В Иллинойсе прошел первый в штате конференция по борьбе с организованной розничной преступностью

First statewide conference on organized retail crime Published 9:01 am Thursday, July 16, 2026 ROSEMONT — The Illinois Organized Retail Crime Association hosted the state’s first statewide conference on organized retail crime, drawing hundreds of law enforcement officers, retailers, prosecutors, and industry leaders to discuss strategies for combating the growing problem. The daylong conference, known as ILORCA, opened with remarks from Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, whose office has taken a leading role in addressing the issue. Since forming an Organized Retail Crime Unit in 2023, the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department has recovered more than $11 million in stolen merchandise while working to dismantle criminal networks operating in the region. Sessions throughout the day covered emerging crime trends, cargo theft, cybercrime, supply chain security, and coordinated enforcement strategies. Keynote speakers included Frank Abagnale, a fraud prevention expert and author of the memoir “Catch Me If You Can,” and Robert Siciliano, a security expert and author, who discussed increasingly sophisticated tactics used by criminal organizations and strategies businesses and law enforcement can use to respond. “Illinois ranks among the nation’s top three states for cargo theft, while reports show violent retail crime is escalating statewide,” Anne Sagins, ILORCA’s executive director, said in a statement. “Auror data shows that 10 percent of retail crime offenders were responsible for more than 63 percent of retail crime in Illinois last year. It’s clear that organized prolific offenders are targeting multiple retailers and jurisdictions. No single sector can address this alone. It requires a coordinated response across law enforcement, the business community, and government.” Organizers said the conference was intended to connect experts across the public and private sectors, noting that ILORCA is among the first organizations nationally to bring railroads, trucking companies, and distributors together to address organized retail crime across the supply chain. Other speakers included Bryan Laurie, chief of the BNSF Railway Police; Alysa D. Erichs, a spokesperson for United to Safeguard America from Illegal Trade and a former acting executive associate director for Homeland Security Investigations; Raul Aguilar, senior director of law enforcement partnerships for the Americas at Auror and a former deputy assistant director at Homeland Security Investigations; and Cornell Heldenbrand, vice president of security at J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. The association also presented its inaugural awards recognizing leadership in combating organized retail crime. Michael Ware, commander of the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department’s Organized Retail Crime Unit, received the Outstanding Law Enforcement Professional of the Year Award. Saul Martinez, an asset protection specialist at The Home Depot, received the Outstanding Asset Protection Professional of the Year Award. The Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department’s Organized Retail Crime Unit also received the Outstanding Organized Retail Crime Investigation Award for its May cargo theft investigation in Bridgeview. ILORCA was established under Illinois law tied to the federal Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act, a measure intended to combat organized retail theft. The association is funded through a grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and oversees a statewide intelligence-sharing platform designed to improve coordination between retailers, law enforcement agencies, loss prevention specialists, and other stakeholders in addressing organized retail crime, which involves coordinated efforts by criminal groups to steal and resell merchandise to fund other illegal activities.