With organized retail crime (ORC) on the rise between 2015 and 2020, according to the National Retail Foundation (NRF), and recent media attention of high-profile lootings and smash-and-grabs, perhaps the biggest challenge for loss prevention (LP) executives today is reducing loss and boosting asset recovery where applicable, while simultaneously focusing on safer workplaces.
“In retail, you’ve got to balance protecting inventory and safety of your people. With the violence of today, that safety component has taken a more forward role for the loss prevention executive now than in the past. You’ve got to balance procedures, policies and strategies around employee safety first. Everything else follows after that,” says Alan Saquella, Corporate Security Executive and Assistant Professor at Embry-Riddle.