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For Immediate Release
April 5, 2007
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Washington D.C.
FBI National Press Office
(202) 324-3691
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FBI Partners With Retailers To Fight Organized Retail Theft
In
response to Congressional legislation intended to combat
the growing problem of organized retail theft, the FBI has
worked with the National Retail Federation (NRF) and the
Retail Industry Leader’s Association (RILA) to create
the Law Enforcement Retail Partnership Network (LERPnet).
This new database, which launches April 9, will be used
by loss prevention industry experts and law enforcement
to share information and help stop theft by criminal organizations
which costs the retail industry an estimated $30 billion
each year.
Traditionally, individual retailers reported thefts to
local law enforcement, but no uniform method of tracking
these crimes across jurisdictions existed. Based on the
concerns of the retail industry and the FBI, Congress passed
legislation signed by the President in January 2006 that
required the Attorney General and the FBI, in consultation
with the retail community, to establish a task force to
combat organized retail theft. The task force, initiated
in 2006, is currently staffed by DOJ and FBI personnel
and has worked closely with the NRF and the RILA to build
LERPnet.
“Retailers and manufacturers lose billions of dollars
each year because of organized retail theft, and that loss
is inevitably passed on to consumers in the form of higher
prices,” said Assistant Director Chip Burrus of the
FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “The
Law Enforcement Retail Partnership Network database will
allow retailers and law enforcement to work together to
combat this problem.”
The database, which is housed and run by the private sector,
will allow retail members to track and identify organized
retail theft via a secure web portal. To date, 32 retailers
representing 46,000 stores have signed on to participate,
and 16,000 organized retail theft incidents are already included
in the system. Law enforcement will also be able to access
LERPnet via Law Enforcement Online to search reported incidents
and track retail theft throughout the country. This partnership
between law enforcement and private industry provides for
greater efficiency in fighting organized retail theft, enabling
increased arrests, prosecutions, and recoveries of stolen
merchandise.
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