Eighty-one percent of retail companies have been victims of organized retail crime, and nearly half have seen an increase in crime in the past year, according to a National Retail Federation survey of senior loss-prevention executives released last spring. This trend has led the NRF to roll out a new Web-based program allowing retailers to report criminal activity into one system that law enforcement officials can access to better monitor organized crime.

The creator and host of the national program is West Des Moines-based ABC Virtual Communications.

Last month, the NRF announced that LERPnet (Law Enforcement Retail Partnership Network) would be the only organized retail crime database through a partnership with the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

During the year that ABC Virtual has hosted the program, originally called the Retail Loss Prevention Intelligence Network, it was competing with a database created through the RILA. Now, under one system, 40 major retailers with total annual sales of around $350 billion have signed up. The companies participating include Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Sears Holdings Corp. and Limited Brands Inc. This is the largest database ABC Virtual has created, and it has given the company national attention.

“It definitely shows what a technology company in the state of Iowa can do,” said Brad Rasmussen, vice president of professional services at ABC Virtual. “A lot of people don’t look to Iowa to create a retail loss support system. We’re comparable to companies on the East Coast and West Coast, and I’d contend we’re better than those companies.”

Now that there is one system, ABC Virtual expects the number of companies participating will increase. A lot of companies were waiting before they invested in the program, said Albert Baker, who works on business development and software design for ABC Virtual. “They wanted to know for sure if this is the one, because we sure don’t want to go through this twice,” he said.

“The key is getting all the data to a central place so the information is useful,” Rasmussen said.

Companies have recorded about 14,000 incidents, and at least two crimes have been solved using the database, Rasmussen said. In one case, a law enforcement official was able to pull up a company’s report that 400 iPods had been stolen and use that to arrest someone driving a vehicle containing that number of iPods.

If crimes continue to be solved using the database, Rasmussen predicts it could reduce organized retail crime and ultimately reduce the cost that consumers pay for products. Angelica Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the NRF, said the difference between the amount of inventory retailers reported versus what they should have had was $37.4 billion in 2005, the highest amount recorded and the latest figure available.

Though there have been other attempts to create databases to track retail crime in the past, Rodriguez said there has never been a program as comprehensive as this one. The NRF worked for more than two years with retailers, data privacy specialists and technology experts to develop a customized program.

The Web-based program is accessible to retailers who pay a $1,200 annual fee, plus either $200 for a one-user setup or $1,000 for unlimited users. To enter the Web site, the retailer must enter a six-digit code displayed on a personal security device – the code changes every 60 seconds – and a four-digit password.

Once logged in, retailers can record information ranging from basic facts such as the date of the crime and type of incident to the weapons used, the license plate numbers of any vehicles involved and the identification numbers of the stolen products.

Companies also can upload police reports, videos and photos.

One of the most important features for retailers is that they can also choose how much information they want to disclose about themselves, including whether to provide their name.

“Retailing is a very competitive environment,” Rodriguez said, adding that most don’t want their competition to know about their loss.

To make this program easier for retail companies to use, ABC Virtual is working on a way for incidents recorded in the retailers’ systems to automatically transfer to LERPnet, rather than writing two separate reports.

The company is also working on providing law enforcement officials complimentary access to the database through the FBI’s Law Enforcement Only site. In the past, retailers filed criminal reports with their local police departments, which often left officials in other jurisdictions unaware of those crimes. The new database allows users to search for similar incidents and even receive e-mail alerts if a particular incident is put into the system. Users can also search eBay – one of the largest sites where stolen goods are sold, Baker said – to see if products similar to those reported missing are up for auction.

LERPnet’s consolidated database also allows users and the NRF to follow trends, such as which security features seem to prevent crime and which mall locations have the most criminal activity.

Though ABC Virtual had never developed a program for the retail industry before, it has completed several database projects, including one for the Iowa County Recorders Association, which brought all of Iowa’s land records into one searchable database at www.iowalandrecords.org.

Many of the company’s past projects have been for financial services businesses, such as integrating an insurance company’s separate divisions into one site where all its products can be viewed and monitored. It also created a mortgage originator program.

Most technology companies try to be a consultant for businesses, providing information technology support staff. However, Rasmussen said ABC Virtual seeks project-based work, where it works with a company to create a program that solves a problem and develops a long-term relationship with the client. ABC Virtual is “providing a soup-to-nuts solution,” Baker said.

ABC Virtual has been in business for 11 years.

“That says we’re doing something right,” Rasmussen said, “especially for a technology company in the state of Iowa.”

The company expects exposure from the April announcement of its LERPnet system to open opportunities with other trade associations and companies. But for now it is focused on getting the law enforcement connection up and then looking to upgrade the system.

Rodriguez said in the future the program could be expanded to deal with such problems as cargo theft and mall security.

“It’s an industry-changing event,” she said, “We’re hoping to get retailers in there and actively involved right now.”