August 19th, 2015: A Great Day In the Battle Against ORC In GA!

By Chad McManus, Regional Loss Prevention Manager for T-Mobile

The Georgia Retail Association Organized Retail Crime Alliance (GRAORCA), held its fifth annual conference at Americas Mart in downtown Atlanta. Over 450 of the Region's top Retail Security, Law Enforcement and Industry Vendor professionals came together for a full day of networking, training and info sharing.
 
As has been the tradition for the last several years, the 2015 GRAORCA Retail Crime Conference started the day by paying tribute to Georgia fallen officers with the Gwinnett County Sheriffs Honor Guard and the Georgia Public Safety Pipe Band. After the moving tribute, a moment of silence and the pledge of allegiance, Atlanta Police Department's Chief George Turner kicked off the day by sharing his department's vision on how important partnerships are between the private sector and law enforcement in driving down the crime rate in the city of Atlanta. The next distinguished guest to take the stage was Vic Reynolds, Cobb County's District Attorney. Mr. Reynolds continued to echo this sentiment by stressing that no retailer (large or small) is immune to Organized Retail Crime, and the need to partner with each other is imperative. Both Chief Turner and D.A. Reynolds also participated in a special presentation by OfficeMax/Office Depot involving multiple jurisdictions who worked together to identify and arrest a major ORC ring in the Atlanta area through the GRAORCA partnership.

The Conference Agenda was jam packed and here are a few highlights of the break-outs and general sessions the attendees were able to attend:

● A Leadership Panel discussion, led by Deputy Chief Darryl Tolleson (Atlanta PD), and other distinguished guests including Home Depot Vice President of Asset Protection Shawn Blankenship, gave the crowd an opportunity to hear it "from the top", how important it is to communicate a clear message to your teams so that they can effectively support the fight against ORC.

● The Loss Prevention Research Council, led by Dr. Read Hayes, was on hand as well to take the audience through a session on applying a scientific approach to deterrence techniques as well as best practices for identifying and interviewing potential ORC boosters in order to get to the source of the issue more quickly.

● Other breakout sessions included - At Risk Adult Crimes, Workplace Violence from Within, Chip and Pin Card Security, and Emerging Technologies in ORC.

Probably the most anticipated session of the conference was held at the end of the day - the "Booster Offender Panel". Four "actual" boosters provided the audience with a detailed perspective on how they select their targets, what motivates them to steal and what deters them from an attempt. This was a first of its kind session for many of the attendees and the audience was very receptive, inquisitive and full of questions for the offenders.

At the conclusion of the conference, as always the attendees checked their raffle tickets for some great prizes donated by many of the key sponsors for the 2015 Conference. All proceeds from the raffle purchases were provided to Care for Cops Fallen Officers Fund. Members of the Georgia Retail Association Loss Prevention Council also announced news of a brand new partnership with the Criminal Justice Department of Kennesaw State University. As part of the mission of continuing education, a scholarship fund was set up to help students interested in pursuing a Loss Prevention career. There was also a special presentation made by GRAORCA for the Partnership of the Year award. The GRAORCA Partnership of the Year Award was created to recognize a Loss Prevention Professional and Law Enforcement Officer whose investigation has made a positive impact to help protect their company, the community, and industry. The award winners demonstrated a collaborative effort of joint planning, joint implementation, and a dynamic relationship based on mutually agreed objectives and common goals. This year's award was presented to Rory Stallard from The Home Depot, Patrick Fairley from Toy's 'R Us, and Detective Jennie Garner from the DeKalb County Police department for their collaboration and exceptional case work resulting in a successful ORC case closure.

In conclusion, the 2015 GRAORCA Retail Crime Conference was the highest attended event in the 5 year history. The Georgia Retail Association and Georgia Retail Association Loss Prevention Council would like to thank all the vendors, attendees, and support partners for a great event and we are all looking forward to seeing what the 2016 annual conference brings to the state of Georgia.
For more information on the event, including additional pictures and sponsor listing please visit www.graorca.org.