Power to the People
Rite Aid Uses a Crowdsourcing Crime-Solving Tool to Amplify Investigations
By Garett Seivold
One day in October of 2017, a man of medium build entered a Rite Aid in one of the nation’s largest cities, approached the register, and demanded cash. As the drawer was being opened, the subject flung himself over the counter, grabbing whatever cash he could. He fled on foot, leaving behind a shaken cashier, and by the time police arrived, the unknown subject had safely dissolved back into the surrounding community. Unfortunately, often, this type of story ends right here.
But this real-life crime drama has an unusual second act, which picks up a few days later when a woman some miles away checks her social media feed and sees a surveillance snapshot of the Rite Aid robber with a note about a $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. The face in the picture is familiar. She clicks on the link to Solveacrime.com and starts filling out the website’s tip form. She types in information on the suspect, and it is submitted to Solveacrime.com for follow up. A few days later the subject is apprehended…. Read the full article.
8 Free Tools to Help with Your Social Media Investigations
Don’t let your social media investigation be a time-suck.
By Garett Seivold
With 69 percent of adults on at least one social media site, including 88 percent of individuals under 30 years old, there is a wealth of information out there for investigators to comb through. Few social media users implement the strictest privacy settings, which provides even more investigative fodder.
With so much information available, social media investigations are a potential time-suck, warned Heather Honey, president of Haystack Investigations, at the 2018 GSX conference in September. “You want to have a plan in mind,” she said. “First, identify what information you have about a person of interest. Second, know what information you’re trying to find.”… Read the full article.
What it’s Like to Find and Buy EAS Detachers Online as a Shoplifter
I set out to explore the surprisingly accessible world of online shoplifting communities and marketplaces.
By Mike Giblin, LPRC
Imagine that you’re away on vacation. Your home is empty and unguarded, but it’s safely locked tight while you relax on the beach. You promised you’d limit phone time, but despite yourself, you check your messages to find a link a friend has shared with you. It’s an online posting in your hometown stating “House Keys For Sale. Will Work On Any Lock, Any House.” The listing price? $18, with free shipping and a money-back guarantee.
While this wouldn’t be feasible in the residential world, it’s exactly the challenge that the world of retail faces daily…. Read the full article.
Integrating Analytics in Loss Prevention
By David Speights, Ph.D., Daniel Downs, Ph.D., and Adi Raz, DBA
Previous posts in this series have addressed theory, retail fraud, and methods for addressing specific problems for loss prevention.
In this post, we move one step further and describe the tools, team members, data infrastructure, and planning needed to develop an analytics environment within a retailer’s loss prevention team.
Most retailers today do not have a traditional analytics group within their loss prevention department. The goal of this post is to create a roadmap for loss prevention teams to plan for and adopt a culture of analytics…. Read the full article.
An About-Face for LP?
Advances in Identification Technology Let Retailers Get Proactive
By Garett Seivold
“We proved-out that the technology works phenomenally well. The technology is great.” This effusive praise by an LP executive who oversaw a several-store test of facial recognition technology is perhaps most noteworthy for the retailer’s ultimate decision against implementation.
More than ever, retailers have the ability to shift security upstream—to move from reactive strategies of catching or investigating criminals to identifying them before they ever have a chance to strike. But even if technology is now ready for retailers, are retailers ready for the technology?… Read the full article.
