INDUSTRY NEWS
International Organized Retail Crime Summit Held in Florida Event Features ORC Subject-Matter Experts from Both the US and Japan By James Lee, LPC, LP Magazine
O
crimes, drugs and drug trafficking, identity theft, money laundering, cybercrimes, and even financing terror groups. While the global figure is unknown, industry experts estimate the cost of organized retail crime at about $30 to $40 billion annually the US alone.
rganized retail crime prevention recently took on an international flavor when Tyco Retail Solutions hosted the International Organized Retail Crime Summit 2015 at their Boca Raton, Florida, campus in late October. LP Magazine was there to report on the event, which offered a unique opportunity for retail loss prevention, law enforcement, academia, and technology solution providers from the US and Japan to meet and collaborate face-to-face on the growing concern of organized retail crime (ORC). Recognizing the impact and magnitude of this global problem, the two-day summit was attended by some of the industry’s top subject-matter experts from both countries. The event featured an open, interactive format where attendees had the opportunity to learn and share information regarding the latest approaches being employed to combat ORC. Different than traditional forms of shoplifting, organized retail crime encompasses large-scale retail theft and other fraudulent activity primarily involving incidents where stolen goods are converted into cash. Yet even more troubling is the role that ORC plays as a “gateway crime” with incidents increasingly linked to even more serious issues such as violent
80
NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2015
Market Updates on Organized Retail Crime
Monday’s events began with a US market update on ORC hosted by Paul Jones, LPC. Jones, eBay’s executive director of global asset protection, offered unique insights on ORC challenges facing both brick-and-mortar and online retailers based on his experience in both formats. ORC once depended largely on black-market operations and physical locations such as flea markets and other illicit brick-and-mortar locations to sell stolen goods. Now, ORC operations are increasingly turning to online marketplaces as an easier, broader reaching, and more profitable way to sell stolen merchandise. According to Jones, maintaining trust is a key element in the eBay business model. Stolen goods create an unfair and untrustworthy market place for buyers and sellers. He outlined
|
LOSSPREVENTIONMEDIA.COM
