Facial Recognition is a Proactive Defense Against ORC
How Facial Recognition Helps Stores Combat Organized Retail Theft

By the D&D Daily staff

Retailers are facing a surge in organized retail crime (ORC), costing billions annually. To combat this, many are turning to facial recognition technology, which helps identify repeat offenders and deter theft.

How It Works

Facial recognition scans individuals and compares them to databases of known shoplifters. If a match is found, store security is alerted in real time, allowing swift action. Unlike traditional cameras, this AI-driven system automates detection, reducing response time.

Stopping Repeat Offenders

ORC groups often target multiple stores. Facial recognition helps track suspects across locations, alerting staff when a known thief enters. Some retailers also share this data with law enforcement or security networks, making it harder for criminals to evade detection.

Security Without Profiling

Ethical use ensures facial recognition is only applied to known offenders, not general shoppers. Many retailers follow strict policies to prevent misuse.

A Strong Deterrent

Beyond catching thieves, facial recognition deters crime. Stores displaying signs about its use discourage criminals from attempting theft. When combined with license plate readers and predictive analytics, it creates a proactive defense against ORC.

Facial recognition is proving to be a powerful tool in retail security, helping businesses protect inventory, employees, and customers.


Updates to New York's Retail Workplace Violence Law
'Panic buttons' changed to 'silent response buttons' & more time to comply

NY Set to Amend Law Addressing Retail Employee Workplace Violence Prevention

Seyfarth Synopsis: A workplace violence prevention law passed by the New York State legislature in June 2024 and signed into law by the Governor in September 2024 with certain provisions set to take effect in March 2025 has been amended. Although the amended legislation will still require that employers establish a "workplace violence prevention policy" and provide workplace violence training to covered employees remains, the previous requirement to provide employees with a "panic button" that dials 9-1-1 has been replaced with a provision instead requiring only that the buttons alert workers' supervisors or a security officer.

As previously detailed here, on September 5, 2024, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill (Assembly Bill A8947C) that would have imposed significant workplace violence prevention requirements on retail employers effective March 3, 2025. The law specifically indicated a separate effective date-January 1, 2027-for the "panic button" requirement to allow employers more time to prepare for implementation.

Recently, the legislature passed amendments to the forthcoming law, changing all references from "panic" buttons to "silent response" buttons and removing the requirement that the buttons must immediately dial 9-1-1, instead requiring that the buttons reach covered employees' supervisors or on-site security staff.

The amended law, which is now pending Governor Hochul's signature, will be effective 270 days following enactment-a change from the initial 180-day period before effectiveness. Thus, the law will be effective on June 2, 2025.

The pending amendments do not meaningfully change most employers' obligations under the forthcoming law. However, the change from "panic" buttons to "silent response" buttons provide covered employers with a few options that did not exist before, removing the requirement to dial 9-1-1. The amendments also provide employers with three more months to prepare for compliance with the policy and training requirements of the forthcoming law. seyfarth.com

   RELATED: New York Moves to Soften Retail Job Violence, Panic Button Law


Banking Exec Turned LEGO 'Fencing' Ringleader?
Ex-Wells Fargo banker accused of 'fencing' LEGOs stolen from Charlotte-area Walmart & Target Stores
A former Wells Fargo banker is accused of "fencing" hundreds of thousands of dollars of "highly lucrative" LEGO products stolen from Charlotte-area Walmart and Target stores, federal investigators say in a recently unsealed search warrant. A "fence" is a middleman who quickly resells stolen items, investigators say in the warrant filed by a U.S. Department of Homeland Security agent against 45-year-old Charlotte resident Ryan Thomas Cahill.

Two other men are accused of stealing the LEGOs and delivering them to Cahill in his northwest Charlotte driveway hundreds of times in recent years, according to the warrant unsealed by a U.S. District Court judge in Asheville on Friday. LEGOs also were stolen from the Arboretum Barnes & Noble book store in south Charlotte, court records show.

U.S. Attorney Dena King asked the judge Friday to unseal the nearly year-old warrant. That way, state prosecutors could use information in the document in a related case against Cahill in Cabarrus County Superior Court, King's written filing shows.

No one has been charged in the case in federal court, King said in her request. On Oct. 28, 2024, Concord Police charged Cahill with felony organized retail theft - receive/possess, according to Cabarrus County Court records. He was released on a $500,000 secured bond pending trial. Cahill pleaded not guilty and "has rejected all plea offers," his lawyer, John Dowling III of Charlotte told The Charlotte Observer on Wednesday.

"Mr. Cahill is an upstanding member of the community who worked at a well-respected global bank for 25 years before he was charged," Dowling said in a statement. Dowling called Cahill "an avid LEGO enthusiast who has been falsely accused of wrongdoing in this case."

Cahill is accused of selling the LEGOS on eCommerce platforms in North Carolina and other states, including Marketplace, the agent said. Cahill was familiar with electronic fund transfers and other wire transfers through his job at Wells Fargo, according to the warrant. In his driveway, the warrant says, Cahill directed the men who delivered the LEGOs to remove their anti-theft "spider wrapping" before placing the products in plastic totes. charlotteobserver.com


Retail Crime-Fighting App Wins Award for Making Shopping Safer
Stockton, CA: App meant to fight retail theft in San Joaquin County sees early success

The free 'STAART' app won an award Thursday from the Western Association of Chamber Executives.

It's been five months since Stockton took action against retail theft, and leaders of the business group that launched the "Stockton Takes Action Against Retail Theft (STAART)" program say shopping is becoming safer.

"You see those billboards, you see the marketing," said Timm Quinn, CEO of the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce. "There's eyes watching, there's people watching." Now, there are also people reporting. One of the program's key elements is a free app allowing shoppers to send in photos and videos of retail thefts in progress.

Store owners have their own dashboards to track their cases and evidence, and so does law enforcement. "The community has really embraced it," said Quinn. "We've got over 1,300 users, active users on the app right now. Over 390 submissions so far." It's not just Chamber of Commerce officials hoping the app is successful. San Joaquin County leaders are counting on it. They poured nearly $1.2M into the program just months ago.

It's not just Chamber of Commerce officials hoping the app is successful. San Joaquin County leaders are counting on it. They poured nearly $1.2M into the program just months ago.  abc10.com


Clash Between Stores & Hands-Off Security Policies
Uptown store manager disappointed after security doesn't help with shoplifting
An Albuquerque business said they lost merchandise worth hundreds of dollars after a man shoplifted from their store on Thursday.

"A guy approached the store, masked himself with a bandana. He came into the store, proceeded to grab him jeans from our front table, approximately like 8 to 10 pairs. So, $800 worth of jeans," said Jason, a manager of a clothing store in Uptown.

He said as the man ran out of the store; he ran past a security guard who didn't stop him. Jason eventually stopped chasing the suspect after he was threatened.

"You think that security's here for safety, to help you, to protect you. That's not the case that I found out as soon as I got back and spoke to the head of security, who informed me that it's the mall management's policy that they don't approach, they don't interrupt what's going on," Jason said.

He said the security guards walk around the stores and scan a barcode at each door, showing they've made their rounds. "So, it's now really increased to having to really pay attention to what is happening outside your store because now that we have no protection, we're the only ones left to do it," said Jason. koat.com


Staten Island, NY: Instances of this crime are off the charts on Staten Island in 2025, NYPD data shows

January Report Shows Continued Decrease in Homicides & Crime Overall in St. Louis

Arlington police report shows 2 more homicides but overall crime decreased in 2024

Ohio lawmakers react to calls for gun safety regulations after latest mass shooting
 

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Tyler, TX: 4th person arrested for $400,000 Lego theft ring that impacted stores across U.S.
The fourth person accused of participating in a $400,000 Lego theft ring was arrested Thursday in Smith County. Erica Nicole Johnson, 35, was booked into the Smith County Jail on charges of engaging with criminal activity and property theft over $300,000. She is one of seven suspects accused of being involvement in the scheme that impacted Walmart and Target stores across the country, arrest records and documents show. Johnson is the fourth person to be arrested for the theft ring that hit stores in Tyler, Longview, Gun Barrel City and other Texas cities as well as locations in Florida and Oklahoma, arrest documents show. Brian Fleming and Ladarion Anderson, both 33, were arrested in December, and Semetric Danielle Baker, 34, of Burnet, was arrested in January for her involvement in the scheme. All three were arrested on the same charges that Johnson is facing. Documents say Fleming and Anderson would go into the stores first and one of their five co-conspirators, which included Baker and Johnson, would go in afterward as a part of the scheme.  cbs19.tv


Vidalia, GA: Police investigating $130,000 theft from Kay Jewelers
Police in Vidalia say they have identified a person of interest after more than $130,000 in merchandise was stolen from a jewelry store. The incident happened Wednesday just after 5 p.m. at the Kay Jewelers on East First Street. According to Vidalia Police, three black men with their faces covered came into the store, with one of the men pulling an object out of his jacket and using it to smash open a display case. Following the theft, the three men drove off. No injuries were reported. This all comes just days after a similar crime at the Kay Jewelers location in Bluffton. After hearing of the latest heist in Vidalia, WJCL 22 reached out to police to flag the other recent incident.  wjcl.com


Edmond, OK: Thieves steal $80K+ in Louis Vuitton handbags from Edmond consignment store
Oklahoma City Police are looking for three men involved in a robbery that left an Edmond luxury store out of thousands in handbags. Kristen Davis is the owner of the Re-Find Designer, a luxury consignment store in Edmond. She said her business was broken into a couple weeks ago at 1 a.m. Davis got a notification from her security system alerting her of a forced entry. This robbery was not the first time their store was burglarized. The first one was in April last year. The thieves in that incident took hundreds of thousands of dollars, Davis said.  kfor.com


Redlands, CA: Retail Theft Bust: 11 Arrested, $7,600 in Stolen Goods Recovered in Targeted Police Operation
Members of the Redlands Police Department's Community Engagement Team conducted a Retail Theft Operation Jan. 30 at Mountain Grove and Citrus Plaza shopping centers that resulted in the arrest of 11 people and the recovery of $7,600 worth of stolen merchandise from stores including Target, Ross, Victoria's Secret, World Market and BevMo. RPD officers worked in cooperation with store employees, loss prevention officers and retail theft investigators from several retail stores. During the operation, investigators arrested a 28-year-old Los Angeles woman who has been identified in a series of retail thefts throughout Southern California. Maria Isabel Torres was spotted at the Ross store in Redlands shortly after she was identified as the suspect in an earlier theft of merchandise at a Nordstrom Rack in the City of Riverside. A Nordstrom Rack Retail Theft Investigator provided RPD with a clothing description and photo which were used to positively identify the suspect.  iecn.com