How to Stop Organized Retail Crime (ORC)

Since we’ve been exposed to COVID-19, many retail stores have closed their physical sites. Some did it for the time being, and others permanently. The main reason behind this closing is the reduction in business. However, some stores have downsized simply due to organized retail crime.

What is ORC?

Organized retail crime is also known as organized retail theft and is not the same as regular shoplifting. A shoplifter may only lift few things in a month, but ORC is a whole gang that can have several people targeting multiple retail stores every day. Another difference is that the ORC lifters don’t steal for personal use but to resell the stolen items on another platform – mostly online. ORC has been there for decades, and it’s only getting worse with time.

There are many reasons why these crimes have an increasing trend. The first reason is that it’s easy and safe to sell the stolen goods online without having a fear of being traced. Second, there has been a great focus on online shopping due to the pandemic, and people have found an easy way to fulfill their shopping cravings. Thirdly, the police departments are now busier with the pandemic, and their focus on these kinds of thefts has decreased. This has simply given open grounds to ORC.

How to Prevent Organized Retail Crime?

The best and most effective way to catch organized retail criminals is using a video surveillance system. This way you can put your hands on the shoplifter while they’re in the store. Once they’re out, it becomes nearly impossible to catch them. If you have security cameras installed in your store, the special teams can keep an eye on the customers in real-time from a safe room. It becomes easy to monitor suspicious activities and catch the stealers. With cameras, the security personnel can rewind the video to look for patterns of crime. This will make them more aware of the strikes by ORC members.

If you’re convinced that installing security cameras is a good way to prevent shoplifting, keep reading to know what are key locations cameras shouldn’t miss.

• Cash registers: It would be wise to install security cameras near the cash registers. This way, your team can keep an eye on anyone trying to commit any sort of fraud.
• Inventory rooms: It’s possible that a member of the ORC committee becomes your employee. If you have cameras in the stock room, this can prevent theft.
• Entrances & exits: You also need to ensure that the entrance and exit points are secured and continuously monitored so you can act promptly when a known member of ORC enters.
• Parking lots: Installing cameras only inside the store isn’t sufficient. This is because it’s not always possible to catch every shoplifter that enters your store. If you have video surveillance and license plate capture systems installed in the parking lot, it will be much easier to catch the thieves.

For more security solutions, contact our team at +1-281-438-3500.