In early December 2020, LPM hosted the first ORCAs in Action Conference, one of the most productive and highly attended virtual events of the year for the loss prevention industry with nearly 900 registered. The conference was cosponsored by 3SI, Auror, and Avery Dennison.
Professionals from across the loss prevention and law enforcement communities were invited to join to learn more from industry leaders and top subject-matter experts about organized retail crime associations, how they operate, the essential work that they do in communities across the country, and how to get more involved in these critically important public-private partnerships. Following are descriptions of the presentations with links to the individual video presentations. A link to the entire 3-hour conference is included at the end of this post.
Defeating ORC through Teamwork. Featuring Nathan Bandaries with the Colorado Organized Retail Crime Association and Sergeant. Dave Beyer of the Douglas County Colorado Sheriff’s Department, this presentation focused on the importance of organized retail crime associations, how they operate, what they’re all about, and the critical role of building public-private partnerships in the battle against organized retail crime.
Building, Managing, and Growing a Successful ORC Program. This discussion featured a panel of ORC experts offering key insights into the nuts and bolts of building a successful organized retail crime program, how to work with one of the world’s largest online marketplaces to fight ORC, current organized retail crime trends, and the importance of building relationships in the ongoing battle against this pandemic within a pandemic. The presentation featured Tony Sheppard, LPC, director of ORC at Ulta Beauty; Christian Hardman, LPQ, supervisor of global asset protection at eBay; and Caitlin Blake, CFI, corporate investigations and ORC program manager at Abercrombie & Fitch. It was moderated by well-known asset protection executive Paul Jones, LPC.
Technology and Teamwork: Inside Chicago’s Looting Task Force. This exceptional presentation featured officials from the Chicago Police Department who discussed Chicago’s Looting Task Force, a unit made up of Chicago police detectives who specifically work to identify and arrest those suspected of being involved in looting incidents and burglaries. Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan, Sergeant Alex Wolinski, and Officer David Neberieza with the Chicago Police Department reviewed what the task force is all about, how it originated, how it operates, some of the successes that the program has had thus far, and how retailers can partner with police to mitigate incidents and help solve these crimes that are devastating Chicago communities.
The Latest from RILA on Protecting Retailers and Retail Customers. Michael Hanson with the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) discussed RILA’s most recent initiatives in the battle against retail crime, including the “Buy Safe” initiative as well as his role in leading the push for the INFORM Act, a bipartisan legislative initiative requiring online marketplaces to collect and verify third-party sellers’ basic seller information and for sellers to provide that information to consumers.
Strong Enough to Bend: The National Shoplifting Prevention Coalition. Director of Communications Barbara Staib with the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention (NASP) offered a closer look at the National Shoplifting Prevention Coalition—a retail industry collaboration that harnesses the power of a collective retail voice to create permanent change in the way the nation regards, prevents, and responds to shoplifting to positively impact shrink and store safety.
A Shoplifter Is Suspected of Being Involved in ORC—What’s Next? Whenever a shoplifter has been apprehended and is suspected of being involved in organized retail crime activity, it’s critical that loss prevention representatives know what questions to ask and the right way to ask them to maximize the potential intelligence information gathered and assist law enforcement and ORC investigators in case development. Wayne Hoover, CFI of Wicklander-Zulawski and the International Association of Interviewers led an insightful presentation providing important tips on how to interview these suspects as part of organized retail crime case identification and development.
All these presentations provide exceptional learning opportunities for professionals at every level of loss prevention while underscoring the exceptional talent and teamwork of those supporting the ORCAs in Action initiative.
For those who missed the conference, and for those who would like to see it again in its entirety, the 3-hour virtual conference is currently available here.
THE ORCAs IN ACTION CONFERENCE WAS SPONSORED BY THESE COMPANIES
