Knowledge Center: Jeff Stein on Tech Tools to Trap ORCs
By Jeff Stein, president of Executive LP Services and MonitorClosely.com
Early in my career in the late 80’s we caught several Organized Retail Crime (ORC) groups, but 
law enforcement’s technology wasn’t there yet and it was hard to see how professional and organized these bad guys were. Getting lucky was usually the only way we could get a glimpse into the depths of these ORCs. We didn’t have an identity resolution solution like Infoglide Software’s that could tell who was who and who knows who. Instead, happenstance connected the dots for us when working at a different mall or retailer and we’d apprehend someone we’ve seen before.
My partners and I once apprehended an ORC ring called the “Brooklyn Knapsack Gang.” They were teenagers from Brooklyn who’d take buses and stolen cars to NJ & PA to steal Polo merchandise. They all carried knapsack bags over their shoulders and wore baseball hats. (Baseball hats helped them conceal their eyes so Loss Prevention could not see them suspiciously looking around) One of the guys we caught actually had a typed report on how to shoplift. It was a complete instruction manual on how to shoplift, what to say if caught, where to go to sell the merchandise, how much they would get paid, etc.
ORC has plagued retailers for years. Large rings are getting bigger, better and more violent. This problem has become so serious that the FBI has joined in the fight.
In response to congressional legislation intended to combat the growing problem of ORC, the FBI has teamed with the National Retail Federation (NRF) and the Retail Industry Leader’s Association (RILA) to create the Law Enforcement Retail Partnership Network (LERPnet), a secure national database that allows retailers and law enforcement to share information. According to a LERPnet press release, the system addresses communication issues like this:
“Hypothetical scenario: Retailer A is burglarized of 40 laptops. Later that afternoon, the same criminals enter a neighboring state along the same highway corridor and steal dozens of notebook computers from Retailer B. Retailer C, along the same highway but in a different county, is victimized that evening.
“Under the current system, the incidents are reported separately to local police officers. Law enforcement in different counties and states often does not know about similar nearby incidents since the crime did not occur in their jurisdiction. If a pattern is ever recognized, it is often too late: the thieves have sold the items to a fence operator or have sold them on an online auction site.”
This three month-old organization now boasts 45 members including JCPenney, Wal-Mart, Safeway, CircuitCity, Walgreens and Williams-Sonoma, reports StoreFrontBacktalk. The data-mining will only get better as more retailers sign on.
Back in the day, we could have used the ability to collaborate quickly with other retailers and other law enforcement jurisdictions. Again, luck played way too big a part in our successes. Oftentimes, it was the police themselves who connected the dots just by processing a suspect a bit slower than normal. For example, say we had apprehended a shoplifter who was using a booster bag. Normally the police would cut these guys loose pretty quickly. But every now and then a delay in processing would give the officers a chance to dig a little deeper and surprise, surprise — the perp would have shoplifting arrests up and down the eastern sea board.
Here’s where we could have used identity resolution. ORC members often have multiple or hidden identities. But retailers, thanks to many encounters with the same bad guys, have all the data they need in their existing databases. Unfortunately, the data is spread across different systems and departments. With an identity resolution solution bolted on to your existing architecture, you can gather data from multiple data sources and apply sophisticated similarity search techniques to resolve multiple identities so you can figure out who the guy in handcuffs really is. And just as importantly, identity resolution susses out hidden relationships between individuals so you can also figure out who this guy works with.
Today, the ORC groups have gotten more sophisticated. The larger, more organized groups use their ill-gotten money to support terrorists, money- launderers and drug lords. Fortunately, retailers and law enforcement have also beefed up their tools and resources to combat ORC with dedicated investigative units, various web sites, specialized databases, identity resolution software and RFID tags.
Besides LERPnet, here are two more sites that retailers use today to help track shoplifters and share information.
Please leave a comment and share your experiences with investigating/apprehending ORC individuals (past or present).
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