Safer Workers, Smarter Theft Prevention
Protecting Workers and Deterring Theft: Body Cameras Reach the Sales Floor

Highlights from the International Council of Shopping Centers Security Summit

Last month in Columbus, Ohio, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Security Summit brought together the people who keep shopping centers safe—operators, property owners, loss-prevention leaders, and the security professionals they contract with. One item on the agenda was body-worn cameras, a technology I have spent years studying and, as a retired New York City police officer, wearing myself. But the most valuable topic of the day ran through nearly every session: The retail floor has become a dangerous place to work, the public safety net is stretched thin, and private operators are increasingly being asked to fill the gap themselves.

Those conditions reframe much of what is often dismissed as “more surveillance” into something closer to a private response to a community problem. To formulate that response, we must ask ourselves three questions: 1) How do we protect workers on the floor? 2) How do we deter retail theft? 3) How can we do both without building more intrusive surveillance infrastructure?

The Threat Is No Longer Mostly About Merchandise

The best measure of danger is not in stolen merchandise, but in human exposure. Security guards experience nonfatal workplace violence at a rate dramatically higher than the average employee across occupations, and protective-service workers account for nearly a fifth of all workplace homicides in the United States. The cost of confronting a coordinated theft crew falls on the worker long before it shows up in a shrink report; thus, body cameras used in retail settings should be treated as worker-protection tools first and loss-prevention tools second.

Why Theft Deterrence Has Landed on the Private Sector

The most important fact about retail theft today is not how much of it there is, but how little of it law enforcement is able to respond to, record, or act on. A striking 64 percent of retailers report fewer than half of their theft incidents to police, usually for practical reasons such as limited law-enforcement response, high dollar thresholds for prosecution, and cases that too often go nowhere. This is why most retail theft never generates a police report or enters the official crime statistics.

That calculation is understandable from both sides. Departments are overextended, and officers know which reports are likely to move or not. The result is a self-reinforcing cycle in which low reporting produces weak data, weak data undercuts the case for resources and prosecution, and lack of response drives reporting lower still.

Governance Is Where the Real Decisions Are Made

The most consequential choices in any body camera program have little to do with the device. Activation rules, ownership of footage, access controls, transparency, and retention—all controlled by operators—separate a defensible program from a latent liability.

The summit left little doubt that the question for operators is no longer whether body cameras are coming to retail, but how well they will be implemented. Approached thoughtfully, a program can protect the workers on the floor, help deter theft, and avoid building surveillance infrastructure faster than the rules required to govern it. When handled this way, technology becomes an asset to the people it is meant to protect rather than a liability waiting to surface.    rstreet.org


The CORCA Debate Heats Up
Rep. Thompson Defends Vote for Retail Crime Bill Amid Concerns over DHS Surveillance Expansion
A bipartisan proposal intended to combat organized retail crime is drawing increasing criticism from civil liberties advocates, who argue the legislation extends far beyond addressing theft and instead would significantly expand the Department of Homeland Security’s surveillance authority and its role in domestic law enforcement.

The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, known as CORCA, passed the U.S. House with broad bipartisan support, including votes from Northern California Democratic Reps. Mike Thompson and John Garamendi, alongside 143 other House Democrats.

Supporters say the measure gives law enforcement additional tools to dismantle organized retail theft rings, while critics contend the legislation creates new surveillance infrastructure, broadens data-sharing between government agencies and private corporations, and strengthens the role of ICE at a time when many Democrats have pledged greater oversight of the agency.

The debate has intensified following reports that Senate sponsors are exploring attaching the legislation to the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual defense measure that is widely considered must-pass legislation.

Aiden Cotter, a federal policy expert who has criticized the legislation and recently authored an opinion article in The Hill, said the title of the bill masks provisions that substantially expand DHS authority.

Rep. Mike Thompson defended his vote in a statement provided to the Vanguard.

“When retailers are robbed, consumers feel less safe and business owners face financial hardship. Unfortunately, organized retail theft is on the rise nationwide and state and local law enforcement are overwhelmed. That’s why I joined 143 other Democrats in supporting this popular, bipartisan bill,” Thompson said.

“This bill helps local, state, and the federal government target and prosecute serious criminals running organized crime rings — and importantly, it does not grant the federal government any new authority to collect data on Americans.” davisvanguard.org


Industry Leaders Urge Passage of CORCA
Organized thieves are treating N.J. like an ATM. Here’s who you can call. | Opinion
From Port Newark-Elizabeth to the highways that carry freight across the Northeast, New Jersey is a gateway for American commerce. Sadly, it has also become a prime target for cargo theft.

Thieves target high-demand goods such as food, electronics and everyday consumer products because they can be resold quickly and are nearly impossible to trace. Organized theft rings operate throughout New Jersey as part of coordinated multi-state schemes, treating cargo theft like a business with repeatable tactics and steady returns.

They have mastered cyber tactics that repeatedly put them one step ahead of law enforcement, so much so that the FBI issued a public warning to the transportation industry this month.

The impact is staggering. Cargo theft costs the trucking industry an estimated $18 million every day. Major U.S. railroads reported losses exceeding $200 million last year, a 50% year-over-year increase. According to Verisk CargoNet, cargo theft incidents in New Jersey rose 50% in 2025, the largest year-over-year increase of any state.

That can change now.

U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim have an opportunity to help the Senate pass the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, or CORCA, a bipartisan bill that would finally create a coordinated federal response to increasingly sophisticated cargo theft operations.

CORCA would improve real-time data sharing and give law enforcement the tools needed to track and dismantle criminal networks before the next shipment vanishes. The House of Representatives recently passed the bill, and the Senate is the final hurdle before it reaches the White House.

For New Jersey, the stakes could not be higher. Every stolen shipment hurts local businesses, squeezes truckers and rail workers and ultimately contributes to higher prices at the checkout counter.  nj.com


More ORC Store Closures
Organized retail theft is closing stores in vulnerable Seattle neighborhoods, King County prosecutors warn
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is charging organized retail theft cases daily, but said it needs significantly more staff and funding to keep pace with the volume of crimes driving some stores out of vulnerable neighborhoods.

Casey McNerthney of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said prosecutors handle cases that escalate beyond simple misdemeanor shoplifting — commercial burglaries, felony thefts, and organized retail crime rings that repeatedly target the same businesses.

The office has a single senior deputy prosecutor, Stephanie Sato, dedicated full-time to organized retail crime. McNerthney called her work essential but said the caseload far exceeds what one person can manage.

Sato attends multiple monthly coordination meetings, including an East Side gathering where retailers and law enforcement discuss trends, the Washington Attorney General’s Task Force, and a group called WA ORCA — the Washington Organized Retail Crimes Association. Those sessions help investigators connect suspects across multiple stores and jurisdictions.

Sato urged business owners to take specific steps to help prosecutors build felony cases: Document the date, time, and physical descriptions of suspects; capture surveillance stills of them entering, exiting, and concealing merchandise; and compile itemized lists of stolen goods with values.

She also stressed the importance of filing a police report after every incident, even when business owners feel overwhelmed.

McNerthney acknowledged that small business owners, often operating with just a few employees, find the documentation burden exhausting. But Sato has made herself available to help, offering to visit businesses and train staff on how to respond. mynorthwest.com


McAllen Crime Rate Falls to 40-Year Low, New Data Shows

Madison police fix annual report following crime data errors