MAORCA & MRA ORC Conference: June 3 (Annapolis, MD) The Mid-Atlantic ORC Alliance and the MD Retailers Alliance will co-host an exciting ORC Conference you won't want to miss. June 3, 2026 in Annapolis, MD. Featuring topics on important legislative updates, the gift card fraud ecosystem, updates from the MD State Attorney's Office, law enforcement coordination and investigations across jurisdictional lines. Register today, as spots are limited!

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The U.S. Crime Surge
The Retail Impact

Retail Industry Urges the Senate to Pass CORCA
Walmart, Target and Home Depot push for new law to stop store closures & tackle dark networks
Retailers pushing for a new federal law that would save their stores have secured a key victory. Brands like Walmart, Target, and Home Depot are advocating for the law, set to save them money by addressing a growing issue.

The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, or CORCA, was passed by the United States House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The bill, advocated for by major retailers like Walmart, Target, and Home Depot via the Retail Industry Leaders Association, is now headed to the Senate’s Committee on the Judiciary. CORCA would give federal law enforcement the additional resources needed to effectively fight organized retail crime.

This includes strengthening the legal tools used to fight interstate retail crime, expanding money laundering statutes, allowing for prosecution of organized retail and supply chain groups under new contexts, and creating a crime center dedicated to fighting organized retail crime.

The bipartisan bill has more than 200 House sponsors, with 348 representatives voting to pass the bill and 60 against it.

Retail industry leaders have said that organized retail crime has become such a problem that stores could be forced to respond in drastic ways if CORCA isn’t passed and signed into law.

“If [prosecution and enforcement isn’t] corrected over time, prices will be higher, and/or stores will close,” said former Walmart CEO Doug McMillon to CNBC in December 2022.

CORCA is set to begin addressing these issues by filling in the jurisdictional gaps that allowed organized retail and supply chain theft to reach such large scales in the first place.

NRF Executive Vice President of Government Relations David French said this in a statement: "We now urge the Senate to act quickly to pass this legislation and send it to the president’s desk to be signed into law.”  the-sun.com


House Passes Funding to Fight Cargo Theft
ATA Applauds House Appropriators for Approving $4 Million to Fight Cargo Theft
The American Trucking Associations applauded the House Appropriations Committee for passing the fiscal year 2027 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies funding bill, which would begin the process of establishing a unified, federal response to cargo theft. The legislation, which must now be considered by the full House, would require the U.S. Department of Justice to step up its enforcement of cargo theft cases as well as make a $4 million down payment to prosecute these crimes.

This initiative would complement the comprehensive framework created by the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act that has been endorsed by ATA and passed the House earlier this week. Together, the FY27 CJS appropriations bill and CORCA would help counter the sharp rise in cargo theft and broader supply chain fraud, addressing one of ATA’s top strategic priorities.

“America’s trucking industry delivers billions of tons of goods to every community, and those essential shipments have increasingly become prime targets for organized crime, putting truck drivers at risk and raising costs for consumers,” said American Trucking Associations Chief Advocacy & Public Affairs Officer, Henry Hanscom. “ATA commends the House Appropriations Committee for directing DOJ to leverage its enforcement capabilities to pursue criminals operating across borders. This directive and funding will strengthen the partnership between the government, law enforcement, motor carriers, and our supply chain partners to strike an effective blow against these organized theft groups.”

Cargo theft is becoming increasingly prevalent and high-tech, and it often originates overseas. The American Transportation Research Institute calculated that cargo theft is costing the trucking industry over $18 million per day. Strategic theft, a category of crime that uses deception, identity theft, and fraudulent documentation to divert freight, has surged by 1,500% since 2021 according to CargoNet.

Ninety percent of motor carriers are small businesses operating 10 trucks or fewer, and they are under enormous strain to counter these technologically advanced adversaries. The transnational aspect of cargo theft also poses a national security threat. The proceeds from stolen goods finance other criminal activities, including drug trafficking, organized crime, and even potentially terrorism.  trucking.org


'Hidden Anti-Theft Tactic'
Home Depot, Lowe’s hidden anti-theft tactic angers shoppers

Both retailers face scrutiny over a security measure aimed at combating rising retail theft.

Home Depot and Lowe’s, like many retailers nationwide, have battled elevated retail theft in recent years. Amid this trend, both retailers quietly rolled out an anti-theft measure that is sparking frustration and even pushing some consumers to shop elsewhere.

“We’ve invested quite a bit of technology at different parts of the business in front of the customer and behind the scenes to help us to manage this, and we take a unique and differentiated way,” Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison said.

In response to these challenges, both retailers have quietly implemented a new anti-theft system in store parking lots last year, and it’s making some shoppers uncomfortable.

Home Depot and Lowe’s have rolled out AI-powered automated license plate reading cameras developed by Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based surveillance company, in their parking lots at multiple locations nationwide.

These are the same cameras police use to detect stolen vehicles and solve crimes. The cameras are mounted on poles with solar panels, scanning cars and people as they enter and leave these store locations.

A report from 404 Media in August last year found that a Texas sheriff’s office had searchable access to data from 173 license plate reader cameras from different Lowe’s locations nationwide and could tap into dozens from Home Depot stores in Texas. thestreet.com


The Debate Over AI License Plate Cams Engulfs Town
AI license plate cameras tore this town apart and led to a state of emergency

In Troy, New York, residents and city officials are at odds over police use of Flock cameras, which some call a safety tool and others see as surveillance.

The cameras at the heart of the debate are run by Flock Safety, a technology company that has built a network of automatic license plate readers in more than 6,000 communities across the country in recent years.

Flock’s system uses AI-enabled cameras to snap photos of every vehicle that passes, creating a digital “fingerprint” that includes data as personal as bumper stickers or gun racks.

Flock cameras are beloved by police because officers can use the company’s national database to track vehicle movements to recover drugs and stolen automobiles, and to solve even more serious crimes. A company spokesman said in a statement that the devices support “communities across the country in addressing crime and locating missing people.”

“At Flock, we believe safety and privacy should go hand in hand, which is why our technology is built around transparency, accountability, and local control,” Chris Castaldo, Flock Safety’s chief information security officer, said in a statement. “Our platform includes safeguards like audit trails to help ensure accountability at every step.”

Proponents say the cameras are a cheap and effective tool to aid police, and they dismiss arguments by the American Civil Liberties Union and others that the surveillance violates Fourth Amendment rights. Flock noted in its statement that courts have ruled that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in public roadways. washingtonpost.com


No More Open Carry in Florida's Publix Stores?
Will Publix’s Reversal on Open Carry Policy in its Florida Stores Harm Business?
With more than 900 locations across Florida, Publix serves a large section of the state’s grocery shoppers — and now, the grocer is making headlines for a reversal of its previous policy allowing open carry of firearms at its stores.

According to FOX Business writer Sophia Compton, Publix now “kindly asks that only law enforcement openly carry firearms in our stores.” This is an about-face from a previous position adopted by the grocery chain, when it said that it would allow for patrons to open carry within its Florida locations following a state appeals court ruling which had struck down the state’s existing ban as unconstitutional.

Publix was one of a few remaining grocers which permitted the practice of open carry as it concerned shoppers, with competitors such as Costco, Sam’s Club, Target, Walmart, and Winn-Dixie having already requested that customers refrain from doing so while patronizing their stores.

“In any instance where a customer creates a threatening, erratic, or dangerous shopping experience — whether they are openly carrying a firearm or not — we will engage local law enforcement to protect our customers and associates,” Publix wrote in an October 2025 statement to The New York Times, shortly after the ruling, while defending its initial decision to allow open carry. retailwire.com


Verify supply chain IDs, starting with drivers: logistics experts

Out shopping? Don't make your car an easy target.