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The U.S. Crime Surge
The Retail Impact

CORCA Gains Momentum in Senate
CORCA Included in Senate NDAA Legislative Package

By the D&D Daily staff

The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA) has been included in a bipartisan legislative package filed for consideration as part of the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), potentially providing new momentum for federal organized retail crime legislation.

The package was announced by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) as part of a broader effort to address crime, online child exploitation, illicit drugs and prison contraband through the annual defense authorization process.

Among the measures included is CORCA, legislation that would strengthen the federal response to organized retail crime by creating a coordinated approach among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies while providing additional tools to investigate and recover stolen merchandise.

According to the senators' announcement, the bill would "improve the federal response to organized retail crime and establish new tools to recover stolen goods."

The legislation has been a priority for retail industry groups, loss prevention professionals and law enforcement organizations that have argued organized retail crime increasingly operates across state lines and often involves sophisticated criminal networks that are difficult for individual jurisdictions to address on their own.

While inclusion in the NDAA package does not guarantee passage, it represents a notable step forward for the measure. The NDAA is one of Congress' must-pass annual bills and is frequently used as a vehicle for bipartisan legislation with broad support.

The Grassley-Durbin package also includes legislation addressing online child exploitation, illicit xylazine trafficking and prison contraband.

Supporters have pushed for federal organized retail crime legislation for several years, arguing that increasingly sophisticated theft networks require greater coordination among federal, state and local authorities.

The Senate will now consider whether to include the package as part of its FY2027 NDAA legislation.  judiciary.senate.gov


ORC Intelligence Beyond Cameras
Security Was a Cost Center. Now It’s Operations Intelligence

For most retailers, the surveillance camera mounted on a parking lot pole has done a single job for a long time. It captures evidence after the fact: a theft, a slip-and-fall or a fender-bender. The work is investigative, tactical and useful in court. That is starting to change.

The Reframe that Changes the Budget Conversation

The pressure to make that shift is increasing. The National Retail Federation’s 2025 Impact of Retail Theft and Violence report, produced with the Loss Prevention Research Council, found that the average number of shoplifting incidents rose 18% in 2024. Threats or acts of violence during theft events rose 17% during the same period. Responding to those trends will require investment that shrink alone cannot justify.

The capability now exists to move it considerably further. The same camera that captures a theft also captures parking patterns, traffic flow, dwell time, queue length and the customer interactions that happen between the lot and the front door. This is data, generated continuously, by infrastructure most large-format retailers already own. The question is whether the organization is set up to use it.

What the Data Actually Unlocks

That data answers questions retailers historically could not ask. How long does it take a customer to find a spot during peak hours, and what does that do to their willingness to shop? At what traffic level does the queue at the front register start to build, and how much earlier could the store manager have known to pull associates? Each of those questions has a direct line to revenue and to customer experience. None has a direct line to shrink. All get answered by infrastructure that was sold to the company as security.

Why the AP Team Can No Longer Have this Conversation Alone

The organizational implication is that asset protection cannot be the only department in the room when these systems get specified. A camera network that serves operations belongs partly to operations. A network that runs over the same backbone as the point-of-sale system belongs partly to IT. The intelligence layer that turns video into insight requires investment; no single department justifies alone.

From Tactical to Strategic

License plate recognition is spreading, and these systems let stores identify known offenders before they enter the building, rather than reviewing footage after they leave. The NRF found that 66% of retailers experienced transnational ORC involvement in thefts since 2024, the kind of cross-border activity single-retailer investigations were never designed to address. Cross-retailer collaboration on case-building, enabled by integrated LPR data, is starting to change the economics of organized retail crime. None of this replaces the tactical work. It makes the tactical work the floor of the program rather than the ceiling.

The Shift Worth Making

The retailers that get this right will not be the ones who spent the most on cameras. They will be the ones who stopped thinking about security cameras as security cameras. The infrastructure was always more capable than how it was used. What changes now is whether the organization decides to use it differently.  retailtouchpoints.com


Retail Crime Surging Amid World Cup
World Cup fever increases shoplifting and violence, analysis finds

Shoplifting and violence against retailers has risen with the start of the World Cup, according to new figures.

England’s opening World Cup match against Croatia triggered a marked rise in shoplifting and violence across UK stores with theft increasing by 6% on the daily average and violence up 20% on match day, said SAI, an artificial intelligence company that helps retailers prevent crime and increase efficiency.

Despite the multi-million pound rise in sales that comes with the World Cup, increased footfall and emotionally charged fans are creating additional pressures in stores.

SAI analysed data from 1,000 retail locations and 20,000 cameras to come up with the increased crime figures.

Before England’s game against Croatia thefts went up most in the West Midlands, with a 25% increase, followed by 11% in Northern Ireland .

This trend was also mirrored in the lead-up to Scotland’s first World Cup match against Haiti, at 2am last Sunday (14 June).

While traditional stores were closed by the time the match aired, retailers experienced a 13% increase in shoplifting incidents on Saturday (13 June) between 2pm and 4pm.

Violent incidents in-store also rose ahead of the England opener, with retailers experiencing a 20% increase compared with the average daily number of instances in UK stores on match day.

SAI’s data also showed that, as well as an increase in shoplifting and violence, UK stores also faced an increased operational burden, with store triggers and alerts rising 5% in the lead-up to both England and Scotland’s first group stage matches. talkingretail.com


Why Property Crime Cases Do — and Don't — Get Investigated
How Austin police decide which property crime cases get investigated

According to the department, the answer depends largely on whether investigators have something to work with.

Solvability factors determine what gets investigated

The Austin Police Department said property crime cases are evaluated using what investigators call “solvability factors” — eyewitnesses, surveillance footage, forensic evidence or other leads that could move a case forward.

“If there are limited or no viable leads, cases may be suspended pending the development of new information,” an Austin Police Department spokesperson said.

The department noted that it does not currently use facial recognition technology or Flock camera data in property crime investigations, meaning investigators have to rely more on traditional leads. If someone is identified, a warrant may follow. If not, the case is suspended, but it can be reopened if new information surfaces later.

Once a case is actually assigned to an investigator, victims can generally expect to be contacted within three to five business days, though that depends on the unit’s workload and case volume, the department said.

Most other property crimes are investigated in a “first-come, first-investigate process,” the department spokesperson said.  statesman.com


Violent and property crimes decline in Connecticut, state police data shows

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