The
D&D Daily ORC Survey Results
How will COVID-19 impact Loss
Prevention & Organized Retail Crime at your stores as the nation prepares to
reopen?
The D&D Daily's recent ORC survey conducted from April 27 to May 15, 2020
showed the overwhelming opinion (94%) that ORC suspects are becoming more
aggressive and with 91% expecting to see an increase in activity.
With one estimate being 20-30% more ORC activity.
With
tighter budgets, 69% cutting or questioning existing staffing levels, and
COVID-19 restrictions, the overall consensus shows that the virtual
workplace will continue to prevail and play a dominant role. While obviously
evolving even further to a point we may have yet to realize.
And based on these results, the virtual workplace may evolve into being the
preferred method of operation long term, following the overall trends
industry-wide in retail.
With 96% increasing telephone practices, video conferencing, remote audits and
virtual training. One thing for sure is the Zoom world is making a difference.
When it comes networking, trade shows, and face-to-face meetings; that is
developing relationships, that may be the one significant drawback in this new
COVID virtual world with 70% not expecting to attend any on-site conferences in
the near term.
Another relationship that in the past has been very effective and growing
steadily is reflected in the strong (84%) commitment to and reliance on
increasing collaborative efforts with law enforcement. A channel that may be
facing some difficulties given the current defunding trend and ongoing
decriminalization efforts.
Interestingly, almost 50% are now increasing the role of uniform security guards
in the stores - the largest figure to date the Daily's ever reported or seen.
Regretfully, during the shutdown 64%, up to May 15th remember, pre protests and
riots, had experienced burglaries and vandalism. A number that's almost
irrelevant now. But one to consider.
At the time and very concerning was the finding that 26% had no policy in place
for managing COVID-19 shoplifters and 43.5% were working on the policy.
Something that we'd expect everyone to have accomplished by now.
Lastly, it was extremely interesting to see that the testing of returning
workers to be literally split down the middle at 51% yes and 49% no. Once again,
a number that has probably changed significantly.
The post-shutdown retail climate certainly appears to be as everyone would
expect: Tighter budgets, more aggressive ORC suspects, more restrictions, no
travel, and definitely more virtual.
And if there's a couple of things to take away from this they are:
- Expect a rise in aggressive ORC
- The virtual workplace is here to stay - Develop yourself accordingly.
- Trade shows & Networking may not be back until 2022 & won't resemble
yesterday's
- ORC Associations may be negatively impacted short term
- The challenge now for everyone will be to continue developing your virtual
skills and focus on continuing to deliver best-in-class services and results
utilizing the technology and teams in place and ensuring a safe working and
shopping environment.
- Make sure you read the comments section at the bottom.
Special note: We will be conducting another survey starting next week and
we'd appreciate hearing from you - your input-advice-guidance? Send it to
gordon@d-ddaily.net and
gus@d-ddaily.net
Survey Highlights
In response to a recent D&D Daily survey, industry leaders from all types of
retail environments shared their feedback on how COVID-19 will impact Loss
Prevention and Organized Retail Crime as stores continue to open across the
country.
The survey was developed with the help of several key leaders in our industry,
and the response was overwhelming.
Survey respondents came from nearly every
type of retail environment, with 76% of respondents having 15+ years in the
field.
While the goal of the survey was to gain information on the future planning when
stores reopened, we also developed additional base-line questions referring to
the current issues of ORC; ie:
Top 3 ORC theft items: The respondents' results
of #1 Clothing, #2 Cosmetics, #3 Health & Beauty and #4 Electronics,
nearly matched the
D&D Daily's ORC Report.
The Daily has reported Clothing and Electronics in
the top two positions since 2017.
Looking forward, 91% of respondents believe that ORC activity would increase
following the stores reopening.
94% of respondents agreed
with the Daily's findings that ORC Crews/Shoplifters were becoming more
aggressive. At the time, we had no way to predict the devastation that would
result from looting in cities and towns across the nation.
While retailers indicated that 34% currently had Uniform Guards in place, 51%
had no future plans for guards, which may have taken a dramatic turn in the
past 3 weeks.
The Daily has
recently reported that the city of Chicago has hired 3 private
security firms for $1.2M to patrol retail corridors.
Looking at budgeting, staffing and travel, the economic impacts of Covid-19 were
very obvious.
With 70% of respondents indicating that they had no plans to
attend future Loss Prevention conferences this year.
The survey asked, 'Do
you have anyone on your LP Team who may not return due to the furlough?'
Nearly 19% said yes, while over 30% indicated unknown at this time.
We can now
see that due to the cuts of many Loss Prevention departments, that unknown group
was sadly on track.
We all know the importance of store visits, audits and interviews, yet less
than 44% of respondents indicated that they would return to a normal travel
schedule in the next month, placing a higher emphasis (96%) on telephone
interviewing and video training.
The results show that even as the country attempts to resume business as usual,
the retail landscape could remain permanently changed as a result of the
pandemic.
Thank you to all of the industry leaders that took the time to offer their
valuable feedback. Read the full results below.
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Full Survey Results
Do you have anyone on your LP Team who may not
return due to the furlough?
![](http://d-ddaily.com/images/orc-survey-retail-furlough-return.PNG)
Based on the D&D Daily's 2019 ORC Report, the Top 7 theft items were Clothing,
Electronics, Tools, Cosmetics/ Perfume, Jewelry, Alcohol/Cigarettes, Sporting
Goods/ Guns. Rank your Top 3 ORC theft items.
Based on 200+ results:
#1 Clothing
#2 Cosmetics
#3 Health & Beauty
#4 Electronics
#5 Jewelry
#6 Food
Do you expect an increase in ORC Activity?
91% Yes
9% No
*Yes: with the economy nearing a depression along with the criminal justice
system reducing numbers in prisons and early release, we can expect repeat
offenders back and newer members recruited to make money.
*Yes, I would expect at least a 20-30% increase
*Absolutely. The grocery industry, or at least my company, is already seeing a
significant increase.
*Yes, due to identities being concealed with masks and the courts/police doing
nothing to stop the subjects.
*No, ORC doesn't work that way. There will be no increase
Prior to COVID, many retailers saw spike in fraud both in stores and online.
What has been your largest area of increased fraud activity?
![](http://d-ddaily.com/images/6-16-20orc-survey-updatedf.png)
Will Uniform Security Guard services take on an
increased role in your store?
![](http://d-ddaily.com/images/orc-survey-guardsf.PNG)
Did your store(s)
experience shutdown related Burglaries / Vandalism?
64% - No
36% - Yes
Based on Reports in The Daily, Shoplifters/ ORC
Crews are becoming more Aggressive.
Do you see it becoming more aggressive?
94% - Yes
6% - No
Do you plan to collaborate more with peer retailers to garner more leverage with
law enforcement?
87% - Yes
13% - No
Will you have a policy in place if a shoplifting suspect claims to be
Covid-19 positive?
![](http://d-ddaily.com/images/6-8-20covid-orcsurvey.PNG)
Does the Police Department in your area have a policy on picking
up/transporting a shoplifter claiming to be Covid-19 positive?
63% - No
37% - No
How long until you resume a 'normal' travel and store visit schedules?
56% - Indicated that it would be a month until restarting a normal travel
schedule.
14% - Indicated that travel would need to continue
Will you be conducting more Telephone Interviews /Video Conferencing, audits,
training?
96% - Yes
4% - No change
Will your local ORC Organizations increase the flow of information through
Industry Networking or Zoom-ing?
76% - Yes
24% - No
Will your LP Team be attending any outside conferences? Y/N ... (if yes) which
events?
*This survey began prior to the cancellation of many major LP events/
shows.
70% - No
17% - Yes
11% - Undecided
2% - Without Travel
When you reopen stores, will your company test employees returning to work?
51% - Yes
49% - No
Anything else you'd like to share or mention? (If you feel it has value to
the LP community, we can post this response in the Daily anonymously or with
your byline, if you'd prefer)
*The reduction of police response and criminal prosecutions in many city centers
for so-called "crimes of survival", the fashionable social justice warrior term
for shoplifting, coupled with the release from custody of recidivist shoplifters
has essentially de-criminalized theft from retailers. And with so many ORC
networks having been sidelined for months, it will indeed be open season.
*Covid has an impact on ORC for certain. More ORC will be developed by boosters
utilizing Facebook Marketplace sites and other online venues until brink and
mortar stores reopen- but there will be fences. ORC has, and will continue to
increase since it is driven by narcotics. These boosters don't factor in Covid,
but buying online will have even a more volatile impact on health and safety
concerns, even more than before. Affording ORC training to associates and having
a robust ORC program will be more important than ever. Additionally, with
politicians directing law enforcement to "not make arrest for property crime,
narcotics possession of small amounts and prostitution, retailers need to make
certain law enforcement can distinguish ORC from low level property crimes or
"simply possession" of narcotics. *Education for law enforcement needs to be
more impactful than ever before. If the retailers can't, or lack the knowledge,
to prepare an ORC case for law enforcement, in these new times the ORC cases
will not be prosecuted.
*Cleaning protocols and execution will be crucial to the Safety of your Team and
Customers. The expectation / standards need to be set far before the doors are
opened. Emergency Plans have to be updated to reflect Pandemic Response.
Everyone want to get back to some normalcy. It is up to us as Leaders to ensure
our new "normal" is safe for all. We owe it to our Teams and our Communities.
*While the news may be bleak, our retail community is resilient. COVID_19 has
not killed retail, rather it's transformed us. Our community of Asset Protection
professionals continues to support our partners, associates, and guests as we
define a safe path forward in this new world. Customers, sales, and jobs will
return. We must stay the course, help each other, and have faith, for success is
near. -
Joe Biffar Chico's FAS
*This situation is compounded by the fact most bail reform legislation has no
carve out for theft for personal gain, which had already emboldened ORC in our
area.
*Seeing an increase in counterfeit bills.
*Be flexible to online business increasing as well as fraud.
*CEOs, C-Suite, Regional and District Managers have done a great job helping in
stores to stock shelves, engage guests, etc during this period. How about with
the expected dramatic increase in ORC and shoplifting if LP Executives go to
stores and help deter and apprehend these criminals once stores are open again?
*We are currently monitoring 25 locations from our corporate office for
suspicious activities. Since the out brake we have added a temporary Monitoring
Station (MS) to help monitor. We will be making this a permanent change. Also,
we have stopped apprehending shoplifters as they exit the store. Once a suspect
conceals merchandise we are approaching them and getting our product back and
making them leave the store.
*LP departments have changed, not the same
*Extra EBT funds, stimulus money, and pandemic scare has we given our stores
record shattering sales. Loss Prevention has really partnered with Operations in
assisting getting contacts for products our warehouses couldn't get or were
simply out of stock on. Overall, I believe this pandemic has brought stores
closer together. Thinking outside the box to keep everyone safe was our top
priority. No pushback on temperature checks. We have not had any cases in any of
the stores. We are thankful for that stat.
*Governors releasing inmates from jails really increased activity for us.
Multiple criminal actors were released and right back to full cart push outs at
the stores, knowing the police would not even come out to take a report, let
alone take them into custody. Something needs to change with legislation.
Information about those who responded to the
D&D Daily survey
Years of Experience in Retail Loss Prevention
![](http://d-ddaily.com/images/orc-survey-experience.PNG)
In what type of Retail environment are you
currently working?
![](http://d-ddaily.com/images/orc-survey-retail-type.PNG)