CITYSAFE PODCAST
The CitySafe Podcast explores how retailers, loss prevention teams, and the people responsible for safety navigate theft, incidents, and risk in environments where what you know, and what you do about it, can carry real legal weight.
Co-hosted by Jim Cords, retired from the federal side, whose career spanned the FBI, DHS, and OIG, and Don Carr, who has owned and operated private security guard companies and architected security systems, the CitySafe Podcast focuses on the space between detection and response, where so much of retail security actually plays out.
The CitySafe Podcast reflects the personal views and opinions of its hosts and is a conversation, not professional advice. Rather than offering tactics or prescriptions, it examines how knowledge, duty, documentation, and the choice to act are understood differently across retail environments, and why the same approach does not protect every operator the same way. Listeners should consult their own qualified professionals on questions of legal liability, operational risk, security, and compliance specific to their circumstances and jurisdictions.
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube Music.
CITYSAFE PODCAST
Latest Episodes
Ep. 40: Plastic Gold · Gift Card Fraud, Card Draining, and Refund Scams
Gift card fraud starts at the rack by your register — card draining, tampered PIN panels, and value that vanishes the moment a customer loads it. Don Carr and Jim Cords break down the schemes: draining crews that treat your store as a distri...
Ep. 39: The Spreadsheet Felony · Organized Retail Crime, Aggregation, and Felony Thresholds
Organized retail crime cases live or die on aggregation — combining thefts to cross the felony threshold — and the discipline comes straight from fraud enforcement, where every case is a loss number built from individual transactions. Don Ca...
Ep. 38: The Loss That Clocks In · Employee Theft Investigations and Interview Liability
A site supervisor, a three-page exception report, and an operator who walked into the room already certain. Don Carr opens with his own near miss and Jim Cords explains why most versions of that story end in a deposition: exception reports t...
Ep. 37: The Letter After the Loss · Shoplifting Civil Demand Letters, Explained
Shoplifting civil demand letters are legal in most states — no conviction required, no proof required up front — and they've built an entire collections industry. Don Carr and Jim Cords explain civil recovery: the volume model, why a signed ...
Ep. 36: The Missed Scan · Self-Checkout Theft, Skip-Scanning, and Wrongful Accusations
Self-checkout theft accusations are colliding with a legal problem: a missed scan proves a missed scan, not intent. Don Carr and Jim Cords break down skip-scanning, wrongful detention claims, and why every honest failure at the kiosk l...