SPONSORED CONTENT
RETAIL COMMUNITY Stefanie Hoover, CFI Sasun Bughdaryan / Shutterstock.com
Hoover is AVP strategic accounts and business development at ALTO USA. She is a member of the ASIS Retail Council and IAI Midwest Chapter Executive Board, and has over twenty years’ experience in retail loss prevention. She can be reached at shoover@alto-us.com.
Battling the Beast of ORC W
It’s not uncommon to see loss prevention leaders and advocates calling for enhanced legislation on organized retail crime (ORC)—sometimes as the only possible solution.
ith over forty years of experience in law enforcement, loss prevention, and as an adjunct professor, one could simply assume Karl Langhorst is passionate about retail crime. After working with him for seven months, I can tell you his passion runs deep. We have had many thoughtful conversations about the state of our industry, and what follows are his thoughts in his own words on a topic we have discussed often. I agree with Langhorst—we can continue to cry “no fair” or we can do something. It’s our choice.
Legislation Can’t Be Treated Like a Silver Bullet
Karl Langhorst
Frustrations are mounting for retailers of all sizes, all across the country. In addition to the quantifiable changes like an uptick in theft and monetary losses, retailers report a rise in the brazen nature and violence of ORC offenders, as well as a lack of accountability to stem the tide of recidivism. Unfortunately, with continued economic strain in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and local laws that deprioritize prosecution
September–October 2021
for shoplifting, this trend is unlikely to turn around on its own. It’s not uncommon to see loss prevention leaders and advocates calling for enhanced legislation on organized retail crime (ORC)—sometimes as the only possible solution. Though I agree ORC laws should be reviewed regularly and enhanced as needed, I’ve also been around long enough to know that these efforts have been going on for many years with varied success.
Making the Most of Current Laws Instead of looking at new laws as if they are a silver bullet, it’s time for retailers, law enforcement, and prosecutors to partner and make the most of the protections available under the current statutes. After all, if foundational issues related to business and law enforcement relationships, law enforcement and prosecution resources, and evidence collection aren’t addressed, no amount of legislation will overcome these problems. This is called making lemonade from loss prevention lemons, a skill some forward‑thinking asset protection experts have already
| 60 |
LossPreventionMedia.com
sharpened in some of the country’s most embattled cities.
Getting on the Same Page The first step to improve prosecution outcomes—and, therefore, create safer communities with less recidivism—is to connect with your local prosecutor’s office and law enforcement. In-store staff are under pressure every day, but a communication barrier between equally busy groups can signal a lack of interest to take this issue seriously, inevitably slowing the judicial process and potentially creating animosity.
t’s possible to make an impact in the battle against ORC today using existing laws. For example, members of the justice system often lament the struggles they have when working with retailers. When building a case, they might receive incomplete incident reports, insufficient data on repeat offenders, or improper witness statements. This isn’t the fault of in-store staff members, they just don’t
