LP CORNER with Theresa Rowsell ORGANIZED CRIME BATTLING RETAIL
Retailers banding together to develop and maintain technology that allows loss prevention professionals to share information and fight the growing problem together
M
embers of the retail industry no doubt face daily challenges when it comes to managing the bottom line. One growing challenge is retail organized crime (ROC), which continues to represent a significant challenge for business owners and loss prevention (LP) leaders. The devel- oping sophistication of certain ROC opera- tions, coupled with their activities in multiple communities, make them extremely difficult for law enforcement to address, and nearly impossible for retailers to stop. It’s estimated that in 2010, upwards of 750 organized crime groups are operating across Canada, and stolen goods and as- sociated LP costs have reached a stag- gering $3 billion annually in the retail sector. With the increasing number of or- ganized crime groups and significant fi- nancial losses, the need for technology of this kind is quickly becoming a necessity for LP professionals. However, aided by Retail Council of
Canada’s launch of DataShare, an inno- vative and state-of-the-art information sharing initiative, a level of optimism and sense of relief is developing among pro- fessionals in the field who believe there is now a way to connect the dots between
22 SECURITY MATTERS • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010
large-scale theft and crime perpetrated against the retail industry.
Retail is at the onset of an evolution in how it can fight back against crime. The technology and its application will give the industry the ability to demonstrate the scope of the problem, and bring tangible stats and intelligence to law enforcement and government. This represents a crit- ical step in laying the foundation of a strategy to combat a problem that is spi- raling out of control.
The centralized database uses the latest technology to link data in order to identify relationships in crime as well as track real-time crime trends and statistics. Project pioneers include Sears Canada, Winners Merchants Intl., Best Buy Canada and The Home Depot Canada. These retailers are taking the lead to help develop a tool that will allow them to share information nationally in a secure and pri- vacy-compliant manner. Better still, it may help the industry bring the right intelli- gence to government and law enforce- ment, supporting their efforts to shut down organized crime enterprises. DataShare has been designed to facil- itate the collection, management and dis-
tribution of major crime and incidental data that will help LP professionals get their agenda heard by law enforcement and government. All of this sounds great, but the truth is that DataShare is now en- tering a critical point in the program where the need to expand within the in- dustry is crucial. In order for the initiative to have credibility with law enforcement and government, reflective data of crime perpetrated within the industry is needed. To this end, the program is expanding from the four pioneers to include addi- tional retailers.
Theresa Rowsell is the associate vice president of operations loss prevention with the Retail Council of Canada (
www.retailcouncil.org).
If you would like more information about RCC DataShare, or would like your organi- zation to become involved with this initia- tive that has the potential to shift the approach of loss prevention and change the dynamics with government and law en- forcement on this issue, contact Victor Chard at 416-922-0553 ext. 235;
vchard@retailcouncil.org.
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