Body-Warn Cams & RFID Helping AP Teams Protect People & Profits
Innovative technologies transforming retail asset protection

Harnessing next-generation tech to protect stores, people and profits

The retail industry faces constant challenges in safeguarding merchandise and people while maintaining a welcoming environment. Emerging technologies offer powerful solutions to enhance security and efficiency against rising threats and losses. At this year's NRF PROTECT conference, over 225 solutions were showcased, many featuring cutting-edge technologies.

Body-worn cameras

Long used by law enforcement, body-worn cameras are gaining traction in retail due to increasing industry violence. Sessions at NRF PROTECT 2025 highlighted their use in specialty retail, convenience stores and grocery environments.

Body-worn cameras offer a transparent, objective record of incidents, deterring aggression and de-escalating confrontational situations. That not only enhances employee safety and confidence but also provides evidence of theft, threat or act of violence should prosecution be necessary. These devices also present a visible security measure to prevent incidents and serve as a training tool to help staff understand and navigate difficult customer interactions.

Radio frequency identification

Radio frequency identification technology offers unprecedented visibility into merchandise flow, providing benefits for inventory management, proactive asset protection and investigating large-scale organized retail crime.

RFID provides accurate, real-time tracking of merchandise from delivery to point of sale. It enables fast, efficient inventory counting, reducing out-of-stocks, manual errors and improving replenishment. RFID also enhances accuracy for unified operations like in-store pickups and online ship-from-store.

For asset protection, RFID can be a powerful deterrent and detection tool. RFID tags are embedded discreetly into products and are more difficult to remove than other security devices. RFID readers at exits and tied into point-of-sale can determine when items leave the location unpaid. Data collection allows retailers to identify vulnerable products more quickly.

As an investigative tool, RFID data assists asset protection and law enforcement in tracing stolen merchandise, helping to recover stolen goods and providing crucial evidence for prosecution. nrf.com


Top Shoplifter in San Francisco?
The unstoppable San Francisco shoplifter courts can’t contain

Neil Peck has been prosecuted for theft eight times since 2014, but repeated efforts to address his issues instead of incarceration have failed.

Over seven months, Neil Peck became infamous among workers at Target at San Francisco’s Metreon mall.

Known as a “top offender” among the store’s asset protection workers, Peck allegedly went on a six-month shoplifting spree starting in November 2024, stealing more than $8,000 in merchandise over 17 occasions before being arrested in May 2025, according to court records.

The Target shoplifting spree was far from Peck’s first brush with California’s criminal justice system. The 49-year-old from Redding has racked up 24 criminal convictions since he was 17, eight of them for theft from CVS, Walgreens, and other stores. Yet an examination of his three-decade criminal history reveals a mind-numbing pattern of catch and release, in which Peck is let out of jail while his cases wend through the system, only to fail to appear in court when ordered, prompting his rearrest. He is ordered to accept mental health treatment while on probation but never does. He has never been to prison, according to state records.

Cases like Peck’s represent a “missing middle” in the criminal justice system, experts say, in which mentally ill, nonviolent offenders are referred to voluntary treatment that they abandon and end up cycling in and out of the criminal justice system.

Even as the San Francisco Police Department has reported a 27% drop in property crimes over the past year, individuals like Peck continue to place an outsize burden on the city’s law enforcement agencies, behavioral health facilities, and court systems, and pose the question of what can be done to stop the vicious cycle of chronic low-level offenders. sfstandard.com


Retail Crime Task Forces Popping Up in More Regions
Editorial: Retail crime needs task force
The creation of a Northwest Ohio Retail Crime Task Force is a smart response to the organized crime that is targeting greater Toledo. Blade Columbus Bureau Chief Jim Provance reported Monday on the creation of the task force following passage of House Bill 366, the Fight Organized Retail Crime and Empower Law Enforcement — or FORCE — Act.

Northwest Ohio is serving as the prototype for a plan to create similar task forces around the state. So what works here will be replicated elsewhere.

Toledo’s proximity to major north-south and east-west thoroughfares isn’t just good for economic development. It also makes our retail establishments attractive to professional theft rings. Retailers and business associations say organized retail theft costs retailers $2 billion to $3 billion a year in Ohio.

Criminals have long exploited the difficulty that law enforcement agencies have in collaborating on crime-fighting, and theft has the potential to be viewed as low-priority.

It is fitting that the industry has agreed to doubling the fee for a sales tax vendor license to $50 to raise $751,000 annually to fund task force operations.

The northwest Ohio task force is a template for task forces to be created in other Ohio jurisdictions. Possibly the cooperation created by this bill could be used in other kinds of law enforcement, such as cybercrime, drug-dealing, and sex trafficking.    toledoblade.com


Trump Moves Forward with D.C. Takeover
D.C. mayor defends capital's crime rates after Trump threatens to take over police
Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C. broke her silence Sunday in response to President Trump's threats to take federal control of the nation's capital. Bowser defended the District's control of its police department, expressed concern over the deployment of the D.C. National Guard, and celebrated a two-year drop in violent crime countering White House claims of out-of-control violence.

Last week, Trump directed federal law enforcement agencies — including the U.S. Park Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Marshals Service, among others — to increase their presence in D.C. after a former White House staffer was assaulted in an attempted carjacking. A White House official, not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, confirmed nearly 450 federal officers were deployed in the District Saturday night.

On Sunday, the president promised in a social media post to "make our Capital safer" by removing the homeless and jailing criminals, with a plan to be announced at 10 a.m. on Monday. npr.org


Denver sees drop in violent crime and auto thefts, FBI data shows

Two killed, eight wounded in six-hour spate of NYC shootings
 

It's All About the People
Employee Engagement: The Overlooked Loss Prevention Tool

By the D&D Daily staff

In loss prevention, much of the attention goes to advanced technology, investigative strategies, and crime trends. But one of the most effective tools for reducing shrink often gets overlooked: employee engagement.

While LP teams work to strengthen store defenses against theft, it’s equally important to address non-criminal losses—mis-scanned items, unprocessed returns, damaged merchandise, and other operational errors. These issues might seem minor on their own, but across a chain, they can add up to significant losses. And the common thread in preventing them often comes down to how engaged and invested employees are in their roles.

Research supports the connection. A 2024 Gallup report found engaged employees are 18% more likely to report operational discrepancies and 23% more likely to intervene when they see a potential loss unfolding. That includes losses from process errors, not just theft. When team members feel valued and connected to the company’s goals, they tend to follow protocols more consistently, notice irregularities sooner, and speak up when something seems off.

For LP leaders, this means employee engagement is not just an HR initiative—it’s a frontline defense strategy. Recognition programs, ongoing feedback, and integrating LP best practices into daily huddles can help reinforce a shared responsibility for protecting inventory. Some retailers are taking this further by gamifying compliance, offering points or small rewards for consistently following tagging, receiving, and inventory procedures.

The payoff isn’t just reduced shrink. Engaged employees often deliver better customer service, maintain cleaner and more organized sales floors, and communicate more effectively with managers. In short, they’re more proactive in preventing losses before they happen.

Building that level of engagement takes intentional effort. It requires managers to involve staff in the bigger picture, explain the “why” behind procedures, and recognize the role every employee plays in safeguarding merchandise.

Loss prevention is often framed as a battle against external threats, but internal culture can be just as critical. By making employees active partners in the process, retailers strengthen their operational integrity and create a store environment where losses—criminal or not—are less likely to occur.


California Counties Take On Walmart Pricing Practices
Walmart agrees to pay $5.6 million settlement for overcharging customers

Santa Clara County is one of four California counties that reached the settlement

Walmart, Inc. agreed to pay a $5.6 million settlement in a lawsuit alleging that the retailer overcharged customers by selling baked goods and produce that weighed less than labeled, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.

The civil lawsuit, which was jointly filed by the district attorney’s offices in Santa Clara, San Diego, Sonoma and San Bernardino counties, alleged that the pricing practices violated the state’s False Advertising and Unfair Competition Laws, which require that retailers must charge customers their lowest advertised price, according to a news release.

“When someone brings an item to the register to be scanned, the price must be right,” Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in the news release. “They expect it. California expects it. My office expects it – and we will apply the law to make sure of it.”

As part of the settlement, the court also ordered the retail chain to have employees oversee weight and price accuracy in its California stores, prosecutors said. $5.5 million of the settlement will go to civil penalties, and an additional fee of nearly $140,000 will cover the cost of investigations conducted by Weights and Measurements departments across the state.

Santa Clara County will receive close to $1.4 million of the settlement money, which will contribute to the district attorney’s Consumer Protection fund, prosecutors said. mercurynews.com


$100M in Tariff-Related Costs
Tariffs will halve Under Armour’s profitability this year

The retailer now anticipates an additional $100 million in tariff-related costs, even as it works to mitigate the impact of the levies.

Under Armour expects tariffs will halve its profitability this year, CEO Kevin Plank said on a call with analysts Friday. The retailer now anticipates an additional $100 million in tariff-related costs, even as it works to mitigate the impact of the levies.

One of the brand’s strategies to offset tariffs also overlaps nicely with Under Armour’s goal to premiumize its business: raising prices. Plank noted the retailer has upped the price on its tech T-shirt to $25 and sees an opportunity to push that even higher. He also touted a $45 hat the retailer is selling, when most sell that product for closer to $25. retaildive.com


'Seismic Shift' in San Francisco Retail
Reimagining Retail: San Francisco's Urban Renaissance and the Future of Local Investment
San Francisco's retail sector faces a 750,000 sq ft decline (2023-2024) due to low foot traffic, safety issues, and outdated zoning laws, with vacancy rates reaching 53% in Van Ness.

Adaptive reuse programs like "Vacant to Vibrant" achieve 60% long-term lease conversions by repurposing empty stores for pop-up businesses and cultural spaces.

Strategic investments in infrastructure (e.g., Fisherman's Wharf's $10M upgrades) and flexible zoning reforms offer pathways to revive urban cores while balancing community and commercial needs. ainvest.com


Saks Fifth Avenue’s Latest AI Venture: A Virtual Voice Assistant Called Sophie

Vendors say Saks Global not following through on overdue payments