Bipartisan bill requiring warrants for license plate reader searches moves forward in Colorado
Colorado Senate Bill 26-070 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee 5-2 after five hours of testimony, requiring law enforcement to obtain warrants to search automatic license plate reader databases if more than 72 hours have passed since a crime was reported. The bipartisan bill limits data storage to one month and aims to balance public safety with privacy concerns about mass surveillance and federal immigration enforcement. Law enforcement strongly opposed the measure, with Aurora Police arguing the technology solves a "vast majority" of cases and that existing laws already prevent ICE data sharing. The bill faces a $1.8 million fiscal note in the Appropriations Committee next.
Violence against retail staff falls by a fifth
Violence and abuse against UK retail employees fell from 2,000 incidents daily in 2023/24 to 1,600 between September 2024 and August 2025, though this remains more than three times the 455 daily incidents recorded in 2020, according to the BRC's latest Crime Report. The decline follows a £5 billion investment by retailers in security measures over five years and improved police response, with 13% of retailers rating police response as "good or excellent" compared to 9% last year. Despite progress, incidents involving physical violence averaged 118 per day with 36 involving weapons, while shop theft remains a significant challenge with 5.5 million incidents costing businesses £400 million annually.
Could the cargo theft problem actually get worse?
Cargo theft in the U.S. increased 16% in 2025 with 2,576 incidents recorded—averaging 7.16 thefts daily compared to 6.07 in 2024—according to Overhaul's 2025 U.S. Cargo Theft Report released Tuesday. Electronics remained the most targeted items for the fifth consecutive year at 22% of thefts, followed by food and drinks (15%), home and garden (11%), and clothing (11%). California accounted for 38% of all cargo thefts, up from 32% in 2024, while Texas followed with 20%, with pilferage representing 43% of incidents and full truckload theft at 27%. Overhaul projects a 13% increase in cargo theft for 2026.
In-store technologies expected to shape retail in 2026
Retailing's AI evolution extends beyond agentic commerce to in-store technologies bridging physical and digital operations, with UiPath's merchandising solution autonomously managing demand and pricing decisions while Microsoft embeds AI in Dynamics 365 Commerce using augmented reality tools that Walmart employs in its Retina platform. General Robotics Technology and Skild AI develop intelligence layers powering warehouse automation and adaptive robotics, while Cimulate's CommerceGPT simulates shopping journeys to train AI agents for discovery. Impinj's RAIN RFID platform connects objects throughout supply chains in real-time, offering solutions preventing counterfeits while balancing consumer privacy with inventory optimization.
Man who stabbed grocery store owner to death set to be second person executed in Florida this year
Melvin Trotter, 65, is scheduled to be executed Tuesday at Florida State Prison for the 1986 murder of grocery store owner Virgie Langford, who identified him before dying by describing a Tropicana employee badge with "Melvin" on it, with police finding her blood at his home and his handprint at the crime scene. This marks Florida's second execution of 2026 following a record 19 in 2025 under Governor Ron DeSantis—more than any Florida governor since 1976—after courts denied appeals arguing his age should exempt him from execution, with two more executions scheduled for March.
Maybe We’ve Made Risk Our Identity
David George
Executive Editor | TalkLPnews
[email protected]
Asset Protection and Loss Prevention professionals are experts at one thing:
Finding risk.
We see it before others do. We’re trained to spot vulnerabilities in process, behavior, design, and intent. It’s what makes us valuable.
But here’s the uncomfortable question:
What if we’ve become so good at finding risk that we’ve made it our identity?
And what if that identity is limiting our influence?
Spend five minutes in most AP/LP meetings and you’ll hear it:
• “That creates exposure.”
• “That increases shrink.”
• “That opens us up to liability.”
• “That’s a control failure waiting to happen.”
We are professionally wired to say, “Here’s what could go wrong.”
The problem?
The rest of the executive team is wired to ask, “Here’s how we grow.” When every conversation starts with risk, we unintentionally position ourselves as the department of resistance.
And resistance rarely gets promoted.
When Protection Becomes Prevention of Progress
There’s a subtle but important shift that happens in organizations. At first, AP/LP exists to protect the business. Over time, if we’re not careful, we start protecting the business from itself.
New initiative? Let’s list the risks. New store format? Let’s slow it down. New technology? Let’s test it for six months. New merchandising strategy? Let’s add three controls.
Now, don’t misread this. Controls matter. Guardrails matter. Risk mitigation matters.
But if our default posture is caution instead of collaboration, we become the speed bump instead of the seatbelt. One slows the car down. The other allows it to go faster — safely.
Which one are we?
The Growth Conversation We Avoid
Here’s a hard truth:
Many AP/LP leaders are more comfortable talking about loss than growth. Loss feels measurable. Contained. Historical. Growth feels messy. Predictive. Shared.
It requires us to understand:
• Sales drivers
• Margin structure
• Customer behavior
• Inventory flow
• Merchandising strategy
• Digital integration
• Labor economics
AI Agents and the Supply Chain: The Next Frontier for Execution and Operations
As tariff pressures continue to disrupt global trade, retailers are racing to strengthen their supply chain strategies. Increasingly, the key to staying ahead lies in agentic artificial intelligence — the next evolution of intelligent automation.
AI has already made significant inroads across business functions, fundamentally reshaping how organizations operate, execute and interact with customers.
Now, agentic AI is emerging as the next frontier of process efficiency and service optimization for supply chain operations.
Six arrested in connection with organized retail theft targeting Dollar Tree stores
Six people were arrested in connection with a two-month organized retail theft operation targeting Dollar Tree stores, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
From Dec. 1, 2025, to Jan 22, 2026, a group of five people targeted multiple Dollar Tree locations and entered employee-only stockroom areas to remove beverages without paying, SCSO said.
According to the sheriff’s office, the total loss to the retailer is estimated to be over $7,000.
Study finds $796bn total retail loss for retailers in 2025
The findings are based on survey responses from more than 1,000 consumers and analysis of returns data linked to 250 million unique customer identifiers, with the study integrating shrink, fraud, returns abuse, and operational leakage into a single enterprise-wide assessment.
According to the report, merchandise returns accounted for $706bn of the losses last year. Of these returns, preventable loss from fraud and abuse reached $100bn, representing 14.2% of all returns.
Within the category of returns-related loss, returns abuse comprised 12%, while fraud was responsible for just 2%.
From Optics to Outcomes: Rethinking Pushout Theft Prevention
In 2025, a national grocer tested gates, guards, and Gatekeeper Systems’ Purchek® cart-based technology to address rising pushout theft. While visible controls increased presence at the front of the store, offenders quickly adapted—bypassing gates and exploiting human limitations. High-friction measures influenced shopper flow but did not consistently stop cart-based theft.
In contrast, Purchek®, powered by SmartWheel® technology, delivered automated, measurable intervention by locking carts with unpaid merchandise at defined boundaries. The lesson was clear: real prevention starts at the cart—not the gate.
Cal/OSHA Proposes Major Changes to Workplace Inspection ‘Walkaround’ Rules
Cal/OSHA has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would significantly broaden who may accompany inspectors during workplace inspections.
The proposed regulation (8 CCR 331.8) would define the roles of employer representatives and employee-authorized representatives during inspections and align California’s procedures with recent Fed/OSHA amendments adopted in 2024.
How Manufacturers Like Nestlé are Being Hit by Thieves
The retail environment for confectionery manufacturers is changing rapidly as chocolate bars are increasingly treated as high-value, high-risk items.
In various UK shops, chocolate bars are being locked in plastic boxes to deter thieves who are stealing them to order.
Sainsbury's has confirmed it is using security boxes on products that are regularly targeted, including £2.60 Cadbury Dairy Milk bars.
NYPD officers hit with snowballs while responding to disorderly group: officials
Several officers with the New York City Police Department were struck with snowballs on Monday as they were responding to a call about a disorderly group.
The officers were dispatched to Washington Square Park shortly after 4 p.m. to address a large disorderly group, according to a spokesperson for the NYPD. The large crowd was throwing snowballs when police arrived at the scene, the NYPD said, adding that some officers were hit in the face.
The Global Investigations team focuses on combating organized and serious crime, as well as addressing internal misconduct across the platform. In this role, you will manage the full lifecycle of both internal and external investigations. This requires utilizing internal tools and case management systems to triage and analyze investigative data, identifying productive lines of inquiry. A core requirement is the ability to manage large datasets and possess a strong understanding of fraud and cyber-related crimes. The scope of your work will involve diverse crime types across both internal and external cases. You must be capable of working independently and making sound, well-reasoned decisions.
Serious Strength for Serious Threats
The ECL-230X-TDB is a heavy-duty, easy to install three-bolt multi-point lock whose construction takes panic hardware to a whole new level of toughness and eases your back-door security worries.
It is designed with a larger deadbolt that goes deeper into the frame than other locks in the category.
Connecting rods are solid steel, rather than the less reliable hollow rod/cable construction.
Life safety and code compliant, the new Detex ECL-230X-TDB serves as both panic hardware and a maximum-strength locking device.
Combining the ECL-230X-TDB with Detex’s DX Bolts provides an additional line of defense against break-ins via additional locking points.
BRC: technology investment pays off as progress made on tacking retail crime but job far from done
Violence and abuse against retail workers fell by a fifth from 2,000 incidents per day in 2023/4 to 1,600 last year, according to a new report from the BRC.
The report, sponsored by Sensormatic Solutions, suggests this improvement reflects years of heavy investment by retailers, an improved police response - with 13% of retailers rating the police response as good, or excellent, up from just 9% in last year’s report – as well as closer collaboration between retailers, police, and government.
Retailers have stumped up over £5 billion in the last five years on improved security measures, from CCTV, to security staff, to improved data collection.
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