The US National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) and the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) have announced a new investment in their partnership to combat organized retail crime (ORC).

The RILA and NDAA are making a $100,000 investment to develop training materials and a nationwide education curriculum to assist law enforcement, prosecutors and retailers.

“Tackling this problem in silos doesn’t work and hasn’t worked,” said Lisa LaBruno, RILA’s Senior Executive Vice President of Retail Operations. “ORC has become more sophisticated and more violent and a partnership is the only way we meet this challenge. The investment in a national ‘playbook’ is a great step forwards in this partnership.”

“ORC isn’t one person acting alone. These are professional crime rings stealing merchandise – sometimes medications and expired infant formula – and reselling online to unsuspecting consumers,” said Erie County District Attorney John Flynn, President of the NDAA. “In addition to the economic cost, consumers face serious health and safety risks when they unknowingly purchase these items.”  

To address the continued growth of ORC, RILA and NDAA have committed to additional steps:

• Develop and implement training on crime topics to assist in addressing barriers to tackling crime
• Capture the latest trends to inform current gaps in information
• Host a series of educational webinars along with an annual crime round-table discussion
• Launch a Retail Crime Advisory Group
• Exchange information and collaborate on policy discussions and strategies to highlight emerging trends