Organized Retail Crime Incident Report Form

Use it for suspected organized retail crime events such as coordinated theft, refund fraud, ticket switching, booster activity, or repeated theft tied to the same people or vehicle. It is designed to capture the facts that help loss prevention, store leadership, and law enforcement connect one incident to a larger pattern. If the event is a simple one-off shoplifting case with no ORC indicators, a shorter incident report may be enough.

Complete it as soon as practical after the incident, while details are still fresh and video can still be located. For repeat offenders or ongoing investigations, use a new form for each event so the case history stays searchable and the audit trail remains clear. If your team sees the same suspect or vehicle across multiple stores, each location should file its own report and reference the shared case pattern.

A store manager, loss prevention associate, asset protection lead, or another trained employee who witnessed the event or reviewed the evidence should complete it. The form works best when the reporter can enter objective facts rather than guesses, especially for suspect descriptions, vehicle details, and transaction data. If the reporter is not certain about a field, the template should allow partial completion and later follow-up.

Yes, the template includes an anonymous submission field for cases where the reporter should not be identified. That can be useful for internal tip lines or sensitive investigations, but the form should still collect enough incident detail to be actionable. If anonymity is used, make sure the workflow explains how follow-up questions will be handled without exposing the reporter's identity.

Include the evidence types that support the report, such as CCTV footage, still images, receipt records, order records, transaction logs, or written witness notes. The video reference field should point to the exact clip, camera, or timestamp so investigators do not have to search manually. Avoid vague entries like 'video attached' without a location or reference, because that slows review and weakens the report.

The form supports a structured audit trail by capturing who reported the incident, when it happened, what was observed, and what evidence exists. That structure helps with internal case management and with sharing a consistent summary to law enforcement or a suspicious activity reporting process. It also supports data minimization by focusing on incident facts rather than collecting unrelated personal data.

Common mistakes include leaving out the incident time, using vague suspect descriptions, skipping vehicle direction, and failing to record the transaction or tender details when fraud is involved. Another frequent issue is not linking the report to the correct video clip or case reference, which makes follow-up harder. The best submissions are specific, factual, and complete enough that another reviewer can understand the event without asking for a second explanation.

Yes, you can tailor the fields to match your store layout, local reporting process, and regional legal requirements. For example, some teams may add fields for self-checkout activity, return fraud indicators, or multi-store case linkage. Keep the core structure intact so reports remain consistent across locations and can be compared over time.

Ad-hoc messages are easy to send but hard to search, standardize, and audit later. This template gives every reporter the same fields, which improves consistency, reduces missing details, and makes it easier to hand off a case. It also creates a cleaner record for review, escalation, and evidence retrieval than scattered emails or chat threads.