The ORC/External- Introductory Statement

The Trimmed Introductory Statement

• With the exception of introducing themselves and stating their position, the interviewer does not educate the subject on their position. This is because the subject has been caught in the act and has already experienced the interviewers’ position and role during the apprehension.
• The introductory statement should be trimmed by the interviewer with complete removal of Operational Loss and Internal Theft.
• ORC is the only theft type mentioned by the interviewer. Also, the interviewer should only provide 2 examples of organized retail crime technique instead of explaining traditional types of shoplifting behavior.
• Limiting the detail to 2 examples of organized retail crime creates a more fluid transition and flow into investigative technique. It is within investigative technique that the interviewer elicits the most behavior from the subject that can provide insight into their full scope of ORC activity.

The maximum impact an interviewer can make during the introductory statement is within the investigative technique. This is where the interviewer has the highest probability to transfer the perception to the subject that the organized involvement has been exposed. In the investigative technique phase, the interviewer used a selection of ORC investigative tools that move from a global to a specific perspective. This is because ORC is based on the premise that their actions will go unnoticed within the volume of business in a geographical area. The Global to Specific tactic educates the subject on how global activity can be successfully analyzed, trended, and then ultimately detect their organized activity.

An example is provided below:

1. Overall item level loss is detected because of a loss of sales.
2. We then focus on those locations that drive the highest percentage of that item’s loss.
3. We then develop and see the geographical area those stores are contained in to establish a market of activity.
4. Using the adjustment dates of the item’s being counted and detected as missing; we can establish a timeline of movement through the market.
5. Asset Protection teams within those stores then begin reviewing surveillance of those items in order to see who is selecting them.
6. Live surveillance is then used based on the movement through the market to anticipate the next theft. Technology can also be touched on to establish the perception that their full involvement is known. (Driver’s License Refund Velocity, SKU Level shrink, Video detection, RFID, etc)
7. Investigators then follow outside the walls of the store to determine where the merchandise is taken to.
8. This process is repeated in order to establish global involvement.

The interviewer could easily replace this flow using Driver’s License refund data, Credit Card fraud, Tag Switching, etc. The Author would like to state that using corresponding overages on low ticket items merged with shrink on high ticket items was very effective in presenting a rational decision to confess among Tag-Switchers.