Organized Retail Theft Prevention

Each year organized groups of professional shoplifters steal or fraudulently obtain billions of dollars in merchandise to resell in an activity known as ORC. These stolen goods can also be sold on online marketplaces, a practice known as "e-fencing." This report assessed ORC and e-fencing. It addresses: (1) types of efforts that select retailers, state and local law enforcement, and federal agencies are undertaking to combat ORC; (2) the extent to which tools or mechanisms exist to facilitate collaboration and info. sharing among these ORC stakeholders; and (3) steps that online marketplaces have taken to combat ORC and e-fencing, and additional actions retailers and law enforcement think may enhance these efforts. Illus. This is a print on demand report.

This report provides an overview of organized retail crime rings, their operations, and goods targeted. It then examines the domestic impact of organized retail crime (ORC) in the arenas of the economy, public health and safety, and domestic security. The report also outlines current efforts by retailers, resale markets, and the federal government to combat ORC. It then analyzes various policy issues that the 111th Congress may wish to consider, including whether current federal resources provided for the investigation of ORC are adequate, whether to amend the U.S. Code to criminalize ORC, and whether to regulate resale marketplaces that may be utilized as fences for criminals to sell stolen goods.

This edited collection provides an original and comprehensive take on retail crime and its prevention, by combining international data and multidisciplinary perspectives from criminologists, economists, geographers, police officers and other experts. Drawing on environmental criminology theory and situational crime prevention, it focusses on crime and safety in retail environments but also the interplay between individuals, products and settings such as stores, commercial streets and shopping malls, as well as the wider context of situational conditions of the supply chain in which crime occurs. Chapters offer state-of-the-art research on retail crime from a range of countries such as Australia, Brazil, Israel, Italy, Sweden, the UK and the USA. This methodological and well-researched study is devoted to both academics and practitioners from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds whose common interest is to prevent retail crime and overall retail loss. The chapters 'Crime in a Scandinavian Shopping Centre' and 'Perceived Safety in a Shopping Centre' are published open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com.

Organized retail theft prevention : fostering a comprehensive public-private response : hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Tenth Congress, first session, October 25, 2007.

As it has become easier for more and more people to go online, Internet crime has also increased. Some users view the World Wide Web as an opportunity for crime against millions of unsuspecting victims. Crimes directly related to the Internet, such as stealing personal information or engaging in fraudulent schemes, have grown rapidly. Criminals also use the Internet as a way to commit other types of crime--as a clearinghouse for stolen goods, as a hunting ground for pedophiles, and even as a corner from which to sell illegal drugs. Some believe that more oversight is needed to protect Internet users, while others see the Internet as a place that should exist without restrictions. Explore these issues and others pertaining to online crime in The Internet and Crime.