Retailers use police-like investigation centers to fight theft. Shoppers pay the price

Retailers like Home Depot supply cops with the key evidence to bust organized crime rings.

When SWAT officers swarmed a house in a sleepy San Jose, California neighborhood last month, they found what could best be described as a make-shift hardware store inside: Shelves lined with boxes of brand-new tools, bathroom fixtures and spools of industrial wiring. It resembled a mini Home Depot. And in some ways, it was. Much of the cache of products—worth about $150,000—had been stolen from real Home Depot stores. The retail chain’s internal security force spent months investigating the thefts, scanning security camera footage, tracking license plates and surveilling suspects. They connected dots of the criminal network allegedly responsible and shared their findings with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, which executed search warrants and arrested the suspects. Increasingly, this is how it goes today for retailers trying to battle theft and fraud by organized crime rings. A CNN review of court records and interviews with more than two dozen retail and law enforcement officials shows that persistent problems with sophisticated organized crime networks have led many private-sector companies to not only assist law enforcement but to often deliver the bulk of the evidence that leads to criminal prosecutions. Anyone who has shopped at retail stores in recent years has encountered everyday products like laundry detergent, medication and beauty supplies locked up behind metal gates or plexiglass. Retailers say those in-store security measures are emblematic of the ongoing threat of organized retail crime, which typically involves groups of low-level thieves who steal items for middlemen who in turn sell to unsuspecting customers hunting for deals on marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay. Efforts to counter this crime, however, have come with some costs. Security investments can translate into higher prices for consumers, and civil liberties advocates argue the surveillance technology used by retailers can infringe on individuals’ privacy.