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Submitted by Jerry
Biggs, Director
Organized Retail Crime Division, Walgreens
OFFICE OF THE STATE'S ATTORNEY
COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS
ANITA ALVAREZ, STATE'S ATTORNEY
CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS BUREAU
2650 SOUTH CALIFORNIA AVENUE
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60608
TO ALL CCROC MEMBERS AND THOSE INTERESTED IN THE INVESTIGATION OF
FINANCIAL CRIMES - NEW FINANCIAL MAPPING PATTERN.
In December of 2010 the Cook County State's Attorney's Regional Organized
Crime Task Force (CCROC) in partnership with law enforcement and private
corporations launched
CookCountyRoc.org. A secured website database that
provides for real time reporting and email alerts. This mapping pattern
was geared toward organized retail crime. Since that time we now have
over 700 members who receive email alerts and investigate these cases,
these members represent over 130 federal, state and local law
enforcement agencies as well as over 90 private corporations. CCROC has
identified and disseminated hundreds of leads that have led to numerous
arrests and subsequent successful prosecutions. The contacts and working
groups of the task force have allowed jurisdictions to work together.
Investigations in the past that had been unworkable because of resources
or jurisdictions are now not only possible but successful. For example,
CCROC led an investigation that brought down a fencing operation that
seized over 6.5 million dollars in cash and property. We have also had
similar successes on the financial side, for example, in one case an
individual had written hundreds of fraudulently created checks from
banks to multiple retailers in numerous jurisdictions that would have
only been charged with one count of forgery if not for the coordination
with CCROC.
Upon review of this past year's success we look to improve the model
that we have. In coordination with experts from law enforcement and
financial institutions we have created a mapping pattern specifically
for financial crimes. This will create all the connections,
identifications and successes we have found on the organized retail
crime side. As many of these criminal enterprises are involved in
organized retail crime and financial crimes, it is the next logical
step. All of our partners will have access to both sides of the map, as
our private partners may classify a financial or retail crime and input
it on the side which makes most sense. This is a user friendly system
and will allow you to flip from map to map. Simply find the
classification that best fits the crime, input it into the system and
let the task force assist in making identification and find contacts
working parallel investigations.
All entities from all jurisdictions are invited to join. As this is a
crime that affects all areas beyond Cook County we encourage members
from all over the Mid-West to join and be a part of this effort. Only
working together with partnerships between law enforcement and private
corporations can we be as efficient and effective as we can be. We
encourage you to become a member and start working these cases today. If
you are interested in becoming part of CCROC's financial crimes board
please let me know. The website is free to all members. Go to
www.cookcountyroc.org to join. If you are already a member of CCROC
you have already been granted automatic access. If you have any
questions you can call me at (773) 674-3126. I look forward to working
with all of you in the future.
Sincerely,
David Williams
David.Williams@CookCountyIL.gov
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