Smash-and-Grab Squads
How US looting rings organize online as police are defunded

Big city residents are waking up to the robbery and violence running rampant wherever police departments have been defunded across America.

These are not independent looters but organized criminals, coordinated by crime bosses through social media where the "foot soldiers" are guided to the most profitable and vulnerable stores and the most easily fenced and profitable products.

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta says it is going to take a new "organized strategy" to stop such organized criminal activity, but many critics are saying that such a strategy once existed in the form of something called "police departments" that have been defunded in places like LA. Bonta, himself, helped organize the "police the police" movement in California.

Appointed by California Governor Gavin Newsom in April 2021, Bonta was noted by Politico as having "routinely been at odds with law enforcement." He was celebrated as a "groundbreaking pick" by those in California who wanted to defund police departments back in 2020. During his tenure, many criminals have been given "get-out-of-jail-free" cards to reduce prison populations during the pandemic, while "jail-or-bail" was also eliminated for suspects awaiting trial.

Snap and grab

According to police, the most popular app used to organize flash mobs for "smash-and-grab" raids is Snapchat, though Snap Inc. says they have found no evidence that their app is being used for that purpose, and promoting harm via Snapchat would be a violation of its terms of service.

The way it works is that, someone posts a target and a time on social media. Then a flash mob of loosely organized thieves shows up to steal the loot. Beyond that, officials are keeping details about how the criminals find each other on social media quiet so as not to help others join the mobs. The law-enforcement officer who pointed out the use of Snapchat did speculate that some who use it for their crimes may favor that app because its posts disappear for good within seconds.

Similar crime sprees have been happening in the defunded cities of Chicago and Minneapolis, and Bay Area police say crimes of this type first emerged during the Minneapolis George Floyd riots when 70 new cars were stolen from a San Leandro, California Dodge dealership on May 31, 2020. rt.com

The ORC Fight: Big Tech vs. Brick-and-Mortar Retailers
Traditional retail, big tech spar over retail theft, online fencing of stolen goods
The massive generational fight over America's retail customers was on display in a House committee this week as name-brand brick-and-mortar retailers sparred with their rivals among the giants of online retail.

At issue was House Bill 1614, which is aimed at reducing organized shoplifting of retail goods that later wind up for sale by third-party sellers on Amazon, eBay, and other online marketplaces.

The use of those platforms as online fences is especially galling to traditional retailers who have already seen much of their business flow online and many of their physical customers transformed into non-buying browsers checking out goods to buy online later.

Scott Glenn, Home Depot's vice president of asset protection, said the company's 66 facilities in Washington are routinely targeted by organized shoplifters who steal items including wire, power tools, and home automation equipment that swiftly wind up for sale online.

The bill would require online marketplaces to obtain and verify banking, contact, and tax information from high-volume third-party sellers and disclose some of that information to consumers. Consumers would get a mechanism to report suspicious activity and the attorney general's office would get enforcement authority under the Consumer Protection Act. Wal-Mart, Walgreens, and the Washington Retail Association all testified in favor.

House Consumer Protection & Business Chair Steve Kirby, who sponsored the bill with an impressively bipartisan group of 10 co-sponsors, said he modeled it after a proposal before Congress that has support from many of the parties involved. But that didn't stop some tech industry voices from casting shade.

"HB1614 would make small online sellers collateral damage in Wal-Mart's battle against Amazon,'' said Montana Williams, Director of State and Local Public Policy for the Chamber of Progress, an advocacy group funded by Amazon, Google, Meta, and other tech giants. Williams both dismissed the problem as insignificant and anecdotal3 and urged lawmakers to defer to Congress. (Amazon itself did not testify.) washingtonstatewire.com

Stores Deploying Anti-Theft Technology
Overhead RFID Retail Solution Provides Shrink Reduction, Analytics

Stores are deploying technology from Sensormatic and Impinj to identify any products being removed, with alerting and analytics to prevent theft in real time or through merchandising strategies.

Retailers in several North American and Asia-Pacific countries have been deploying a solution released this year by retail technology company Sensormatic Solutions, which employs overhead RFID technology to capture details regarding goods being removed from stores, without requiring visible pedestals or gates.

The solution, known as RFID Overhead 360°, leverages Sensormatic's TrueVUE software and cloud-based server, with an Impinj xSpan gateway mounted in the ceiling to provide stores with electronic article surveillance (EAS) for loss prevention, as well as shrink visibility and analytics. In that way, the company reports, retailers can better understand shrink events taking place and manage inventory accordingly.

The solution is designed to deliver data required to trigger alarms in real time, according to Ashley Burkle, Impinj's director of business development, with the xSpan UHF RFID gateway. However, Sensormatic's shrink visibility analytics software also provides loss insights in real time about goods being removed from a store, whether as a single shoplifting event, organized retail crime or employee theft. rfidjournal.com

Retail Shooting Prompts LAPD Policy Review
LAPD will examine policies following death of teen inside Burlington store, Chief Moore says

"Our review will also include an examination of our policies, training, and protocols involved in this shooting," he said.

Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore along with the L.A. Board of Police Commissioners, the five civilians who oversee the police department, vowed to conduct a thorough investigation into the death of the 14-year-old girl shot and killed inside a Burlington store when an officer fired at a suspect and a bullet pierced a wall.

"I am profoundly sorry for the loss of this young girl's life, and I know there's no words that can relieve the unimaginable pain for the family," Moore said on Tuesday. "My commitment is to conduct a thorough, complete, and transparent investigation into the circumstances that led up to this tragedy and provide the family and the public with as much information as possible. Additionally, our review will also include an examination of our policies, training, and protocols involved in this shooting with an eye towards what can be done to avoid such a terrible accident in the future."

Valentina Orellana Peralta was shot in the back on Dec. 23. The teen and her mother were in the fitting room of the North Hollywood Burlington store. One round went through the dry wall, hitting the teenager. The LAPD was responding to calls of a man with a gun, but the 24-year-old suspect who was also shot and killed by police didn't have a gun. He was armed with a bike lock.

"Every aspect will be evaluated, from the incident's first call to its devastating ending," said William Briggs, the current president of the police commission. "As with all investigations, if the use of deadly force is found to be out of policy, there will be accountability."

"The department ended 2021 with a total of 37 officer-involved shootings resulting in the death of 18 individuals," said Moore. "This is a comparison to 27 instances in 2020 and seven fatalities. In our initial analysis of this past year's shootings, we noticed a significant increase in instances involving weapons other than firearms."  abc7.com

Anti-Crime Legislation Aimed at ORC
Illinois House Speaker Emanuel 'Chris' Welch vows to pass anti-crime package
Illinois' top House Democrat Tuesday predicted passage of an anti-crime package aimed at confronting alarming rises in carjackings and organized retail thefts and possibly disarming Republicans of a potent election-year talking point.

On the crime issue, the Hillside Democrat didn't divulge details of what would be in the measure but said his party intends to push back against GOP portrayals that Democrats have been soft on crime.

"One of the messages that we're going to send out loud and clear this session is that we believe that if you do the crime, you should do the time," he said. "We believe that police should be properly funded and trained and educated. But it's going to take us all working together to make sure that we bring this violence down."

Another brazen crime that has been striking North Michigan Avenue and suburban shopping malls are groups of intruders entering stores and grabbing up expensive items en masse and leaving.

Welch said he has been in contact with the Illinois Retail Merchants Association about how to confront the rising prevalence of organized retail theft, but neither he nor the organization would divulge specifics of possible legislation.

Welch said he is not open to delaying an end to cash bail as part of any anti-crime initiatives this spring. wbez.org

Theft-Driven Recession Coming?
Crime will create a 'recession of unprecedented proportions,' retail expert warns

Rising crime will only worsen the 'proverbial retail wasteland,' Burt Flickinger said

While reacting to continued supply chain disruptions and empty shelves across America, Strategic Resource Group Managing Director Burt Flickinger warned that organized crime and thefts will only worsen the "proverbial retail wasteland" shoppers are seeing now.

"It is a proverbial retail wasteland... People can't get their prescriptions filled at Duane Reade because of limited availability of workers and security," Flickinger said. "Crime is going to create a recession of unprecedented proportions between workers not being able to work, shoppers not being able to shop and retailers not being able to sell." foxbusiness.com

Crime is on Every State's Agenda
Colorado Legislature Plans to Tackle Rising Crime & Costs
The Colorado Legislature reconvened Wednesday for its 2022 session with both Democrats and Republicans promising legislation to tackle the state's rise in crime, among other issues.

US: 64.3M Cases - 866.8K Dead - 42.8M Recovered
Worldwide: 317.8M Cases - 5.5M Dead - 263M Recovered

Former Senior Loss Prevention Executive
Know of any fallen LP exec? Let's remember & recognize.

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 341   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 602
*Red indicates change in total deaths

Top 10 States Ranked by COVID Cases

Deaths Rise as Omicron Surges
COVID deaths are climbing as cases skyrocket
Daily COVID infections have more than doubled over the past two weeks, reaching an average of more than 760,000 new infections per day in the U.S.

COVID deaths are also on the rise, up from about 1,200 per day two weeks ago to an average of over 1,700 per day now. The toll is a reminder that while Omicron is not as deadly as past variants, it's still a serious threat for vulnerable people.

Relative to its population, Rhode Island has the country's biggest COVID outbreak, with an average of more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents. Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York each have more than 350 cases per 100,000 people.

The pace of COVID deaths may continue to rise over the coming weeks. Compared to previous variants, Omicron appears to kill a much smaller proportion of the people it infects. But cities that were hit with early Omicron surges still saw increases in COVID deaths, lagging a few weeks behind their spikes in cases, per the New York Times. axios.com

Corporate Staff Filling in For Sick Store Associates
Overwhelmed Supermarkets Cut Hours, Services as Omicron Infects Workers

Some grocers tap corporate employees, use temporary employment agencies to keep stores open

Some U.S. supermarkets are reducing hours and cutting services as Covid-19's Omicron variant infects cashiers, baggers and stockers, deepening grocery chains' staffing challenges.

Across the country, supermarket workers are calling out sick after contracting Covid-19 or getting exposed to the virus, executives and employees said, prompting retailers to manage operations with fewer workers, while shopper demand for groceries remains high. Some grocers said they are hiring new employees, using temporary employment agencies and overscheduling available staffers to keep stores open, though some said they worry about continued pressure on their workers.

Giant Eagle Inc. has avoided closing any of its approximately 470 stores during the Omicron surge by adjusting hours and sending staff from its corporate office near Pittsburgh to help fill in at supermarkets, according to Vic Vercammen, the company's chief compliance officer, who leads its pandemic response. The regional grocery chain has seen a rise in employee Covid-19 cases that mirrors the area's case numbers, he said.

At Piggly Wiggly stores in Alabama and Georgia, managers are overscheduling workers under the assumption that some staffers aren't going to make it in, said Keith Milligan, the controller of the 17-store chain. The company, which is a franchisee of New Hampshire-based Piggly Wiggly LLC, has also hired people from temporary agencies to work in its warehouses that receive and store products before they reach the store shelves.

Supermarkets have struggled with hiring and retaining workers during the pandemic. Executives have said unemployment benefits and federal stimulus checks made it harder to find people willing to work at their stores. Some executives and store workers have said fears of working in public and potentially spreading or contracting Covid-19 are keeping potential employees out of the job market. Employee advocates have said that even with government payments, many hourly workers are still struggling. wsj.com

Using Tech to Help Retail Workers Cope During the Pandemic
Retail Associates, Other Frontline Workers Want Tech Tools, But Fear They Won't Adapt Fast Enough
Nurses, waiters, factory employees and other frontline workers are struggling mightily in the pandemic and want better technology to help them cope. Yet they fear they may lose their jobs if they can't master the new tools fast enough, according to a survey from Microsoft Corp.

Technology is the No. 3 item workers said can help reduce their stress and become more effective, after better wages and paid time off. Microsoft found that frontline workers want technology that automates tasks, provides remote assistance and helps communicate with colleagues. About one-third of employees and managers said they don't have the right tools to work effectively. Even when those types of tools are provided, 55% said they hadn't received formal training on how to use them and 46% fear it may cost their jobs if they don't adapt quickly to the new technology.

The conclusions come from Microsoft's latest Work Trend Index report. While earlier efforts looked at office workers who have largely been able to do their jobs from home in the pandemic, the report released Wednesday surveyed 9,600 employees and managers in eight countries who work in stores, hospitals, restaurants and factories.

"Frontline workers are the face of your business," Kristina Behr, Microsoft's vice president of product management for frontline workers and industry, said in a statement. "Making sure that they are empowered and equipped with the optimal tools is vitally important for success. If it's frustrating for you to use the tools, your whole job is frustrating." finance.yahoo.com

COVID Fuels 'Serial Returners'
How COVID and free shipping made overbuying the new norm

Easy returns have encouraged what retail analysts call bracketing - buying multiples of an item in different sizes or styles and returning what doesn't work.

While January has always been send-it-back season, COVID-19 has supersized the trend. Of the record $222 billion Americans spent on online holiday purchases this season, 30%, or nearly $67 billion, will be sent back, according to CBRE, a commercial real estate firm that also focuses on retail logistics. That's a 13% increase versus 2020 and 40% versus 2019.

That extra load is causing friction for shippers, many of which were already struggling with staffing shortages amid the pandemic.

It's also pressuring retailers, especially smaller brick-and-mortar shops that went online to survive COVID but often can't afford the generous return policies popularized by mega-players like Amazon and Walmart.

"If we paid all the shipping costs and then we have to pay to have that item returned and then we have to pay additionally to send a new item ... it's not sustainable," says Brittney Geleynse of Clover Toys in Ballard, which, like many smaller retailers, has had to scrutinize its return policy as its internet sales have bloomed.

In some ways, this year's return surge is a story about the ill-timed arrival of omicron, which pushed many holiday shoppers away from brick-and-mortar retail and toward e-commerce, experts say. But it's also a story about the way consumers now use e-commerce to hedge their bets. dallasnews.com

Firing Unvaccinated Workers
Nike is preparing to fire some unvaccinated staff at its corporate headquarters, reports say

Nike will reportedly fire a group of unvaccinated corporate workers this weekend.

According to local news site Oregon Live, Nike - one of the largest employers in the area - sent an email to impacted workers this week informing them that they will be fired on Saturday for failing to get vaccinated in time.

"You failed to complete the verification process and our records show that you do not have an approved (exemption). As a result, you are not in compliance with the Policy and your employment is scheduled to be terminated on Saturday, January 15, 2022," the sports giant wrote in an email to staff, according to Oregon Live.

Two impacted employees told Oregon Life that some workers had refused to be vaccinated because they objected to corporate mandates. Others did so for religious reasons, they said.

Nike introduced its vaccine mandate in October, requiring all corporate workers to be fully vaccinated in preparation for its office reopenings in January. Last month, it delayed the reopening of its corporate offices because of the rise in COVID-19 cases in the US. businessinsider.com

Dozens of Walmart Stores Temporarily Close
Walmart continues to temporarily close stores for COVID cleaning
Walmart continues to temporarily close stores for COVID cleaning across the United States this month. Two stores recently closed near St. Louis and others closed in Washington, Texas, Delaware, New Jersey, and Georgia.

Reuters reports that the company closed nearly 60 stores in COVID hotspots temporarily in December. This was before the virus surged to unprecedented levels in the United States.

The company-wide effort is to slow the spread of the virus. The company adopted the policy in 2020 to close stores for fewer than two days to get ahead of potential outbreaks.

There are over 4,700 Walmart locations across the United States. It is not clear what criteria the company is using to choose stores to clean. Walmart references COVID trends from the CDC in statements about store closures. But, 99 percent of locations in the United States are now in the red, meaning virus transmission is high. fox2now.com

'2020 All Over Again'
COVID-related supply chain issues to blame for empty store shelves, grocers say

Shoppers express concern about the lack of availability as they prepare to stock up for winter weather.

The possibility of an incoming winter storm Sunday has some shoppers in the D.C. area worried they may not be able to stock up the way they are used to. There are already empty shelves in grocery stores all over the region, according to grocers, and hundreds of shoppers who shared photos of bare shelves with WUSA9.

Shoppers said chicken, eggs and many produce items were among those that are all but missing from their favorite stores.

"The prolonged pandemic and last week's weather has caused continued strain on our supply chain," Giant Spokesman Dan Wolk said. The Maryland Retailers Association spokesperson, Caily Locklair, added that COVID's ongoing impact on workforces and a nationwide shortage of truckers is not helping weather delays. wusa9.com

Sending in the Military
Biden deploying military medical staff to help overwhelmed hospitals
President Biden on Thursday will announce a "surge" deployment of military medical personnel to support hospitals currently dealing with a spike of COVID-19 cases largely driven by the Omicron variant, a White House official said.

Driving the news: Omicron's surge in cases has led to a "high number of total hospitalizations," and hospitals are having to treat "more and more patients in the midst of staffing challenges and faced with a highly transmissible virus that does not spare our health care workers," CDC director Rochelle Walensky said on Wednesday.

Starting next week, 1,000 military personnel will be sent to hospitals in six states - New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, Michigan and New Mexico. That is in addition to the over 800 military and other emergency personnel who have been deployed to 24 states since Thanksgiving, "including over 350 military doctors, nurses and medics helping staff hospitals," a White House official said. axios.com

Starbucks is closing all its dining rooms in Cleveland as COVID-19 cases rise

Minneapolis, St. Paul to require vaccine proof to get into bars, restaurants

Republican-backed bills in Wisconsin Legislature would ban vaccine mandates

Biden announces 500 million more tests will be purchased for Americans

Thousands of Kroger Employees on Strike
More than 8,000 Kroger workers in Denver have gone on strike demanding better pay, benefits, and working conditions

About 8,400 unionized workers at Kroger's King Soopers stores in Denver went on strike on Wednesday.

Around 8,400 supermarket workers at Kroger's King Soopers stores in Denver went on strike Wednesday to demand better pay, benefits, and working conditions.

The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 union, which represents King Soopers workers in Colorado, is planning to strike for three weeks until February 2, the union said in a statement emailed to Insider.

The unionized workers are striking over labor practices, which they say include low wages, unfair health benefits, and an unsafe work environment, the UFCW said in an emailed statement. Kroger tried to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement with the UFCW this week, offering a starting pay of $16 per hour and more healthcare benefits.

The union refused the supermarket operator's final offer on Tuesday, saying the company didn't respond to its requests regarding salaries, benefits, and safety issues.

Kroger told the publication that it was keeping its stores in Denver open, and it had hired temporary staff to help out. Employees from other parts of the US have traveled to the city to fill the gaps, Kroger told the Journal. businessinsider.com

Largest Hiring Drop Since 2016
Holiday hiring in retail dropped 7%
Seasonal retail jobs dropped 7% from October through December, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas's analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The drop was the largest since 2016, when hiring fell nearly 9.6%.

"The onslaught of COVID cases, the difficulty parents are having securing child care, the sheer availability of jobs kept many from taking retail roles," Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement.

Retailers complained of worker shortages well before the industry headed into a holiday season predicted to set records for spending. What few, if any, could have predicted going into the season was the introduction of the omicron COVID-19 variant and its wildfire-like spread across the U.S.

At just over 684,000, the number seasonal jobs fell short of Challenger's previous projections of 700,000 jobs for the season. Both the expected and the actual number are below last year's 736,300 seasonal retail jobs for the season. Meanwhile, early data shows that consumer spending increased from last year, meaning there were far fewer staffers to handle more sales during the season. retaildive.com

Malls Still Alive & Kicking
Mall owner leased more space in 2021 than it did in the previous five years

If malls are dying, why are so many new tenants taking space in them?

PREIT, an owner of regional and super-regional malls in the eastern half of the United States, reported that it had executed transactions for 1.2 million sq. ft. of space in 2021. That's its highest leasing total of GLA in five years and nearly three times as much as it leased in 2019, according to an assessment from the Philadelphia-based company.

Several of the new tenants were first-to-market or first-to-regional-malls, such as the new Aldi supermarket at Dartmouth Mall in Dartmouth, Mass. Other new tenants signed by PREIT last year included Peloton and Purple at Cherry Hill Mall and Power Warehouse at Cumberland Mall in New Jersey, as well as Rose & Remington and Offline by Aerie at Woodland Mall in Michigan.

PREIT noted that eight million customers visited PREIT malls in November and December 2021, a 25% increase over 2020, and that sales per sq. ft. hit across its portfolio hit a record $590 in November. chainstoreage.com

Batteries Plus to open 55 stores in 2022

J.C. Penney Names Two Retail Veterans to Boost Digital Efforts

How Macy's set out to conquer the department store business - and lost