Why it matters

Retailers in California face a complex and fast-moving regulatory environment, creating a growing need for coordinated legal strategy and earlier engagement in the policy process.

The big picture

Rachel Michelin, President of the California Retailers Association, says the California Retail Law Center was created to give in-house legal teams and industry leaders a dedicated forum to collaborate on compliance, litigation, and regulatory strategy.

What’s driving it

• Regulations are expanding beyond original legislative intent
• Compliance pathways are often unclear or impractical
• Litigation risk continues to increase across the state

What the center does

• Brings together retail legal teams and law firms
• Shares real time insight on regulatory and litigation trends
• Identifies issues earlier in the rulemaking process
• Supports more proactive engagement with policymakers

What’s next

The center could expand beyond California, creating a broader platform for multi-state collaboration as similar policies emerge nationwide.

Bottom line

The California Retail Law Center is designed to help retailers move faster, collaborate more effectively, and engage earlier in shaping the rules that govern the industry.

Retail's Most Wanted is presented by LVT and the Attorney General Alliance.

Why it matters

As in-store incidents become more unpredictable, employee safety increasingly depends on how quickly help can be activated in the moment.

The big picture

Kenny Kelley, founder of Silent Beacon, says retail safety is shifting beyond training and procedures toward tools that enable immediate response during high-risk situations.

What’s changing

• Retail environments are less predictable than in the past
• Incidents extend beyond traditional theft scenarios
• Legislators are beginning to mandate employee safety tools in some states

The gap

Policies and training prepare employees, but they do not always translate into action during fast-moving incidents.

The shift

Wearable safety technology allows employees to instantly alert 911, share location data, and notify internal teams with a single action.

Bottom line

Retail safety is evolving from preparation alone to integrated, real time response capabilities.

Retail's Most Wanted is presented by LVT and the Attorney General Alliance.

Why it matters

Organized retail crime often moves across cities and states. Boise’s approach shows how long term partnerships and real time intelligence sharing can disrupt traveling theft crews before they move on.

The big picture

Ed Fritz of the Boise Police Department says Idaho has been tackling organized retail theft long before the term ORC became common. That early focus helped Boise build systems that allow investigators and retailers to respond quickly when traveling crews arrive.

What they’re seeing

• Theft tied to addiction still drives many local cases.
• Traveling ORC crews regularly move through Idaho via interstate routes.
• As Boise grew, it became a more frequent stop for organized groups.

How Boise responds

• ORCA Idaho created a shared intelligence network between retailers and law enforcement.
• Real time information sharing helps investigators connect incidents faster.
• Collaboration with Western States ORCA allows cities to track crews moving between states.

Why partnerships matter

Fritz says the difference between a relationship and a partnership is commitment. Strong partnerships between retailers, investigators, and prosecutors allow faster response, stronger cases, and more successful prosecutions.

Bottom line

Organized retail crime operates across regions. Fighting it requires the same level of coordination.

Retail's Most Wanted is presented by LVT and the Attorney General Alliance.

Why it matters

Organized retail crime is no longer just physical theft. The real leverage now sits in how stolen goods are converted to cash and moved globally through cryptocurrency.

The big picture

International disputes lawyer Mahmoud Abuwasel argues that smash and grab is only the front end. The real sophistication is financial. Crypto allows syndicates to move profits across borders, fund operations, and scale faster than traditional banking systems would allow.

Where enforcement struggles

The biggest gap is jurisdiction. Technology and blockchain analytics are strong, but cross border legal coordination is slow. That delay gives criminals time to move funds again.

Bottom line

Follow the money. Disrupt the financial layer and you weaken the enterprise.

Retail's Most Wanted is presented by LVT and the Attorney General Alliance.

Why it matters

Organized retail crime in Arizona is coordinated, profit-driven, and increasingly mobile — making shared intelligence the key to stopping repeat offenders.

The big picture

Detective Mark Holtzen, Vice President of AZ ORCA, says the state’s strategy hinges on uniting law enforcement, retailers, and prosecutors to connect cases in real time and treat ORC as organized crime not isolated theft.

Policy backdrop

Arizona recently strengthened tools, including a new gift card fraud statute, and prosecutors are pursuing ORC cases as felony-level organized crime, including extradition when necessary.

What’s next

The biggest opportunity for 2026: expand training beyond specialists so patrol officers, retail employees, and prosecutors recognize ORC earlier and build stronger cases from day one.

Bottom line

ORC operates as a network. Arizona’s response is building one to match.

Retail's Most Wanted is presented by LVT and the Attorney General Alliance.

What’s happening:

Leaders across retail, law enforcement, and policy shared what is actually working in the fight against organized retail crime.

The takeaways:

1. Slow down and verify: Fraud depends on urgency. Pausing disrupts the scam.
2. Let experience drive policy: Laws work best when informed by real enforcement and retail realities.
3. Align expectations: Public and private partners need clarity on goals and roles.
4. Consequence matters: Task forces, funding, and legislation must reinforce accountability.
5. Stay centered in policy: Extreme swings weaken impact. Balanced approaches earn support.
6. Layered defense: Combine people, technology, sensors, and intelligence.
7. People first: Education, awareness, and safety power prevention.
8. Smarter surveillance: AI, license plate readers, GPS, and pattern detection are changing the game.
9. Partnership is the baseline: Without collaboration, progress stalls.
10. Be the hub: ORCAs that convene retailers and law enforcement drive results.

Why it matters:

Organized retail crime thrives when systems are fragmented and uncoordinated.

The bottom line:

Trust and coordination are the foundation of effective ORC prevention.

Retail's Most Wanted is presented by LVT and the Attorney General Alliance.

Why it matters

Organized retail crime has evolved into a coordinated, data-driven business, forcing retailers to elevate loss prevention from a back-office security function to a strategic, cross-functional priority tied directly to profit protection.

What’s changing

• Retailers are moving from reactive responses to predictive ORC models.
• Disparate systems are being unified across POS, video, loyalty, and location data.
• Early, non-confrontational customer engagement is proving to be a powerful deterrent.
• AI is translating complex data into clear risks and recommended actions.

How it works

Hawkins outlines a four-layer analytics model:

• Descriptive: What’s happening across stores, products, and regions.
• Diagnostic: Why losses are occurring, including methods and networks.
• Predictive: What’s likely to happen next based on patterns and risk scoring.
• Prescriptive: What actions store teams and leaders should take.

Bottom line

Loss prevention is no longer about catching shoplifters; it is about using data, analytics, and AI to protect margins, employees, and customers at scale.

Retail's Most Wanted is presented by LVT and the Attorney General Alliance.

Why it matters:

Gift card fraud is one of the easiest ways organized retail crime quietly drains money from shoppers and retailers—and it’s often connected to much larger criminal operations.

The big picture:

On Retail’s Most Wanted, Scott Glenn, VP of Asset Protection at The Home Depot, explains how ORC has evolved from visible theft into coordinated, cross-border crime that’s hard to detect and harder to prosecute.

Key points:

• Gift cards are a prime target: Anonymous, fast, and easy to launder, they’re often drained before victims know a crime occurred.
• This isn’t petty theft: ORC is “shoplifting for greed,” used to fund broader criminal activity.
• Education + coordination work: Training shoppers and associates, stronger state task forces, and federal action are starting to make a difference.

What’s next:

Criminals will keep adapting—but growing collaboration between retailers, law enforcement, and lawmakers is finally narrowing their advantage.

Retail's Most Wanted is presented by LVT and the Attorney General Alliance.