UF SaferPlaces Lab and LPRC Honored with Win Phillips Town Gown Relations Award

The University of Florida’s SaferPlaces Lab, in collaboration with the Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC), has been selected to receive the Win Phillips Town Gown Relations Award, recognizing exceptional university-community collaboration to make Gainesville safer and more resilient.

Nominated by Erik Sander, Executive Director of the UF Engineering Innovation Institute, the SaferPlaces Lab and LPRC were honored for their groundbreaking, evidence-based community program that brings together UF researchers, city officials, and law enforcement to design, test, and scale high-impact crime prevention tools and processes.

The initiative’s mission—to better safeguard vulnerable people and assets across Gainesville through research-driven innovation—epitomizes the spirit of partnership that the Win Phillips Town Gown Relations Award was established to celebrate.

“This recognition underscores the incredible value of collaboration between academia and the community,” said Dr. Read Hayes, Director of the LPRC and SaferPlaces Lab. “By working hand-in-hand with Gainesville leaders and residents, we’re building safer environments informed by real data and designed for real impact.”

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'They'll Steal Anything That's Not Tied Down'
Revenues from stolen retail goods can be used for fentanyl, cocaine, and other narcotics, which come to the U.S. via the same drug cartels that also run human smuggling.

From Store Shelves to Human Smuggling, USA-IT Summit Confronts New Face of Organized Crime
National law enforcement and local retail groups want Americans to understand that the problem of illicit trade — counterfeiting, organized retail crime, and human trafficking — is bigger and more dangerous than most people realize.

How big? Illegal trade is a $2.2 trillion criminal enterprise that crosses every national boundary and reaches every shopper’s laptop. How bad? In Florida, crooks have been stealing entire gas stations.

“In Hillsborough County, vans were coming into gas stations at night and parking over the top of the fill tanks,” said Ned Bowman with the Florida Petroleum Marketers Association. “They were dropping a pump down into the tanks, pulling up the diesel fuel and gasoline.

“The point is that, in this era of organized retail theft, they’ll steal anything that’s not tied down.”

That could have been the theme at this year’s United to Safeguard America from Illegal Trade (USA-IT) 2025 National Summit in Washington, D.C., earlier this month.

And whether it’s trafficked kids trapped in forced work or counterfeit kids’ toys stuffed in a Christmas stocking, most of this illicit trade is handled largely by the same criminal groups, said USA-IT spokesperson Alysa Erichs.

“Criminal networks are quick to exploit weaknesses in our trade and financial systems for profit, with zero concern for public safety. No single agency can address this challenge alone.”

Erichs, the former acting executive associate director for Homeland Security Investigations, said what makes the modern illegal-trade economy so powerful — and dangerous — is convergence.

Cybercriminals move profits through the same channels as weapons traffickers, or use counterfeit-goods sales to launder money through retail theft. Revenues from stolen retail goods can be used for fentanyl, cocaine, and other narcotics, which come to the U.S. via the same drug cartels that also run human smuggling. prescottenews.com


'Tis the Season for Retail Crime
Theft cases increase as the holiday season approaches

UC instructor explains why retailers see more crime in December

University of Cincinnati asset security expert Karl Langhorst told FOX 19 that theft typically increases during the holiday season as crowded stores create more opportunities for criminals to go unnoticed.

In the segment, he tells how organized retail groups often scout locations in advance and arrive with “shopping lists,” allowing them to steal large amounts of merchandise within minutes and resell it through fencing operations ranging from flea markets to online platforms.

“The vast majority of it is for resale through a fencing operation,” he said. “That could be as simple as a flea market or online or go to a professional fence, and we’ve seen the product shipped across the nation.”

Langhorst noted that individual shoplifting also spikes this time of year. He said retailers rely on increased security and surveillance, but locking up merchandise remains the most effective — though sometimes inconvenient — deterrent.

He also warned about porch piracy, recommending that consumers schedule deliveries when they can be received in person or have packages sent to a secure location. Shoppers should avoid leaving visible bags in their vehicles, he added.

Langhorst teaches a course in loss prevention at UC's School of Criminal Justice and works in asset protection for several large corporations across the country.  uc.edu


Modern Retail Theft is Not the Shoplifting of Yore
In Our View: Provide tools needed to fight shoplifting scourge
Shoplifting no longer is the purview of teen delinquents looking to pilfer small items for personal use or to make a couple bucks. No, it has morphed into organized retail crime — a multibillion-dollar industry that poses economic and safety threats to retailers and customers as criminals engage in large-scale thefts to market items online.

According to a 2024 Forbes Advisor survey, Washington is the state most impacted by retail theft, and several retailers have listed crime as a factor contributing to store closures. In October, for example, Kroger shuttered six Fred Meyer stores in the Puget Sound area and one in Northeast Portland.

With law enforcement facing staffing shortages and with well-organized rings stealing billions of dollars in merchandise each year, the problem continues to grow. That calls for concerted efforts on the part of elected officials.

Key to those efforts will be increased prosecutorial power. Leavitt last year introduced legislation calling for sentencing enhancements related to organized retail theft, but the bill did not advance. She plans to introduce a revamped version next year and said, “You can create all the tools you want, but unless we have resources to prosecute these cases, it makes it difficult.”

Critics argue that sentencing enhancements will not deter people from committing crimes, but that is essentially admitting defeat. Indeed, substance abuse, homelessness and economic struggles contribute to an increase in retail theft, but large-scale operations call for a large-scale response, not social work.

Modern retail theft is not the shoplifting of yore; lawmakers should not treat it as such. columbian.com


Retailers Fined for Not Reporting Theft?
Douglas County businesses to pay fines for unreported thefts under proposed ordinance
Douglas County commissioners on Tuesday advanced an ordinance aimed at curbing retail theft by penalizing businesses that refuse to report shoplifters to law enforcement. The proposal is notable in that it shifts the onus of responsibility to businesses.

Officials said the ordinance is designed to encourage corporations to adopt policies favoring the reporting of shoplifting — especially at big box stores. “We’re not going to allow a culture where people walk out of a store with a stack of drills and nobody says a word,” Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon said. “That era is over in Douglas County.”

Laydon said commissioners will vote on the measure after they hear input from businesses and stakeholders. This ordinance only applies to businesses located in unincorporated areas of the county, not in municipalities like Parker, Castle Rock or Lone Tree, according to county officials.

Under the proposed ordinance, a business would violate the law when it doesn’t report theft on its property within 96 hours. Businesses must have “reasonable grounds” to believe a theft has been committed before reporting, according to the ordinance.

The failure to report thefts within 96 hours of the crime is punishable by fines. A business incurs a $50 fine for every 24 hours that pass without reporting theft on its property. The maximum fine amount is $1,000. denvergazette.com
 
 
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