Taskforce Will Tackle Retail Theft

Retail takes center stage at this time of year as the holiday gift-giving season shifts into high gear. From a security standpoint, even though e-commerce has reduced the number of people in stores at the holidays, it is still a stressful time for physical retailers. A regional taskforce of law enforcement, government, and retail organizations will be working together on organized crime and retail theft in an effort to tamp down criminal incidents and hopefully provide lessons to the retail industry and law enforcement at large. 

The Alliance of Companies and Communities to Enhance Safety and Security (ACCESS) Taskforce is a collaboration between LiveView Technologies (LVT) and the Paducah and Opelika Police Departments, local government and retailers in Paducah, Kentucky and Opelika, Alabama. The groups says the mission to "improve community safety and reduce organized retail crime one city at a time."

"Organized retail crime is on the rise and expected to escalate during the holiday season. LVT’s ACCESS Taskforce is a collaboration that creates seamless communication and safety orchestration efforts between municipalities, law enforcement, and retailers such as Dollar General, The Home Depot, JCPenney, Lowe’s, Walgreens, and Walmart so customers may have positive shopping experiences," the group said in a statement. 

Officials say the taskforce will include JCPenney, Lowe’s, Walgreens and Walmart, and they will work with law enforcement and other retailers to enhance the customer shopping experience. Municipal officials with Paducah and Opelika plan to use LVT mobile surveillance units and software capabilities to deter and detect shoplifting and other crimes.

“Paducah is a regional shopping hub with numerous national and local retailers,” said Paducah Police Chief Brian Laird. “We are constantly working to improve the quality of life and decrease crime in Paducah. We believe that deploying LVT’s security units in partnership with local retailers will improve our ability to diminish crime and care for not only our citizens, but also visitors to Paducah.”