Loss prevention and risk management has become a growth field for businesses and corporations. Loss prevention has taken on a more important role in organized crime cases in the retail sector. Expert groups have been targeting retailers for many years, but merchants are just starting to band together to fight organized retail theft, developing crime databases and establishing stronger loss prevention departments. The rapid growth of organized retail thefts has affected how retail loss prevention departments handle large cases. The FBI states that the term ORC is commonly used in the retail industry and in state and local law enforcement, but remains difficult to clearly define because it can be composed of several underlying crimes and is subject to different interpretations by part of retail and law enforcement stakeholders (2001). The federal definition of “organized retail theft,” the use of the term ORC to refer to a broader set of crimes that can affect retail stakeholders, such as fraud associated with gift cards or product returns. Distinctively, under federal statutes, organized retail theft is defined by; the violation of a state prohibition on theft or shoplifting of retail merchandise, if the violation consists of the theft of quantities of items that would not normally be purchased for private use or consumption and on the basis of resale of the items or re-marketing of the items ; second that the receipt, control, disposal, exchange, sale, transportation or disposition of any property which is known or should be known to have been taken in contravention of the first paragraph; or third party that coordinates, organizes or recruits people to engage in the conduct described...... half of the document ......ormation.htmlLaRocca, J. (June 2011). NRF survey on organized crime in retail. CNBC screams on the street. Retrieved from http://blog.nrf.com/2011/06/08/joe-larocca-discusses-nrf-organized-retail-crime-survey-on-cnbc/Rogers, K., (December 2001) Retail organized Crime. LP magazine. Retrieved from http://www.lpportal.com/feature-articles/item/1-organized-retail-theft.htmlLoss Prevention Research Council (September 2007). Shoplifting statistics and tactics. Retrieved from http://www.lpresearch.org/cms/node/270Organized Retail Crime Report, (2009, October). The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 78(10), excerpted from http://go.galegroup.com.mendel.csuniv.eduOrganized Retail Theft, (January 2011). FBI Law Enforcement Stories. Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/january/retail_010311 United States Department of Justice, 2009. Crime Statistics.