27 minute read
PARTNERING WITH RETAILERS
Connect and Collaborate
Nothing is more important than trust at eBay. Without trust our marketplace could not function. As such we take trust very seriously and work diligently to maintain trust in our systems and among the parties that rely on our platform. Since 2008 eBay’s Global Asset Protection (GAP) team has sought more effective ways to detect, investigate, and combat organized retail crime (ORC).
“Connect and Collaborate” is a defining principal of eBay’s team. Our team works with retail and law enforcement partners to combat ORC daily. The shared experience of collaborative investigation improves our knowledge base of criminal activity and is a force multiplier. The collaboration builds trust and ensures a safe and competitive market place for our users.
On February 26, 2015, eBay hosted the second Connect and Collaborate conference at eBay’s Draper, Utah, office. The event provides a forum for retailers and law enforcement to connect to share success stories and techniques to combat ORC. This year’s successful meeting was attended by more than 120 retailers and law enforcement representatives.
During the one-day meeting, law enforcement and retailers provided overviews of cases and investigations that they conducted in collaboration with eBay.
Launching an ORCA. Mark Faulkner of the Salt Lake City Police Department presented on the topic of combating ORC through effective partnerships between law enforcement, retailers, and eBay. He reviewed how to launch an ORCA and offered assistance to the attendees.
Triangulation Fraud. Scott Sanford, director of ORC investigations for Barnes & Noble, provided an overview of the growing trend of triangulation fraud. He reviewed the steps necessary for the fraud to take place and outlined the issues that retailers and law enforcement should address to help curb the activity.
Gift Card Program. Outerwall’s Greg Bromley provided a business overview of their Coinstar gift card purchasing kiosks, including the camera and fingerprint technology built into each machine to minimize risk. He emphasized how his team works with participating retailers to minimize and resolve criminal merchandise card fraud.
Operation Holiday Steals. Sergeant Richard Rossman of the Broward Sheriff’s Office and recent recipient of the Homeland Security Public Safety Award, described the successful ways they manage and leverage public-private partnerships to combat ORC. He reviewed the November 2014 joint action called Operation Holiday Steals that resulted in dozens of arrests and identified millions in stolen property.
Other Topics. Following are some of the other topics and speakers: ■ “Online Investigations Collaboration: All About Avi” by Amy
Wallace, JCPenney ■ “Creating Buy-in for Your ORCA” by Curt Crum, Boise
Police Department ■ “Leveraging Existing Tools” by Hawken Averett, eBay ■ “Building Win-Win Solutions” by Jamie Bourne, Home Depot ■ “Collaborating to Conquer Chronic Criminals” by Glenn Justus,
Barnes & Noble
Distinguished Service Award. eBay’s Global Asset Protection team received a distinguished service award from retailers and law enforcement during the meeting.
Thank you to all of the speakers and attendees for your participation in the 2015 Connect and Collaborate conference. Special thanks are extended to Stoney Burke, Hawken Averett, and Christian Hardman for their extraordinary efforts in coordinating the event.
To learn more about eBay’s Global Asset Protection programs, contact PROACT@ebay.com.
By Dave DiSilva
DiSilva is senior manager of global asset protection for eBay where he oversees eBay’s tools and PROACT teams. Prior to joining eBay in 2010, he held retail leadership roles in analytics, investigations, corporate LP, shortage control, e-commerce, and supply chain. DiSilva is an active member of the Loss Prevention Research Council, serving as co-chair of the predictive analytics group. Since 2011 he has been an LP Magazine contributor. DiSilva can be reached at 408-332-8666 or dadislva@ebay.com.
Det. III Joe Hopkins, community business coordinator for the Los Angeles Police Department, Commercial Crimes Division, presented on the LAAORCA and CAL-ORCA collaborative partnerships. To see other photos from the conference, go to LPportal.com.
EDITOR: Let’s start with your current job. As senior vice president of retail operations at RILA, what are your responsibilities?
LABRUNO: I am currently responsible for asset protection, supply chain, and as of late January, omni-channel.
EDITOR: Which of those occupies the most time?
LABRUNO: I would say it’s a close race between AP and supply chain for two distinctly different reasons. With supply chain I’m still learning and building new relationships. I’m doing a lot of outreach, trying to earn credibility in that part of the industry, doing a lot of reading, understanding, and expanding the offering. Whereas with AP, it’s more developing substantive content and maintaining relationships that I’ve had for a number of years.
EDITOR: Most of the people in our industry know you because of your position at RILA. They may not, however, know your back story that brought you here, which I think is fascinating. Let’s talk about where you are from and your early career.
LABRUNO: I’m from the beautiful part of New Jersey, Morris County, which is about forty minutes directly west of New York City.
EDITOR: I understand you were a good student and good athlete in high school.
LABRUNO: I would say I was a hard worker—good grades didn’t come naturally to me. And I was never satisfied with my athletic performance.
EDITOR: You played basketball.
LABRUNO: Yes, and softball and soccer. But basketball was my love, and still is.
EDITOR: Did you play in college?
LABRUNO: I thought about it. I did some college visits at some smaller schools, but decided to go to Penn State instead.
EDITOR: Had you at that point decided that law was what you were going to study?
I started as an in-house counsel at Home Depot supporting the asset protection group enterprise wide. When they made a bad stop or otherwise exposed the company to legal action, I figured all that out from a legal perspective. Then it expanded to legal advice on all the ORC investigations. Then they added the corporate security group who was doing all the C-suite, high-level executive protection. Then it expanded to supporting retail operations.
LABRUNO: I had no idea. No direction. I majored in psychology, but wasn’t sure where to go with it until the fall of my senior year. I had two older brothers who were practicing law at the time. They were good guys, seemed to have good heads on their shoulders. So I figured, “Eh, if it’s good enough for them and it makes mom and dad proud, why not just pursue the same career?” So it had nothing to do with a love of the law.
EDITOR: Where did you get your law degree?
LABRUNO: Seton Hall Law School.
EDITOR: Where did you start your law career?
LABRUNO: The summer of my second year in law school I was offered an internship at a very large and prestigious, at the time, law firm in New Jersey. They had a monster internship program with probably twenty or so budding lawyers. They paid us good money for the summer and wined and dined us. Then at the end of the summer, you either get an offer, or you don’t. I got the offer and went to work for the law firm after graduation.
EDITOR: How long did you stay there?
LABRUNO: Not long frankly. It’s a bit of a story, but with an interesting twist.
EDITOR: Tell us.
LABRUNO: Working in a big, prestigious law firm pays great money, but it is basically a sweat shop. You sit in the library for fourteen or more hours a day. For someone who was the youngest of six kids, there wasn’t a whole lot of money from Mom and Dad to pay for college. So I had undergraduate loans to pay, and the money was good. I had every intention to stay even though I had developed a love of criminal law in law school and wanted to be a prosecutor. I had a brother who was an assistant district attorney at the time. I knew that they didn’t make a lot of money compared to what the big law firm paid. Then came the twist.
EDITOR: What was that?
LABRUNO: About two years into my time with the law firm, I had an accident. In 1993 I was hit by a car as a pedestrian. I spent the next six months in and out of the hospital undergoing seventeen surgeries on my legs. Throughout that year the firm was awesome to me. When I went back to work a year later, I went back to working the same fourteen-hour days. My accident had put life in perspective for me, and the big law firm
wasn’t working for me anymore. So—I remember this like it was yesterday—I walked into the managing partner’s office, who by the way was just a wonderful guy. He would have given me as many years as I needed to rehab and kept my job open. I went in and said, “I quit.” He asked, “Where you going?” “I don’t know. I don’t have a job.” He said, “Lisa, you can quit, but you need to have a job first.” I said, “No, I’m quitting.” Not too much later I ended up at the Hudson County prosecutor’s office working as an assistant prosecutor in my dream job.
EDITOR: How long did you work as a prosecutor?
LABRUNO: Not very long; maybe three years. The problem was it was a very different county from Morris County where I was from. Hudson County is Jersey City, Hoboken, Bayonne. It’s a city. I thought going there I could prosecute drunk drivers and hit and runs, that sort of thing. Little did I know I’d be conflicted out of all that stuff because of my accident. I quickly realized I wasn’t going to change the world in Hudson County.
A job opened up at the Archdiocese of Newark as an in-house attorney. I figured, “A good Catholic girl. Go work for the Archdiocese.” And so I did that. But not long after I got there, the church sex scandal broke. I still had the prosecutor inside me, so I quickly became disenchanted. About that same time 9/11 happened, and I just wanted out.
EDITOR: What happened next?
LABRUNO: A job opened up at Home Depot headquarters in Atlanta. They were looking for a former prosecutor to work in-house. It was criminal law, good money, and away from the New York area. So I relocated to Atlanta.
EDITOR: What were your responsibilities
at Home Depot?
LABRUNO: Initially, it was to support the asset protection group enterprise wide. I was doing all their policy drafting and legal training. When they made a bad stop or otherwise exposed the company to legal action, I figured all that out from a legal perspective. Then it expanded to legal advice on all the ORC investigations. Then they added the corporate security group who was doing all the C-suite, high-level executive protection. Then it expanded to supporting retail operations.
EDITOR: Was this your first exposure to retail loss prevention?
LABRUNO: First exposure.
EDITOR: And at some point you moved back to New Jersey while still working for Home Depot?
LABRUNO: I did. I got engaged to my husband. He was a police chief in New Jersey at the time, so he couldn’t relocate. I went to my general counsel and said, “I either quit or you let me move back to Jersey.” He let me move, and I stayed with Home Depot for another seven years or so.
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EDITOR: What happened at that point?
LABRUNO: A new general counsel came in and closed the legal field offices. They offered me a wonderful package to go back to Atlanta, and I really wanted to do it. But at that point, our daughter was five, my parents were getting older, and my husband had retired and was in a new job. So I thought, “Between my parents and my daughter and my husband, I’m going to have to turn this down.” And I did.
EDITOR: How did you end up at RILA?
LABRUNO: While at Home Depot, I developed a strong working relationship with their vice president of government relations. I think he figured if I wasn’t going to work for Home Depot, he wanted me to work on behalf of Home Depot. He knew Sandy Kennedy at RILA and opened the door for me by getting my name in front of her. But initially, Sandy wanted the person to be in DC, which I understood. And for the same reasons I wouldn’t relocate to Atlanta, I wasn’t interested in relocating to DC. So RILA pursued other options, and I assumed it wasn’t going to happen. A couple months later they called me back and said, “If you still want the job, we’ll let you stay in Jersey.” So that’s the story of my career.
EDITOR: Shortly after you arrived at RILA to take the asset protection role, you had your first LP conference. At that point how much exposure had you had to the LP industry?
LABRUNO: I had Mike Lamb in my corner. That’s about it. But that was huge. But exposure to the larger AP industry, little to none. I remember hiding in the bathroom stall at that first conference because I was so overwhelmed. It was pretty stressful.
EDITOR: When was that? LABRUNO: Spring of 2010.
EDITOR: But you quickly got your feet on the ground and established yourself in the industry. How has your perception of asset protection professionals changed since you’ve been in this position?
I was surprised to find that many of the AP executives were a lot like Mike Lamb. I was pleasantly surprised to find that most AP executives are exceptional. I’m continuously impressed by their professionalism, their thoughtfulness, their thought leadership. It took some time for them to understand what I brought to the table, but I think being able to attach myself to Mike did me a world of good and made the transition a little bit easier.
LABRUNO: I was surprised to find that many of the AP executives were a lot like Mike. I was pleasantly surprised to find that most AP executives are exceptional. I’m continuously impressed by their professionalism, their thoughtfulness, their thought leadership. And they were mostly receptive to me being in the position. It took some time for them to understand what I brought to the table, but I think being able to attach myself to Mike did me a world of good and made the transition a little bit easier. I also sought out like-minded people. Monica Mullins was a huge supporter of mine. And Libby Rabun. With theirs and others support, I was able to start the Asset Protection Leaders Council (APLC) with a small group of really solid people, like Mike, Monica, Claude Verville, Stan Welch, Jason Coren, Jason Jones, Ken Amos, and Paul Stone.
EDITOR: Before that there was only the LP steering committee. Why did you feel that it was important to create the leaders council?
LABRUNO: I thought it was important because there was an untapped resource. The conference committee has the job of developing the conference program, which obviously is very important. They got together just once a year in person, didn’t do a lot of benchmarking, and didn’t drive substantive initiatives that could have a significant impact on their business and the industry.
Some of us wanted to figure out how to get the pyramid heads more involved; how to focus on global strategic issues like operational shrink, leadership, and emerging technology, and perhaps tap into academia as a resource. It was that untapped resource that I saw and wanted a way to leverage it.
EDITOR: How many people are in that group today, and what are the criteria for being a member?
LABRUNO: There are about forty executives on the APLC. You have to be a RILA member, and you have to be an AP pyramid head for the most part. [See list of APLC members, box page 36.]
EDITOR: And how often do you get together?
LABRUNO: Three to four times a year we have regular meetings that revolve around really smart agendas. We also get together on an ad hoc basis when significant things happen like the civil unrest in and around Ferguson, Missouri, racial profiling in New York City, or the Ebola
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continued from page 32 situation. We’ll have conference calls to talk through what everybody’s doing and share experiences. That’s one of the great things about this group. They’re very willing to share leading practices, what they’re doing—even when Mike was at Home Depot and Claude at Lowe’s. That’s pretty special. I hope one day the Supply Chain Leaders Council and Omni-channel Leaders Council will be like that, but it takes time. I think that you need to build trust; you need to build a mutual respect for each other.
EDITOR: Let’s talk a little about the upcoming asset protection conference May 3 – 6 in Orlando. Give us some of the highlights and how you view this conference.
LABRUNO: At this point [in early February] we haven’t fully finalized the program, but I’m pretty excited with what is in the works. I like to look not just at the conference’s content, but at the speakers. From a speaker perspective, we’ve always leaned toward top-level executives speaking, not because we’re title snobs, but because they have both the subject-matter expertise as well as the experience of public speaking.
With that said, we already have on the program pyramid heads like Dennis Klein from Stage Stores, Joan Manson from The Container Store, Paul Stone of Best Buy, Mike Lamb from Walmart, Keith White from The Gap, David Lund from DICK’S Sporting Goods, Kevin Colman at Macy’s, Charles Delgado at Meijer, Nate Frazier at Helzberg Diamonds, Ken Warfield at Regis, Scott Roubic at Jo-Ann Stores, Bob Oberosler at Rite Aid, Libby Rabun at AutoZone, and Claude Verville from Lowe’s.
From a content perspective, we’re putting together a session that builds on last year’s active-shooter session led by Jeremiah Hart. That was pretty compelling stuff. One thing that stood out to me was that seasoned executives left that session really uncomfortable, asking themselves whether they were doing enough to plan for this kind of event. So our steering committee decided to do another session that will provide more practical guidance for mitigating the risk of and damage from an active shooter.
We’re also going to have a cybersecurity general session. From a content perspective, our steering committee wanted us to take a balanced approach given that most of them are not leading their companies’ cybersecurity efforts, but recognizing that they should be part of the conversation. So this session will feature Keith White, who does have an important role with Gap’s cybersecurity efforts. He’ll talk about AP’s role in Gap’s risk mitigation strategies and why AP needs to have a seat at the table. And David McLeod, VF Corp’s chief information security officer will share the current threat landscape, how VF Corp. is responding to those threats, and how the
continued on page 36
continued from page 34
industry can work together to mitigate the risk of cyber threats. So it should be really useful, actionable content. [See page 39 for more details about the conference.]
EDITOR: I think most people would agree that you’ve made great strides in expanding the educational content of the conference over the past few years. What things are still challenges for you, or what would you like to do better?
LABRUNO: The exhibit hall at the conference presents a unique challenge. Our solution provider partners are critically important to our overall success, not just from a financial perspective, but from a thought-leadership perspective as well. I always challenge myself and the rest of the RILA team to come up with ideas to keep the solution providers engaged. It’s not about keeping them happy. It’s about keeping them engaged, finding ways for them to contribute thought leadership, for them to make an impact. Figuring out a way to get the attending retailers to really connect with the exhibitors in the hall, to make a conscious effort to talk with every exhibitor, to understand their product or service, to give them the time really owed them by virtue of their financial contribution. Solution providers are in a tough spot. Many of them feel compelled to attend all of the industry conferences. I don’t want them to come to our conference because they have to; I want them to come to our conference because they want to, because they get something out of it, because they feel good about being there.
I really like that some retailers bring teams and divide and conquer both with the sessions and the exhibit hall. Then they come back and download with each other. “What’d you see that was really innovative, fresh, emerging? What new technologies did you see?” I wish more retailers would do that. Now, that requires them to bring teams, which not everyone can do because of budget. But I wish that we, RILA, could find a way to make retailers want to go into that exhibit hall for something other than cocktails
RILA’s Asset Protection Leaders Council
Adam Alford, Senior Director, Asset Protection, GameStop Shane Berry, Vice President, Asset Protection, Abercrombie & Fitch Tommie Caudle, Vice President, Asset Protection,
Safety & Compliance, SAM’S Club Michael Cavaliere, Director, Risk Management USA, IKEA North America Steven Dean, Director of Security, Costco Steve Deckard, Vice President, Financial Planning & Shrink, Dollar General Tim Fisher, Director, Loss Prevention, T-Mobile, USA Julie Giblin, Vice President, Loss Prevention, Family Dollar Scott Glenn, Vice President & Chief Security Officer, Sears Holdings Timothy Gorman, Divisional Vice President, Asset
Protection, Walgreens Boots Alliance Jeremy Gottlieb, Senior Director, Audit and Compliance, 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide Joe Hardman, Senior Director, Loss Prevention, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Gary Hilt, Vice President, Loss Prevention & Risk Management, Blain’s Farm & Fleet Cindy Hudson, Vice President, Stores Assets Protection, Target Steven Knott, Vice President, Asset Protection, The Home Depot Michael Lamb, LPC, Vice President, Asset Protection & Safety, Walmart Stores Bruce Levitin, Vice President, Orchard Supply Hardware David Lund, LPC, Vice President, Loss Prevention, DICK’S Sporting Goods Scott McBride, Vice President, Global Loss Prevention,
Safety & Security, American Eagle Outfitters Steve McClain, Vice President, Asset Protection, Big Lots Stores Robert Oberosler, Group Vice President, Asset Protection, Rite Aid Dan Provost, LPC, Vice President, Global Loss Prevention, Staples Libby Rabun, LPC, Vice President, Loss Prevention & Safety, AutoZone Perry Resnick, Director, Asset Protection, REI Marie Reyes, Senior Director, Loss Prevention, The Michaels Companies Michelle Rice, Senior Vice President, Store Operations, Christopher & Banks Margot Roth, Global Director, Risk Management, Whole Foods Market Scott Roubic, Vice President, Internal Audit & Asset Protection, Jo-Ann Stores Stephen Scott, Vice President, Loss Prevention, Tractor Supply Tina Sellers, Director, Loss Prevention, Delhaize America Mike Silveira, Vice President, Loss Prevention, CVS Health Kathleen Smith, Vice President, Loss Prevention, Safeway Mark Stinde, Vice President, Asset Protection, 7-Eleven Paul Stone, LPC, Vice President, Enterprise Fraud, Best Buy Darrell Taylor, Vice President, Loss Prevention & Security, H-E-B Claude Verville, LPC, Vice President, Loss Prevention, Safety & Hazmat, Lowe’s Robert Vranek, Vice President, Loss Prevention, Belk Dennis Wamsley, Director, Loss Prevention & Safety, Publix Super Markets Ken Warfield, Senior Vice President, Premium Division
NA & Asset Protection, Regis Corporation Stan Welch, LPC, Vice President, Loss Prevention, JCPenney Keith White, LPC, Senior Vice President, Loss Prevention & Corporate Administration, Gap Inc. Todd Young, Director, Loss Prevention, Outerwall
continued from page 36 and to not just walk by a vendor and grab a card, but to really appreciate the contribution that the solution providers make to the conference.
EDITOR: RILA is not restrictive at all to the vendors as far as participating in presentations and sitting in all the sessions.
LABRUNO: They are welcome and, in fact, encouraged to attend everything. As far as presenting, we only have two restrictions. First, they have to be exhibiting or sponsoring at the conference, and second, they have to co-present with a retailer. What that does is helps ensure that other retailers will attend the session because they want to hear what success another retailer has had because of the vendor instead of thinking it might be just a sales pitch if there was no retailer presenting. From the vendor’s perspective, it increases the chance that someone will walk out of the session and say, “I need to talk to that vendor.”
EDITOR: Apart from the conferences, what are some challenges that you still have on your plate that you want to improve?
LABRUNO: I think my biggest challenge is continuously finding people to engage in volunteerism. All of our meetings and committees are essentially volunteer work. It’s time away from their day job. So how do we persuade them that it’s worth the investment of their time? How do we convince these very, very busy executives that they will have good takeaways to bring back to their organizations, but at the same time contributing to the industry? I’m not sure I always get that message across very well and need to find better ways to do that.
I also continue to be disappointed by the lack of diversity in the industry, particularly at the executive level. Seems like we’ve been talking about it a long time. I bring it up often. It’s not just at my meetings. It’s at other industry events. I don’t have all the right answers on how to resolve it, but I do think it’s something that we need to continue to address.
My biggest challenge is continuously finding people to engage in volunteerism. All of our meetings and committees are essentially volunteer work. It’s time away from their day job. So how do we persuade them that it’s worth the investment of their time? How do we convince these very, very busy executives that they will have good takeaways to bring back to their organizations, but at the same time contributing to the industry?
EDITOR: Let me go full circle back to your personal life and ask you about your daughter. I know that your daughter seems to be modeling herself after her mom in her drive to be a basketball player. How has that affected your life?
LABRUNO: I could talk forever about Livy and the joy she brings to my life. But candidly, I’m more proud of what a compassionate kid she is. She is such a kind soul. I was just telling somebody that the other day I found her shoveling our next door neighbor’s driveway. Nobody prompted her to do it. She did it because they’re elderly. And when we were at the grocery store the other day, she saw an old man walking with a cane, and said, “Mom. We should help him into the grocery store,” and we did. She makes me a better person.
EDITOR: She’s how old?
LABRUNO: Ten. Of course, the fact that she loves playing basketball really excites me. It’s hysterical to watch her play because she’s as competitive on one hand as she is compassionate on the other. I was a decent basketball player, but the only record I broke was the most technicals in a season. She’s the only person who stands a chance of breaking that record. I coach her, and I’ve told refs before games, “Watch out for number twenty-four,” which was my number in high school. “And if she needs a technical, give her a technical.” As soon as the foul is called, the hands go up, the jaw goes down, and the eyes get big at the ref.
EDITOR: Do you sense you have a basketball player or another lawyer?
LABRUNO: Both. [Laughter.]
EDITOR: Last question. What legacy do you want to leave in your life?
LABRUNO: Two things come to mind. First, I want to be a great mom. I want to raise my child to have a strong moral fiber, a strong faith, and just be a good soul. If I can be the kind of mom that my mom is to me, that’s the biggest accomplishment I can achieve.
Second, I want to have an impact not on an industry. I want to have an impact on people. I want people to think highly of me and respect me. I don’t worry too much about my legacy in terms of what work product I leave behind in the industry. I want to leave behind something significant with the people I live and work with.
