has helped people see the world from different perspectives, enhancing empathy and understanding. And while the techniques and delivery methods of storytelling may have changed, the power of good storytelling has stayed consistent. It is a crucial skill for leaders, carrying the capability to change minds, influence decisions, inspire action, and foster a more engaged and motivated team. l

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Provide a list or handout magazines to your office or store associates. Bulk quantities of the magazine can be requested by emailing circulation@LossPreventionMedia.com. We will contact you to work out the best method to fit your organization.

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A system that responds as fast as your instincts.

Enhanced Exit harnesses the power of RFID technology to deliver real-time visibility and instant alerts when merchandise leaves your store.

With customizable notifications and seamless system integration, it helps you deter theft, respond quickly, and speed up investigations.

Scan the QR code for a personalized demo and enhance your store’s security.