A retail theft prevention workshop was held on Friday by the Northern Nevada Chapter of the Nevada Organized Retail Crime Association (ORCA) to cover everything from loss prevention to asset protection.
The primary topic at the workshop was to build and investigate a case that leads to a successful prosecution.
Washoe County District Attorney Chris Hicks says retail theft is no longer an isolated nuisance; it has become a serious problem.
In 2023, retailers nationwide saw a 93% increase in shoplifting incidents compared to 2019.
The loss of money from shoplifting is up 90% from the same period.
In 2022, U.S. retailers lost nearly $100 billion to theft.
Northern Nevada isn't immune to this crime either.
"Out of 37 stores at the Outlets at Legends, there was a 361% total increase in retail theft reports from 2022 to 2024," said Hicks.
He says these crimes threaten the livelihood of our local businesses, endanger the safety of their workers, and affect all of us.
Hicks also mentions when stores face significant losses, it's the consumers that pay the price, through higher costs, reduced access to goods and services, and diminished shopping experiences.
ORCA was created to help combat retail theft.
Hicks says, "Through this initiative we're increasing communication, sharing intelligence, conducting important trainings, and aligning case strategies."
He adds, "Our collective aim is to improve the quality of investigations, strengthen prosecutions, and send a clear regional message."
Part of the goal of the training is to give direct training to the loss prevention officers and certain retail establishments to show them what a perfect investigation looks like and show them what information to gather for law enforcement during these incidents.
"We want to streamline the process and strengthen the process so that we can get strong convictions and hopefully deter some of this behavior and get rid of some of the frequent flyers that are hitting these retail shops," said Hicks.
Sheriff Darin Balaam, with the Washoe County Sheriff's Office, spoke about the technology they've been using to help fight this crime.
"As we know, a lot of the retail stores have been upgrading their technology as far as surveillance equipment," said Balaam. "A lot of us are putting license plate readers throughout the community, so that is some of the technology, so using that and working with retail."
Hicks also says, "The primary goal of that is to have it culminate into a successful prosecution."
These trainings are going to be held twice a year for retail officers to make sure everyone is on the same page.
Additionally, ORCA is going to have meetings once a month with law enforcement, prosecutors, and retail loss prevention officers to share intelligence with one another to help better put a stop to shoplifting.
