Retailers Gear Up Vs. Crime: Shared Database to Record Thefts By Organized Rings

Apr 06, 07:31 AM

Current Headlines: By Jaclyn Giovis, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Apr. 6--Two major retail organizations and the FBI on Monday will launch a national online database to share information to fight organized retail theft, which costs the industry billions of dollars in stolen merchandise each year.

The Law Enforcement Retail Partnership Network (LERPnet) database represents a rare spirit of cooperation in the fiercely competitive retail industry and a significant partnership with law enforcement officials, who historically have viewed retail crime as petty theft.

The database is a joint effort between the National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association, who each introduced its own database last year. About 35 retailers are participating, already logging more than 14,000 incidents. Some of the retailers include Macy's, Sears, Limited Brands, American Eagle Outfitters, Mervyn's and Beall's.

Most police departments and retailers haven't connected the dots between crimes until now, Joseph LaRocca, the NRF's vice president of loss prevention, said Thursday. What's more, he said, retailers have been reluctant to share information with one another.

"We're now all going to be fishing from the same pond," he said, noting that, in time, the database will likely record hundreds of thousands of retail theft incidents nationwide.

Unlike average shoplifters who steal for their personal use, criminals in organized theft rings steal merchandise and resell the goods to flea markets, pawn shops or on the Internet. It costs the industry as much as $30 billion annually. The problem is growing, with shoppers paying almost 2 cents on every dollar to cover the cost of theft.

Retailers with stores in South Florida and across the nation are increasingly doing their own detective work. But retail theft incidents are reported separately to local police departments, who often are unaware of similar crimes in nearby areas outside their jurisdictions.

With LERPnet, retailers will be able to communicate with other companies and law enforcement about crimes in their stores without compromising sensitive information. Companies can report the theft and include details about suspects, getaway vehicles, and identification numbers of stolen products, as well as photos and video footage. They also control what information is added and who can see that information in the network.

Law enforcement will not likely begin to use LERPnet until the data reaches a substantial amount, said Brian Nadeau, supervisory special agent for the FBI's major theft unit in Washington D.C.

"It's just another tool in the arsenal," Nadeau said.

LERPnet will help law enforcement officials track, identify and apprehend organized crime groups, so that larger cases can be prosecuted, he said.

According to the NRF's 2006 Organized Retail Crime survey, 81 percent of retailers polled said they have been victims of organized retail crime. Almost half (48 percent) also had seen an increase in organized retail crime in their stores.

Based on information collected so far, top cities for organized retail crime are Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Orlando, LaRocca said.

"Retailers are finally banding together to stop the bad guys," said Dan Doyle, vice president of loss prevention for Beall's. "LERPnet is going to be a tremendous help to us. Before, these folks [thieves] were running around and they were ahead of us."

Jaclyn Giovis can be reached at jmgiovis@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4668.

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Copyright (c) 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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