Database Aids Fight Against Crime
The National Retail Federation (NRF) is working with the FBI and local law enforcement agencies to build a retail crime database that will help companies and law enforcement officers monitor trends and link incidents.
U.S. retailers lose between $15 billion and $30 billion each year due to theft, robberies, and fraud, but police and retailers in different jurisdictions seldom share information that could help catch perpetrators. The new Retail Loss Prevention Intelligence Network (RL-PIN) database will allow retailers to enter in crime data and search for linked crimes at the local, state, and federal levels.
NRF members such as Best Buy, CVS Pharmacy, Game Stop, Sears, and Target support RL-PIN, which will be funded by member subscriptions to access the database.
Information will be stored in XML format so data can be more easily integrated with that from government agencies or third-party databases such as LexisNexis or ChoicePoint, says NRF loss prevention vice president Joseph LaRocca.
The NRF will first launch an RL-PIN Web portal including information about the project and membership applications, and then introduce first-phase search and data-upload capabilities this summer. The second phase, expected for the first quarter of 2006, will enhance search capabilities so that specific retail sectors can be investigated.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from InformationWeek (05/02/05) No. 1037, P. 49; Sullivan, Laurie .