Listen to the Shots Fired Podcast here and watch their YouTube channel.
In this episode of the Shots Fired Podcast, co-hosts Mark Redlich and Kyle Schoberg are joined by retired state patrol chief and Motorola leader Jim Wolfinbarger to tackle one of America’s fastest growing threats – organized retail crime. In this episode, they break down what law enforcement is doing on the front lines to fight back, and how technology and AI are helping change the game.
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Key takeaways from this episode:
- Organized retail crime (ORC) has scaled up: It’s shifted from isolated shoplifting to organized rings stealing across multiple stores and reselling online.
- The harm is wider than loss: Shrink drives higher prices, locked cases and store closures – plus rising safety concerns for frontline retail workers.
- Policing tactics evolved: Agencies now build multi-incident cases (often with ORC task forces and dedicated DAs), using coordinated surveillance and post-theft apprehensions.
- Tech is the force multiplier: Visible fixed cameras, associate body-worn cameras and AI video analytics deter crime, surface anomalies early and preserve strong evidence.
- Real-time coordination matters: Interoperable radios, rapid video/floorplan sharing and RTCCs give responders eyes on scene and shared context before arrival.
- Keep humans in the loop: AI should augment – not replace – judgment, with ethical guardrails; the goal is safer employees, better decisions and more effective prosecutions.
Listen to the Shots Fired Podcast here and watch their YouTube channel.