Auror 10 event recap: celebrating 10 years of Auror in New Zealand

On November 28, 2024, Auror celebrated 10 years of working with retailers and police in New Zealand. From four stores in West Auckland in 2014 to 40,000 stores and 250,000 users worldwide in 2024, Auror has come a long way.

More than 150 people attended the event, with Auror partners, team, and overseas guests in attendance. The lineup included speakers sharing insights on retail crime from around the world, a fireside chat with New Zealand Police, a product showcase, and the Supreme Hero Awards recognising the invaluable work of the Auror community.

Here are some key takeaways from the day:

‍Proactive technology is the future of loss prevention

One of the most resounding themes at the event was the importance of proactive technologies in the future of loss prevention (LP). Equally emphasised was the ethics of this technology, ensuring they strike the right balance between improving safety and security while protecting privacy and civil liberties.

‍Community and collaboration are essential to stopping crime

Technology on its own without the people and teamwork behind it makes for a far less impactful tool. This sentiment was repeated throughout the event by speakers and guests alike. Working together, sharing intelligence, and trusting each other in the pursuit of a shared goal make using a Retail Crime Intelligence platform worthwhile.

New Zealand Police Senior Liaison Officer Bruce O’Brien stated during his fireside chat that, “Police cannot do our job without community support.” Whether that’s witnessing and reporting crimes, collecting evidence, sharing that evidence to police, and more, the people on the frontlines are vital to helping reduce and prevent crime and loss in retail stores and the wider community.

“At the end of the day, Police can’t operate without the support of communities, and that’s no different with the retail community,” O’Brien said.

‍Building resilience in the face of retail crime takes a multifaceted approach

Across the board, speakers and guests reiterated how retail crime, and crime in general, continues to become more violent. On top of a continued escalation in severity, there is the added sense of entitlement of offenders who act as if they have impunity. 

Experiencing this every day is bound to take a toll and one question that was asked to every speaker was: “How do you build resilience in your teams?”

Answers varied, but there was a single constant: there is no “secret sauce” to building resilience and looking after your teams’ mental and physical wellbeing. It needs a varied approach, with some examples given including:

• Access to mental health support services
• Various opportunities for workplace training
• Helping teams adapt their mindsets on what qualifies as helpful

For example, Briscoe Group Loss Prevention Manager Nathan Breed shared a number of taglines used within their organization, such as “See something, do something”. This means just because they might see someone leave their store with stolen items doesn’t mean they can’t do anything about it after the fact, such as reporting the incident in the Auror platform.

‍Celebrate the wins

The theme of Auror 10 was “Connection, Curiosity, Celebration” and the event truly embraced the “Celebration” part with Trailblazer Awards during the day and Supreme Hero Awards in the evening.

The Trailblazer acknowledgements were handed out to the early adopters of Auror’s platform, who have championed the platform at their organisations from the very beginning. The Supreme Hero Awards celebrates the work and wins of individuals and organisations within the Auror community.

New Zealand Minister of Police Mark Mitchell opened the Supreme Hero Awards portion of the event and helped present the awards to the winners too. Here were the finalists and winners:

Retail Newcomer of the Year
Manurewa Business Association
Sephora - WINNER
Coupland’s
Kings Plant Barn
Newmarket Business Association

Up and Coming in Loss Prevention
Grayson Walker, Farmers
Pete Evans, Foodstuffs South Island
Morgan Henare, Woolworths
Tom Libby, Bunnings - WINNER

‍Retail Community Champion: Doug Rawson, Woolworths

Loss Prevention Hero of the Year
Mike Hulme, The Warehouse Group
Glenn Sinclair, Mitre 10
Carolynne Ball, Foodstuffs North Island - WINNER
Nathan Breed, Briscoe Group

Law Enforcement Innovator
‍Rosie Salt, New Zealand Police
Zac McKay, New Zealand Police
Grant Tetzlaff, New Zealand Police - WINNER

‍Law Enforcement Champion: Matt Tierney

Fuelling Innovation
Mobil
BP - WINNER
Z Energy 

Outstanding Impact in Retail
The Warehouse Group - WINNER
Chemist Warehouse
Briscoe Group
Woolworths

What a remarkable experience the past decade has been. Will you join us for the next leg of the journey?