LPRC - CrimeScience – The Weekly Review – Episode 234 Ft. Fred Becker

Episode Date: April 9, 2026

In this episode of the LPRC CrimeScience Podcast, host Dr. Cory Lowe is joined by Fred Becker of Bloomingdale’s, live from the 2026 LPRC IMPACT Conference. A longtime leader and Vice Chair of the BOA Operations Committee, Fred shares insights from over 15 years of shaping IMPACT and advancing retail loss prevention. Tune in for a conversation on leadership, collaboration, and the future of the industry.

Hi everyone and welcome to crime science. In this podcast, we explore the science of crime and the practical application of this science for loss prevention and asset protection practitioners as well as other professionals. Good morning, good afternoon and good evening everyone. Welcome to the crime science podcast. My name is Corey Lowe. I'm the director of research here at the LPRC. We're actually recording at the annual impact conference right now,

and I'm honored to be joined by Fred Becker, Director of Asset Protection at Bloomingdale's. Welcome, Fred. Thank you, Corey. Thank you for having me on the podcast. So, like I said, we're actually at impact. A lot of really great stuff going on here. And you've been a part of this for quite some time.

It's evolved over time. You were around when it was a much smaller organization and a much smaller conference. What do you think that the conference needs to deliver to leaders today? Well, thank you again. Yes, this is over 15 years now being part of the LPRC and watching impact grow over the years has been really exciting. You know, because you really, I think as retailers, we really get so much out of it.

So today, I think, you know, in an ever-evolving environment, you know, the challenges, you know, I think it's, it's, I guess I would think of the word speed, right? So speed to solution because, you know, by time, you know, we're facing the problem solving and putting solutions in place, then there's a new problem. It's faster and faster than we're before. So, you know, I think the challenge for the LPRC, you know, the entire group of retailers, solution providers, manufacturers, the LPRC team is, is how do we move faster trying to identify the problems, come up with solutions, test them with all the right research and science, and then implement, right? So it's like problem after problem, but how fast can we put, that together.

So that's what I think the challenges are in today's environment. Fantastic. Yeah, things are changing very, very rapidly, both on the threat side and then also on the tech side. I've never seen something like this. Now, I need to point something out. You've been around for 15 years. You are a key reason that we have had so much growth and we have evolved over time.

Today you serve as the vice chair of the operations committee on our board of advisors, and you're a huge reason that this has become what it is today. So we're extremely thankful for that. Thank you. Now, you work in luxury department stores, right? There's a very delicate balance that you have to strike between customer experience and product protection and all of that. What do you think is the hardest part about striking that balance correctly? Sure, and it's different. I've worked in non-luxury environments in the past as well.

So, you know, I think the biggest component in the luxury world is customer experience is the first priority. It is the priority. You know, obviously we have to have solutions. There's plenty of bad actors that go after our product in terms. external, and then we, you know, you have the same operational issues that you have other retail business models, but the customer experience is the first, right? Because in luxury, that's part of the selling features, you know, and all touchpoints, by the way, right? From the mobile communication, online, in-store environments, it's customer experience. So the challenge is

thinking outside the box and going an extra level, right? So in some ways, you look for solutions that are most efficient and just drive the bottom line. In the retail luxury environment, you really need to account for first, what is the customer experience? What do they see, feel, touch when they walk in? What are restrictions we could put in place

or what our deterrence we could put in place that minimizes that impact. So it's not about what's the best profitable, most profitable way to reduce shortage or mitigate a safety risk. It's also customer experience first and then working around that. And that's a much more sophisticated approach

to this industry and to this profession. It's one of the things I like so much about laws prevention and asset protection. My background is criminal. and that's really focused on deterring that red guest. But what's so cool about this field is that I have to do that, which there's a lot that you can do, but most of it sacrifices the green guest experience,

the customer experience, the worker experience, all of those things. So it makes the problems a little bit more complex and a little bit more fun than just the crime prevention side of things. Now, you have to work with your partners, you know, You know, the customer experience is the first and foremost concern, right? You have to work with all of your cross-functional partners. That includes operations. How do you keep AP aligned with operations on a weekly basis?

How do you, what routines do you have? What are you doing to make sure that you are on the same page and moving down the same path? That's a good question. And, you know, in my experience, right, you need to have strong relationships with every aspect of the organization, right? From the buying offices to, you know, merchandising and visual and operations and finance. You really, what I love about asset protection or loss prevention is we're deeply ingrained in the business from every aspect. Yes. start to finish and that's why I enjoy it so much.

But to answer your question from an operational standpoint, which we won't have good results unless we're working hand-in-hand or have strong partnerships with operations, I think what that looks like is weekly communication on the same, the two groups need to be on the same page. Operations is looking at efficiency and, see in very task oriented asset protection loss prevention is, you know, in a way, check and balance.

But, you know, we're working together for, we may take different tax sometimes, but we're really looking to solve for the same problems. And really that partnership, when it's strong, you see the best results. Yeah, I think that goes back to your early point about speed. It's very difficult to roll out solutions. You have to do the discovery of solutions that might work within your organization, but then you actually have to get them implemented. And having those partnerships are absolutely critical. Speaking of that, what is the single most effective way that you found to drive the adoption of new technologies, new processes, all of that?

just to go back to the earlier discussion around speed, what do you think that works to overcome those barriers and implement things at scale and with speed? Well, so sometimes the speed part there, when you talk about new technologies, new processes, that sometimes can, you know, hinder you, if you will, and sometimes that's not always the right path. From my experience, when you're introducing something new,

it starts well before the actual implementation. It's very planful in putting together all the different steps on a time and action plan. It's taking the right partners, getting the right buy-in, because there's so many obstacles that can pop up that could change the trajectory of your plan or actually completely eliminate what your plan was. So it starts well before being very organized and prioritized and having that time and action plan. And then when you get to that point of implementation, then the real work begins, right? So now you're very structured and you're taking the partners from an integration standpoint, from an execution standpoint with the right milestones. Where do you want to be by this date?

What are the measurables you want to put in place, all those things? You know, that you have to be careful of not going too fast because then you can fail. Right. So really important to take the right approach when it comes to that. Yeah, you're reminding me of the Navy SEAL quote, slow is smooth and smooth as fast. I think that probably makes a lot of sense here. Now, you've done a lot of.

within your organization. You've done a lot for the LPRC as well. But what is one program that you are proud of within your organization because of the results that it's enabled you to drive? And why do you think it worked so well? You've got to pick one program. Wow, that's a tough one.

They may break the rules and go with more than one. But I'm going to start with, I think, the most important. thing in the program is is our talent management and I'm going to say that you know you get the right people you have the right team that is always developing always being challenged highly engaged motivated understands expectations right you get a high performing team they will drive results you know sometimes I think you know we talk about the program and we talk about expectations that we talk about oh let's let's do this let's implement that how do we get here with our with our goals but if you get the right you spend the time and you develop the

right team they will drive the results right so I spend a lot of my time just on the people side of it and so I think that's the most important that's the thing I'm most proud of is is our team that we've kind of put together I think from a program perspective, you know, our fraud processes continue to evolve in, you know, there's a lot of moving pieces. So we've done some things differently, and I'm, you know, I'm pretty proud of the progress we've made in our fraud mitigation programs. Yeah, and you've got some really awesome people in your fraud team. Very glad to have them highly engaged in the retail fraud working group and all the ways that they contribute. It's just a fantastic great. You've got a fantastic

a group of people. All right. Well, it is fantastic to be here at another impact conference with you, Fred. We are very, very thankful for everything that you do for the LPRC, the amount of time that you commit to our organization, in addition to your duties at Bloomingdale's. You are what makes the LPRC what it is, and we are very, very thankful to you,

and we are thankful to have you on the crime science podcast today. Thank you, Corey. And yes, you know, you get out of it. what you put into it. And, you know, I encourage everyone to participate and continue to grow the LPRC. So it's a pleasure. Great start to impact. And thanks for having me on. Thank you. Thanks for listening to the Crime Science podcast presented by the Loss Prevention Research Council. If you enjoyed today's episode, you can find more crime science episodes and valuable information at LPRsearch.org. The content provided in the

Crime Science Podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for legal, financial, or other advice. Views expressed by guests of the Crime Science podcast are those of the authors and do not reflect the opinions or positions of the Loss Prevention Research Council.