Clarksville Police Department and Local Retail Personnel Collaborate to Deter and Investigate Thefts

Clarksville, TN – On Wednesday, December 11^th, 2013, the Clarksville Police Department’s (CPD) District 3 Criminal Investigations Unit met with Local Retail Personnel (LRP) about retail criminals and current retail crime trends. “Each year organized groups of professional shoplifters steal or fraudulently obtain billions of dollars in merchandise to resell in an activity known as organized retail crime (ORC)(gao.gov, 2014).” One of these rings can steal between $2,000 and $12,000 worth of merchandise in a single day, making this a $40 billion dollar a year industry for criminals.

Law enforcement agencies collaborate with retail personnel to detect and deter retail theft and investigate potential ORC cases. Detective Rodney Lifsey made a power point presentation that included pictures of criminals (names unknown), pictures of identified criminals, information and pictures of retail crime groups, current crime trends (how they conduct their criminal activities), products and merchandise of interest, current scams, etc. (gao.gov, 2014).

The information sharing was not one-way communication. Information was shared from both the CPD and from the LRP. The bond developed between the two entities has created an even more dominant crime solving team.  Since the inception of this program in March 2013, numerous cases have been solved to the sum of approximately $80,000. There were four crimes solved in the meeting on Wednesday.  These meetings will continue monthly and there are plans to expand to not only cover current crime trends, but to also provide job specific training.

The collaboration between the CPD and the LRP will not only help to keep retail crimes down, but will also boost the confidence of Clarksville shoppers.  Any retailers that wish to begin attending the meetings should contact Det. Rodney Lifsey at 931-648-0656 Ext.5298

Participating Local Retail Businesses:

• Hastings
• KMart
• WalMart
• Fort Campbell Federal Credit Union
• JC Penney
• Lowes
• Once Upon  a Child
• Target
• Sears
• Plato’s Closet

The CPD had in attendance several District 3 CI personnel, D3 Lt., D3 Capt., D3 Sgt, and several D3 Patrol Officers.