Strengthen Retail Security & Enhance Workplace Safety with
Off-Duty Law Enforcement

Discover how off-duty law enforcement enhances safety and deters crime while protecting employees and assets.

Retailers are under more pressure than ever to prevent theft, ensure employee safety and maintain business continuity across stores. Criminal activities are on the rise, and they can severely disrupt operations, leading to financial losses and a tarnished reputation. Workplace security not only safeguards assets and sensitive information but also protects employees and visitors, fostering a safe and productive environment.

Hiring off-duty law enforcement is a proven way to level up your retail security strategy. Off-duty personnel are uniquely positioned to deter criminal activities, respond swiftly in emergencies and provide an added layer of protection. By integrating off-duty law enforcement into your security strategy, you can create a safer, more secure workplace environment.

Protos Security's workplace security blog explores ways that off-duty law enforcement can benefit retailers and increase workplace safety.

Read more here
 

Three-Pronged Approach to Fight Retail Crime
Retail Crime, Cargo Theft Impacts Businesses and Consumers Across the Country

Businesses, employees & consumers pay the price of rising retail crime & cargo theft.

Across the country, surges in retail crime and cargo theft are putting the nation’s businesses and consumers at risk. The Chamber recommends a three-pronged approach to combat rising business-focused crime in communities across the country. Learn more below.

What Can Be Done

The U.S. Chamber has summoned policymakers and the business community to join the Chamber in our three-part call to action for combatting crimes against businesses.

1. Coordination of response

Improved coordination between different levels of government can be served by Congress passing the Combatting Organized Retail Crime Act (H.R. 2853/S. 1404). This bipartisan bicameral bill establishes a coordination center within the Homeland Security Investigations division of the Department of Homeland Security to increase collaboration in the multi-jurisdictional fight against retail crime.

2. Aggregation of offenses

Small businesses are continually frustrated by two words: “repeat offenders.” The Chamber has worked with state policymakers and prosecutors like San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan and the National District Attorney’s Association to change laws to create a separate offense for the repeated stealing of certain amounts within specific time periods.

3. Increased prosecution

Crucial to any anti-crime response is the local prosecutor. District Attorneys and County Attorneys are the gatekeepers of the criminal justice system, deciding whether arrested parties will be prosecuted. Lax prosecution of crimes against businesses sends the wrong message to small business owners and communities, and only emboldens criminals. 

The U.S. Chamber supports legislation reducing the case backlog for state and local courts, thereby freeing up prosecutors’ ability to address current crimes.   uschamber.com


Security & Law Enforcement Isn't Enough
EDITORIAL: Retail theft robs all Coloradans
Absent tougher laws against retail theft, the response from boots-on-the-ground retail security and law enforcement agencies has been lacking. And without backup from a justice system that generally doesn’t take shoplifting seriously, large-scale retailers pragmatically factor the losses from stolen goods into their corporate bottom line. It literally has become just another cost of doing business for Rocky Mountain retailers.

For too long, concerned consumers haven’t had the data to point to just how bad it is. Last week, Colorado’s Common Sense Institute put some cold, hard numbers to the very real retail theft plaguing Colorado.

A new analysis authored by the institute’s Owens-Early Criminal Justice Fellow and former Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey quantifies what already was clear anecdotally: Retail crime has soared in Colorado, with law enforcement agencies recording 27,094 reported shoplifting incidents in 2024 — a 22.4% increase over 2023 and nearly 10% higher than a decade ago.

Dig deeper, and the CSI report publishes an even more infuriating fact: Citing national surveys conducted by the Loss Prevention Research Council, roughly 89% of all retail theft incidents go unreported.

When the legislature convenes in January, it must lower Colorado’s statutory dollar threshold for felony theft. Currently, that threshold is $2,000. That’s too high — sixth highest among U.S. states. Any retail theft of merchandise under that amount isn’t a felony in Colorado.

That means criminals are incentivized to pilfer at their pleasure with no possible penalty of true consequence. denvergazette.com


LPRC Report Makes More Headlines
Retail crime is on the rise, new report shows. A UF researcher explains why these incidents are underreported

Retail crime is on the rise ahead of the busiest shopping season, a new report found.

A new National Retail Federation report, developed by UF’s SaferPlaces Lab and the Loss Prevention Research Council, found that retail workers and shoppers may face higher risks this season despite public claims that theft is declining.

The report found:

• Retail crime is rising, even as some police data appears flat.

• Criminal groups are getting more sophisticated, using technology to disrupt cameras, defeat security systems and coordinate attacks on TikTok and Reddit.

• Frontline workers feel less safe than ever, especially during the holiday rush.

• High-demand items like apparel and footwear remain top targets, driving retailers to test new protection strategies that still keep stores welcoming.

According to UF researcher Read Hayers, Ph.D, the gap between police data and what retailers report underscores how much crime goes unreported. The new findings come as holiday shopping is ramping up.

For the November-December holiday season overall, the National Retail Federation estimates that U.S. shoppers will spend more than $1 trillion for the first time this year. But the rate of growth is slowing — with an anticipated increase of 3.7% to 4.2% year over year, compared with 4.3% during last year’s holiday season.  news4jax.com


When Shaming Shoplifters Goes Wrong?
South Korean teen’s death reignites debate over privacy; shop had spread images of her shoplifting
The death of a high school student in South Korea’s South Chungcheong province after images of her taking ice cream from an unmanned store circulated among local teenagers has triggered a new public debate over privacy.

According to local reports, the 18-year-old, identified as Lee, was found dead at her home in Hongseong on Sept 23, just a few days after the store owner sent images of her stealing to a local tutoring room.

The photos were then shared with students there and quickly circulated among teenagers in the region, soon reaching Lee and her family. She reportedly suffered extreme anxiety after the images were revealed.

She is said to have expressed her frustration in text messages to friends, such as “What do I do … my heart is shaking”, “How can I show my face in Hongseong? How am I supposed to handle these rumours?”.

Her brother said she also confided in him on the night of Sept 22, saying she did not know how to move forward. Their mother planned to meet the store owner the next day to resolve the matter, but Lee died by suicide the following morning. straitstimes.com


How does Asheville crime in 2025 compare to previous years?

Data and maps: View Baltimore crime reports by neighborhood, block
 

Making Store Operations Smooth Over the Holidays
Leveraging Store-Level Visibility Tools to Strengthen LP Ops During Peak Season

By the D&D Daily staff

With the holiday season underway, retail loss prevention teams are once again balancing two priorities that increasingly overlap: protecting people and product, and supporting smooth store operations. As traffic spikes and seasonal staff step in, LP departments are turning to improved visibility tools — not to track incidents, but to strengthen consistency, accuracy, and efficiency across the chain.

Modern retailers are leaning heavily on real-time data platforms, which help store and district leaders identify operational friction long before it affects sales or the customer experience. For LP teams, this expanded visibility has proved valuable far beyond traditional shrink reduction. Dashboards that highlight out-of-stocks, prolonged queue times, missed store opens or closes, and equipment offline alerts are giving LP professionals a clearer view into the health of the store environment.

This shift matters because operational issues often lead to downstream shrink. Long lines create abandoned baskets; inconsistent fitting room checks can lead to misplaced inventory; and equipment downtime, such as disabled EAS or inactive cameras, leaves gaps that teams may not see until weeks later. By partnering with store operations and leveraging shared data tools, LP can address these issues proactively, reducing the likelihood of shrink events without focusing on crime itself.

Many retailers are also deploying workforce optimization tools to help seasonal teams stay aligned. From digital task lists to guided training modules and real-time communication apps, these tools provide structure that reduces operational errors — a key, often overlooked source of loss. When seasonal hires understand expectations clearly, everything from returns processing to POS protocols improves.

LP departments are also investing in predictive maintenance: technology that monitors key store systems such as access control, alarms, and camera health. Instead of reacting when something goes down, teams receive alerts before a failure impacts store operations. This adds reliability during the busiest weeks of the year, when downtime costs the most.

The result is a more integrated LP role within the broader retail ecosystem. By focusing on visibility, consistency, and preventative maintenance — rather than only responding to incidents — LP teams are helping retailers deliver cleaner stores, better service, and a more resilient operation throughout the holiday season.


In-Store Black Friday Traffic Drops 3.6%
Early Data Shows U.S. Black Friday In-Store Traffic Down 3.6% YoY, as Shoppers Delay Big Purchases and Prioritize Essentials, According to RetailNext
RetailNext, the leading in-store traffic analytics provider used by 560+ of the world’s most popular brands, today announced early insights from Black Friday Weekend 2025. Initial data reveals an average of -5.3% year-over-year decrease in in-store foot traffic across Black Friday and Saturday, offering a view into shoppers who are spending with precision and prioritizing value.

Initial year-over-year results spanning insights from tens of thousands of stores that have RetailNext’s technology reveal: