Retail crime victimization continues to create dangerous conditions. According to retailer incident data, crime events are increasing, requiring more impactful theft, fraud, and violence prevention strategies, partnerships, protocols, and technologies.
The Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC) was established in 2000 by 10 major US retailers to provide rigorous, independent crime prevention R&D and includes 96 retail corporations, 125 solution partners, and other associations to work together year-round to reduce crime events and harm. The LPRC created the INNOVATE program in 2020 to formalize critical crime prevention innovation.
LPRC INNOVATE is a unique group of 36 retail practitioners and 16 solution partner executives collaboratively working in labs and in the field with criminologists, geographers, data scientists, and law enforcement innovators to understand and resolve real-world crime issues.
LPRC leaders determined INNOVATE productivity would further increase by adding a very experienced and innovative senior advisor to the program in 2024 to help guide brainstorming, project focus, and field execution. After much deliberation, the group approached longtime industry leader Mike Lamb to serve in that role.
Mike has been a proven loss prevention and asset protection leader and innovator for over 40 years serving as VP of asset protection for The Home Depot, Walmart, and Kroger. Mike’s been an LPRC supporter and collaborator since 2000 and brings a wealth of ideas, energy, and leadership.
LPRC INNOVATE operates six interior labs and comprehensive Gainesville, Atlanta, and Albuquerque community-scale R&D areas with extensive interactive mapping dashboards and field experiments. INNOVATE also executes highly realistic theft and violence simulations designed to identify process, partnership, and technology weak points, and critical solution needs. This year the group executed an active shooter scenario including several law enforcement agencies to conduct a methodical incident breakdown and create an R&D roadmap.