How CORCA Can Help Fight ORC
Opinion: Organized retail crime can be stopped
New kinds of sophisticated criminal networks are operating across America. You may have seen them in action without realizing it.

“Boosters” steal thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise from local stores, from power tools and espresso machines to cleaning products and toiletries. This isn’t random shoplifting. It’s organized retail crime (ORC): criminal enterprises that steal high-value merchandise, resell it through online marketplaces, and wreak havoc on the communities where they operate.

Local law enforcement and district attorneys are doing everything they can, but their reach is limited when crimes cross county and state lines. Retailers have expanded investigative capabilities and invested in prevention. The Home Depot has invested tens of millions to combat ORC and expanded investigative team by 180% since 2016.

From August 1-9, agencies, prosecutors, retailers, and Organized Retail Crime Associations across the country participated in the 2026 National Organized Retail Crime Blitz, a coordinated effort to strengthen intelligence sharing and target organized theft networks across jurisdictions. Efforts like the National Blitz are important and underscore the need for permanent coordination, not just periodic operations.

Congress has a historic opportunity to close the jurisdictional gaps these syndicates exploit through the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA).

CORCA would establish an Organized Retail and Supply Chain Crime Coordination Center to strengthen real-time information sharing among federal, state, and local law enforcement. By helping investigators connect cases across jurisdictions and identify criminal networks, the legislation would better equip them to pursue the organizations directing these operations while helping protect retail workers, customers, and communities.

The National District Attorneys Association has testified before Congress twice and authored letters supporting CORCA, emphasizing that ORC affects communities nationwide. Prosecutors, law enforcement, and retailers are doing their part in addressing the issue at the state and local level, but we need more collaborative efforts and support. It’s time to give our local investigators and prosecutors the federal tools they need to pursue organized criminal enterprises that no single city, county, or state can tackle alone.

Organized retail crime isn’t confined by city or state borders. With help from Congress, our response won’t be either.  nydailynews.com


Predicting Retail Crime Before It Spreads
From Reporting Retail Crime to Predicting What Comes Next

By the D&D Daily staff

For years, much of retail crime prevention has been reactive: an incident occurs, employees document it, investigators review the evidence and Loss Prevention teams determine what happens next.

But as repeat offenders and organized groups move between stores, retailers have an opportunity to use that same incident data for something more valuable — anticipating where problems may surface next.

A theft at one location can provide clues about potential activity elsewhere. The merchandise targeted, time of day, number of offenders, vehicle information, method of entry and other details can help investigators recognize patterns across multiple stores.

For multi-location retailers, that can turn individual incident reports into an early-warning system.

If several stores in one market report similar thefts involving the same merchandise or tactics, nearby locations can be alerted before they are targeted. LP teams can temporarily increase attention around vulnerable products, review staffing or security coverage and make employees aware of the activity without encouraging direct intervention.

The approach becomes even more valuable when retailers combine internal reporting with technologies such as license plate recognition, video analytics and exception-based reporting. Rather than simply producing more alerts, these systems can help investigators determine whether seemingly unrelated incidents may involve the same people, vehicles or behaviors.

The key is getting useful information into the system quickly.

Incomplete reports or inconsistent incident classifications make patterns harder to detect. Retailers that standardize reporting across locations — including exactly what information employees should capture — can give investigators a clearer picture of activity across the organization.

Retail crime prevention will always require responding to incidents after they happen. But the growing amount of information available to LP teams creates another opportunity.

The most useful incident report may not only help solve yesterday's theft. It could help prevent tomorrow's.


Retail AI Industry Survey
Help Shape the D&D Daily's First Retail Crime AI Report
Artificial intelligence is transforming retail loss prevention, from video analytics and fraud detection to investigations, reporting and operational efficiency. Yet one question remains: How are retail asset protection professionals actually using AI today, and where do they see the technology heading?

To help answer those questions, the D&D Daily has launched its first Retail Crime Prevention and AI Survey.

The brief, two-minute survey is designed to gather insights from retail asset protection, loss prevention, security and law enforcement professionals. Rather than focusing on specific products or vendors, the survey aims to better understand how AI is being adopted across the industry, the challenges organizations face, and the opportunities professionals see for the future.

The survey findings will be featured in the D&D Daily's inaugural Retail Crime Prevention and AI Report—an executive overview of artificial intelligence's growing role in retail crime prevention.

The report will be published as both an interactive website and a downloadable PDF, featuring industry data, visualizations and key takeaways drawn from survey responses and insights from senior leaders across retail and law enforcement.

Whether your organization is actively deploying AI, evaluating new solutions or simply beginning to explore the technology, your perspective is valuable. Broad participation will help create a more representative snapshot of where the industry stands today and where professionals believe it's headed.

The survey takes approximately two minutes to complete, and every response helps strengthen the final report.

If you work in retail asset protection, loss prevention, security or law enforcement, we encourage you to participate and share your perspective.

Take the survey today at: survey.retailcrime.ai


Police Prioritize Solvable Property Crime Cases
ICYMI: How Austin police decide which property crime cases get 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.

The Austin Police Department does have detectives assigned specifically to property crime, split across units by offense type. The Burglary Unit handles break-ins at homes, businesses and storage facilities. The Criminal Investigations Division (CID) covers vehicle burglaries, burglaries of coin-operated machines and some package and mail theft. Mail theft cases that fall under federal jurisdiction may be referred to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the department said. statesman.com


Retail merchants pleased with new retail theft task force
The Ohio Council of Retail Merchants (OCRM) is hoping a new law enforcement task force will curb organized retail theft, a crime which has been a top issue for the council in recent years.

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Retail Jobs Drop 19K in July
Retail Sheds 19,000 Jobs as U.S. Hiring Turns Negative in July
The U.S. labor market delivered a surprise setback in July, with retail among the industries posting notable employment declines as the economy lost jobs overall.

Total nonfarm payroll employment fell by 23,000 jobs in July, according to the latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), marking a significant miss from economists’ expectations for continued job growth.

Retail trade employment declined by 19,000 jobs during the month, making the sector one of the more significant contributors to July’s weakness.

The decline comes after retail employment had shown relatively little movement in recent months. In June, retail employment was essentially flat, while July brought a more pronounced pullback in the industry’s workforce.

Retail wasn’t alone in shedding workers. Local government education employment declined by 50,000 jobs in July, while financial activities lost 14,000. Those declines were partially offset by continued hiring in health care, which added 22,000 jobs.

The broader report points to a labor market that has slowed considerably. In addition to July’s 23,000-job decline, BLS revisions reduced previously reported employment growth for May and June by a combined 103,000 jobs.

For retailers, the latest figures arrive as the industry begins moving toward the critical fall and holiday period, when many companies traditionally increase staffing to accommodate seasonal demand.

The July decline doesn’t necessarily signal a prolonged contraction in retail employment, particularly given the month-to-month volatility of industry hiring. However, the loss of 19,000 positions adds another data point for retailers watching consumer conditions, operating expenses and staffing levels heading into the final months of 2026.

With overall U.S. hiring turning negative and previous months being revised lower, the next several employment reports could provide a clearer indication of whether July represents a temporary setback or the beginning of a broader slowdown in the labor market.  bls.gov


Safety Threats Keeping Workers Off the Job
Avoiding Workplaces Due to Safety Concerns

A new survey found 74% of workers avoid work at times due to a variety of threats.

The survey of 1,000 employees, conducted by Envoy, found that 74% reported choosing to avoid work entirely because of a threat—whether due to weather, civil unrest, security concerns, or infrastructure failures.

Key findings include:

• 56% have felt unsafe at work — meaning more than half the working population has experienced a genuine safety concern while on the job.

• 53% have had a commute where they felt unsafe — the walk or drive to the office has become a risk vector.

• 75% say disruptive events have affected their ability to do their job — from weather delays to forced closures to security incidents.

When asked what types of hazardous conditions prompted them to avoid work, respondents cited:

• Severe weather — 54%

• Travel risk or safety advisory — 20%

• Transit or transportation disruption — 19%

• Environmental hazards — 17%

• Infrastructure failure — 16%

• Local events or public gatherings — 15%

• Crime or violence near workplace — 14%

• Civil unrest or protest activity — 9%