This year we tried a lot of new things and shifted around some existing components of the conference. Based on a suggestion from several people, including my good friend Ned Ludlow of Williams-Sonoma, we broke the Investigator’s Network Meeting into eight regional meetings. This resulted in an intimate networking forum for retailers and law enforcement.

Back for a second year, the nrfFusion Center doubled in size and was well attended by some of the most notable law enforcement agencies in the country and state, including the FBI, DHS, Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).

The educational sessions covered a wide range of topics, including legal strategies, legislative issues important to retail LP, active shooters, supply chain security, working with law enforcement, crisis management response, organized retail crime/e-fencing and cyber investigations.

The Loss Prevention Awards Program was significantly expanded and gave industry leaders center stage. The NRF Law Enforcement Retail Partnership Award (LERPA) winners, Detective Jim Ostojic of the Polk County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office and Special Agent Telly Sands of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement were recognized for their integral roles in breaking up one of the largest ORC rings in retail history. Ron Averette, loss prevention manager/distribution for Publix Supermarkets, received the NRF Loss Prevention Case of the Year Award for working the same ORC case with Ostojic and Sands.

For the second year, NRF honored loss prevention pioneers by inducting them into the NRF Ring of Excellence. New inductees include Bob Barry, Retail Loss Prevention League (retired); Jim Bridges, Federated Department Stores (deceased); Shelley Connors, Joseph Magnin (retired); Ben Guffey, Kmart (deceased); Bob Ralicki, United States Mutual Association (deceased); Joe Roessler, Navy Exchange (retired); Doug Wicklander, Wicklander-Zulawski; Fred Wilson, CarMaxx Superstore (retired); and Dave Zulawski, Wicklander-Zulawski.

Looking ahead
The second half of the year is shaping up to be just as strong and action-packed as the first half. We are now gearing up for a second round of Investigator’s Network meetings and training calls. Several of our committees (legislative, mall retail and the joint ORC task force) are charged up from the conference and other meetings, so we expect a lot of output from them. Senior LP executives should plan on joining us for the 4th annual LP Summit, October 15-16 in Dallas.

LERPnet update
LERPnet recently celebrated its first anniversary. Launched in April 2007, it is the only national database designed to bring local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and retailers together through its unique information-sharing capability.

LERPnet now boasts more than 55 member companies, including five of the nation’s top 10 retailers. Some of the newest members include Barnes & Noble, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Kroger, Nordstrom and Ross Stores. This past year, LERPnet has made significant strides for facilitating the process of entering incidents into the database. The vendor community has come forward to work with retailers, and LERPnet now has two official case management systems (LP Software and Wazagua).