Utah Organized Retail Crime Association
Join us for our 10th Anniversary UTORCA Conference March 14th!
What is Organized Retail Crime?
ORC is defined as the Theft/Fraud activity conducted with the intent to convert illegally obtained merchandise, cargo, cash, or cash equivalent into financial gain (no personal use), where/when the following elements are present:
Theft/Fraud is conducted
over multiple occurrences
and/or in multiple stores
and/or in multiple jurisdictions
by two or more persons, or an individual acting in dual roles (booster & fence)
Groups, gangs and sometimes individuals are engaged in illegally obtaining merchandise through both theft and fraud in substantial quantities as part of a criminal enterprise. These crime rings generally consist of "boosters" - who methodically steal merchandise from retail stores - and fence operators who convert the product to cash or drugs as part of the criminal enterprise. Sophisticated criminals have even found ways to switch UPC bar codes on merchandise, so they ring up differently at checkout, commonly called “ticket switching.” Others use stolen or cloned credit cards to obtain merchandise or produce fictitious receipts to return products back to retail stores.
Our Mission:
To combat Organized Retail Crime (ORC) through a collaborative effort between law enforcement and retailers in and around the State of Utah.
About UTORCA.
The Utah Organized Retail Crime Association (UTORCA) was formed in March of 2012 by several retailers and law enforcement agencies along the Wasatch front with the intent to fight the rapidly growing rate of Organized Retail Crime (ORC) in Utah. UTORCA has now evolved into a highly efficient coalition dedicated to serving Utah businesses and communities impacted by ORC by sharing intelligence, photographs, and surveillance video. With the ability to upload suspect and incident information through the UTORCA website, our members are provided with real time alerts to quickly relay critical information to members. The website also feeds other secure databases that are available for law enforcement analysis. In addition to communication via the website, UTORCA holds quarterly meetings and training seminars to allow face to face networking and development of investigation strategies in an effort to keep up with changing trends and tactics of ORC groups. Membership is free and members of law enforcement and retail establishments are encouraged to join.
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