'Improving Federal Investigations of Organized Retail Crime Act'
Bipartisan legislation targets organized retail crimes

A group of lawmakers recently introduced a bill that seeks to aid in addressing organized retail crimes.

U.S. Reps. Young Kim (R-CA), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Maria Salazar (R-FL), and Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) recently detailed the Improving Federal Investigations of Organized Retail Crime Act (H.R. 316). The measure incorporates the efforts of the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Postal Service, among others.

“In my district, we see businesses victimized by organized retail crime nearly every week,” Kim said. “This cannot become our new normal. I am proud to lead the Improving Federal Investigations of Organized Retail Crime Act to boost information sharing between the federal government, state and local law enforcement, and entities to address organized retail crime and hold these criminal networks accountable.”

The legislation seeks to increase collaboration with retailers, organized retail crime associations, and state-run retail crime task forces while aiding state and local authorities in compiling evidence for organized retail crime prosecution.

“Protecting our residents and businesses is key to Orange County’s economic success, and organized retail crime is a threat to that stability,” said Orange County Business Council President and CEO Jeff Ball. “Orange County Business Council is proud to support Rep. Kim’s continued focus on finding common sense solutions at the federal level that will make an impact to retailers locally.”

South Orange County Economic Coalition Executive Director Victoria Hernandez said organized retail crime threatens the safety and the economy of South County communities.

“The South Orange County Economic Coalition is proud to support Rep. Kim’s dedicated work to improve the federal response to these criminal acts so Orange County’s entrepreneurs can operate securely and confidently,” Hernandez said. financialregnews.com  foxnews.com

   Read Rep. Young Kim's press release here


The Great Debate Over America's 'National Shoplifting Crisis'
Stores say shoplifting is a national crisis. Do the numbers back it up?
Companies say these incidents have led to a spike in merchandise losses, known as shrink. The metric incorporates inventory losses caused by external theft, including organized retail crime, employee theft, human errors, vendor fraud, damaged or mismarked items and other losses.

But the retail industry’s own figures on shrink cast doubt on their claim that the problem is ballooning. Researchers say retailers may be blaming theft for losses when they don’t actually know the cause.

Shrink is an “issue where you’ve got a problem, but there’s no way to know exactly where the losses are coming from,” said Richard Hollinger, a retired professor of sociology and criminology at the University of Florida, who studies retail losses and launched the retail industry’s first annual security survey in the early 1990s.

The average shrink rate as a percentage of sales dropped to 1.4% in 2021 from 1.6% in 2020, according to the latest NRF survey. That number has hovered around 1.4% for more than a decade.

Whatever the numbers say, though, retailers maintain that organized retail crime has gotten worse.

Retailers, on average, saw a 26.5% increase in organized retail crime incidents nationally in 2021 from the prior year, according to the NRF survey. Organized retail crime typically refers to large-scale retail theft and fraud by groups of professional shoplifters who conspire to steal and resell stolen merchandise.

Companies and law enforcement experts say the growth of online shopping has allowed criminals to quickly find ways resell stolen merchandise on online marketplaces like Amazon. Retailers have pushed legislation during the pandemic that would crack down on websites reselling stolen goods.

Organized retail crime is just one component of retailers’ inventory losses. It’s not the largest and is a lower percentage of overall shrink than it was five years ago, according to the NRF surveys.

The NRF estimates that organized retail crime costs companies an average of just 7 cents for every $100 in sales. cnn.com


More Big City Crime Closures
Nike closing downtown Seattle store amid crime wave

Seattle saw a 23% increase in fatal shootings in 2022

A downtown Nike store is shuttering its doors, marking an end to the storefront’s decades-long presence in Seattle amid a sharp spike in violent crime and a homelessness crisis. "We look forward to serving you at Nike.com," according to a sign posted in the Sixth Avenue and Pike Street Nike store window reads.

The store has been a downtown staple since it opened in 1996, but after the pandemic and rising crime, the shoe giant has switched gears announcing that they will be closing their doors along with other Seattle stores, like Starbucks, Seattle Credit Union, and a host of local small businesses.

Seattle has been dealing with a violent crime spike in recent years, including a 23% increase in fatal shootings in 2022. The city is also contending with issues of homelessness, drug use and cratering foot traffic stemming from the pandemic.

"For several years, retailers have been evaluating changing needs for space and scale. We’ve seen that in urban areas since before the pandemic. We never like to see a downtown retailer choose to close and Niketown has been a great part of our retail mix through the years." Downtown Seattle Association (DSA) said in a statement. "We are excited about several newcomers who have opened their doors in recent months with more on the way. To help foster their success we need to ensure a safe and welcoming environment, something that’s been improving in downtown and is top of mind for our city leaders."

Nike is following several other downtown businesses that have recently closed, including multiple Starbucks locations which also left over increasing crime in the area. Starbucks, which is based out of Seattle, closed at least six Starbucks locations in the city over safety concerns in 2022.

The Seattle Credit Union also shut down branches in the city due to crime and cratering foot traffic. foxbusiness.com

   RELATED: Seattle business owners 'begging for help' from government amid crisis


Chicago's Robbery Surge in the News
Little Village volunteers step up to protect street vendors from robberies
Volunteers are stepping up in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood to watch out for street vendors after an increase in robberies.

"Those are easy targets. They don't have a voice, but they do have us and we are going to make these people know they have people that protects them," said Angel Valdes, Brown Beret volunteer.

Valdes is a machine operator by day and took a vacation Wednesday to patrol 26th Street early this morning as a Brown Beret, an organization he describes as an activist group to serve and protect the community. He is also a Little Village resident.

"We need a lot of volunteers until the city and mayor come up with a plan to do a permanent protection for," he said.

Kristian Armendariz is a community organizer with the Little Village Community Council. He and some other council members have been getting up early to make it safer for the street vendors.

"It's providing a sense of protection, of vigilance, so they can go on with their day to day business and provide food on the table for their families," he said.

The council is looking for more people to help. Council organizers hope more people will volunteer to support the vendors and deter crime. abc7chicago.com


Putting NYC Criminals Back on the Streets
Justice ‘reforms’ forcing prosecutors to toss out 69% of NYC criminal cases, alarming new study finds
A controversial new evidence law has led to big surges in the number of cases that prosecutors are being forced to drop across the Big Apple — fueling crime by putting suspected bad guys back on the streets without ever having to face justice, a new study obtained by The Post reveals.

The rate at which cases were dismissed citywide rose from 44% in 2019 — the year new “discovery” rules were adopted by state lawmakers — to 69% by mid-October 2021, the Manhattan Institute finds in the report, set for release Thursday.

For misdemeanor cases, the increase was even more dramatic, jumping from 49% to 82% during the same period, according to official data cited by the conservative think tank.

“The statute, therefore, has correlated with a devastating rise in crime and a drop in arrests,” author and former NYPD analyst Hannah Meyers wrote.

“In New York City, adult felony arrests fell by 14% between 2019 and 2021, while NYC shootings rose by 102% and murders rose by over 51%.”

The study blamed the alarming situation on the “clerical burden” imposed on prosecutors who must “assemble and redact limitless…documents and videos” for defense lawyers as part of the legal process called “discovery.” nypost.com


Law Enforcement Departments Nationwide Fighting Retail Crime
KCSO: 473 people arrested or cited during 2022 holiday retail crime taskforce
The Knox County Sheriff's Office said that their Organized Retail Crime Holiday Taskforce arrested or cited 473 people from October 2022 to Dec. 31, 2022 — down from the previous year.

They said last year, they arrested or cited 513 people and found $445,113 in merchandise.

This year, they said they recovered or seized around $365,000 in stolen items or funds. They also said the task force found many narcotics, including around 1.08 kilograms of fentanyl and several hundred pressed fentanyl pills. They also said they found 2.63 kilograms of methamphetamine.

Last year, they said they found around 5 lbs. of heroin and 10 lbs. of methamphetamine. They said Organized Retail Crime Unit operates throughout the year. The task force includes that unit, as well as other deputies and detectives. wbir.com


Can we stop mass shootings?
An FBI expert explains how mass shooter warning signs can be missed, and what we can do about it.

Virginia lawmakers consider gun purchase waiting period after Walmart mass shooting

How States Are Using Red Flag Laws to Try to Avert Mass Shootings

US: 103.6M Cases - 1.1M Dead - 100.6M Recovered
Worldwide: 672.1M Cases - 6.7M Dead - 643.6M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 362   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 828

A Better Covid Winter
Covid hospitalizations have not surged so far this season
Some of the worst days of Covid in the U.S. have come as winters have settled in, and surges led hospitals to overflow and caused hundreds of thousands of deaths.

A comparable surge has yet to materialize on a similar timeline this winter. By now, hospitalizations in particular would have started to sharply rise. Instead, data suggests that more of a Covid bump than a surge has emerged. Recent hospitalization figures are much lower than the past, largest surges.

There is some geographic variation. Covid hospitalizations have risen more quickly in the Northeast and South in recent weeks, potentially driven by a new Omicron subvariant. But even there, hospitalization levels are closer to the summer increase caused by the Delta variant in 2021 than to the following winter surge caused by the Omicron variant. Some Western states are reporting among their lowest hospitalization rates since the pandemic began.

After years of winter surges, the absence of one translates to potentially tens of thousands fewer deaths and is worth celebrating, even if it ends up being a temporary reprieve. Today’s newsletter will look at the lack of a winter surge so far and what that means for Covid’s future. nytimes.com


The Pandemic Gun Sale Surge Has Peaked
Gun companies reckon with declining demand after pandemic surge

Firearm sales, which soared to unprecedented levels in 2020 and 2021, are falling toward pre-pandemic levels.

Gunmakers saw top-line benefits in recent years as Americans experienced feelings of insecurity and instability during the pandemic, protests over police killings of unarmed Black people, and the 2020 presidential election. But the past year has seen gun sales fall precipitously as demand wanes.

“These decreases are attributable to decreased consumer demand for firearms from the unprecedented levels of the surge that began in 2020 and remained for most of 2021,” CEO Christopher Killoy said of Sturm, Ruger’s November financials during an earnings call.

New gun ownership, as measured by the number of background checks for gun purchases, rose to 21 million in 2020, an all-time high for the industry, according to trade group National Shooting Sports Foundation. In 2019, that number had been just 13 million.

In 2021, background checks for gun purchases totaled 18.5 million, the industry’s second-biggest year. In 2022, they totaled 16.4 million. cnbc.com


$213B in Lost Work Hours During COVID
Pandemic Took Heavy Toll on Productivity

IBI’s analysis estimates that the cost associated with the loss of work hours is $213.1 billion for 2020 and 2021.

While debate still continues about the productivity level of employees during the pandemic, when looking strictly at the lost number of hours during this time, the picture becomes more clear.

The Integrated Benefits Institute (IBI), a nonOK, wprofit research and educational organization focused on workforce health and productivity, analyzed data from the US Current Population Survey to estimate the number of lost hours attributed to the pandemic, and the cost associated with the loss of work hours.

The cost associated with the loss of work hours is $213.1 billion ($167.4 billion in the first year and $45.7 billion in the second year).

And the number of lost hours attributed to the pandemic was 6.6 billion hours (5.2 billion in the first year and 1.4 billion in the second year). ehstoday.com


GOP introduces ‘Pandemic Is Over’ act after Biden’s extension of COVID emergency

Florida governor calls for permanent ban on COVID mask and vaccine mandates
 

DOJ Pushes FBI Crime Index Participation - Better Stats - Accurate Crime Trends

DOJ AAG Urges Mayors at U.S. Conference to Ensure PD's Are NIBRS Compliant
After Over $120M in Grants to PD's - 33% are Still Not Reporting Crime Stats

This year, law enforcement agency participation in submitting all crime statistics to the FBI fell 22%.

Because 2021 was the first year the FBI relied exclusively on the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) for receiving crime data, including hate crimes data, from our state and local partners.

NIBRS is significantly better than the prior system — it collects substantially more detailed data for each individual criminal incident, and it provides a richer and more complete picture of all crime nationwide, including hate crimes. Better data means a better understanding of crime and how to prevent it. But as of today, only 67 percent of the over 18,600 state and local agencies are submitting NIBRS data.

We are taking this very seriously at the Justice Department, and we’d like you to join us. Since 2016, the Justice Department has been assisting jurisdictions transition from the old collection system to NIBRS, through training offered by the FBI and over $120 million in grants through the FBI and our Bureau of Justice Statistics. As explained in a report we are publishing today, we have and will continue to provide this support to help our partner agencies transition to NIBRS.

But despite our efforts and the efforts of thousands of law enforcement agencies working to make the transition, many agencies, including several of the nation’s largest, are not yet NIBRS-compliant. In those jurisdictions — including some of your cities — no crime data is going to the FBI, about hate crimes or otherwise. This makes it more difficult to report on general trends in crime across the nation, such as which communities are experiencing an increase in bias-motivated attacks.

The Justice Department needs the active participation and partnership of mayors and police chiefs to get us to 100% participation in NIBRS and in hate crimes reporting in particular. If your local law enforcement agency has not yet transitioned, I urge you to take up the cause. justice.gov

Department of Justice Review of the Transition of Law Enforcement Agencies to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)


NRF Big Show Panel Discussion on RFID Tech
Uniqlo is banking on RFID tech to help drive international growth

The retailer is counting on digital innovation to help drive store growth in North America and Europe, according to Fast Retailing CIO Takahiro Tambara.

Uniqlo’s parent Fast Retailing is banking on RFID technology to improve its supply chain management, and in turn, drive digital innovation and international growth.

Tambara said the company wants to accelerate its expansion in the U.S. and European markets. Tambara said RFID technology is the foundation of creating a great in-person customer experience.

“We’ve already introduced RFID for our self-checkout services as well as many other services for our customers using RFID technology,” Tambara said. “Our strength is having retail stores. So we have been developing our digital platform so that customers can have a seamless shopping experience.”

Uniqlo had 45 U.S. stores in late 2022. Tokyo-based Fast Retailing had global sales of 2.3 trillion yen ($16.6 billion at the time), for the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 2022. retaildive.com


December Sales Up 6% over LY - Full Yr. Sales Up 9.2% Over 2021
Department Stores Lead 1.1% Drop in December Retail Sales
U.S. retail sales fell for a second month in December as slumping department store receipts saw the key economic benchmark post its weakest tally in a year.

Officially, the Census Bureau report released Wednesday (Jan. 18) showed a 1.1% decline from the previous month, which followed a downwardly revised 1% dip in November from the 0.6% drop originally reported.

Among the key movers in the latest tally that represents the retail industry’s most important month of the year was a 6.6% monthly decline in department store sales, as well as a 2.5% retreat in furniture and home furnishing.

Aside from the 4.6% drop in sales at gas stations, the latest data also showed continued softness in non-store retailers (eCommerce), electronics and appliances, and miscellaneous retailers, such as pet stores and florists, all of which fell 1.1% in December.

On the flip side, the 0.3% gain by the building materials segment bested all 15 other categories surveyed, followed by tiny 0.1% increases in grocery stores and sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument and book stores.

On an annualized basis, the new government data showed December sales rose 6% from a year ago, while the full year 2022 retail sales figure delivered a 9.2% gain versus 2021. pymnts.com

   NRF: Holiday sales rise 5%, just miss forecast


Adidas responds to fake emails – Did Union’s play a part?
Adidas embarrassed after ‘utopian announcement’ – which named fake co-CEO and launched fashion line – spreads like wildfire
Global sportswear brand Adidas shocked the fashion world this week by seemingly appointing a former factory worker as co-CEO, as well as revealing that it was launching a "pre-worn" collection at Berlin Fashion Week.

However the "utopian announcement" was later revealed to be the work of fair pay campaigners, piling pressure on the athleisure wear giant to make promises about laborers' pay and union rights.  yahoo.com


Food Safety Training
One Fair Wage launches food-safety training program to compete with ServSafe
One Fair Wage — an organization fighting to raise the minimum age and end the tip credit —announced that it launched a food-safety training program, Just.Safe.Food, designed to compete with the National Restaurant Association’s ServSafe.  nrn.com


Deloitte Gives Outlook on the Retail Industry in 2023
Deloitte's retail industry outlook report provides a unique outlook on how today's market, future expectations and changing consumer needs inform strategies for the year ahead.

Lowe's CEO: Physical stores are 'biggest central competitive advantage' in retail

Bluedot predictions include more EV stations at malls, smaller footprint stores
 

Senior LP & AP Jobs Market

Director of Internal Audit, ERM and AP job posted for Wawa in Wawa, PA
The Director is responsible for providing oversight of the Company’s internal audit activities, financial and process controls in all business units. The Director oversees and directs the activities of the business divisions of Internal Audit, Enterprise Risk Management, Loss Prevention, Physical Security, Compliance, Business Measurements and Crisis Management. wawa.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
 

Walmart Bolstering Cybersecurity Operations
Despite Economic Downturn, Walmart Hires For Cyber Roles
I visited Walmart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., on Wednesday to meet with cybersecurity leaders. Retail isn’t rosy right now. At Walmart, as at rival Amazon, white-collar layoffs are afoot. Yet Walmart, also like Amazon, continues to hire in cybersecurity, said Rob Duhart, deputy CISO.

Walmart, the world’s biggest company by revenue, started its information security group more than 20 years ago, said CISO Jerry Geisler, a 32-year company veteran.

“It’s a well-established program. That helps us to attract people with a lot of experience,” Mr. Geisler said.

Walmart is filling spots at a new security operations center in Reston, Va., and recruiting for roles elsewhere such as cyber systems and software engineers and incident response specialists.

Company officials won’t say how many people work in cybersecurity or by how much the team aims to expand.

Cybersecurity growth must keep pace with business growth, including acquisitions in burgeoning markets, said Mr. Duhart, who joined Walmart in 2021 from Google. “In the next three years, we have a vision of where the organization needs to be,” he said. He is headed to Johannesburg on Friday to meet with the cyber group at Massmart, a major retailer in Africa that Walmart acquired late last year. cybersecurity.cmail20.com


Dark Web Kingpin Arrested - 'Warning Shot to Russian Cybercriminals'
Russian founder of a cryptocurrency exchange known for funneling ransomware profits arrested
The founder and majority owner of a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange, which law enforcement officials allege is a “haven for criminal proceeds and funds,” has been arrested for failing to comply with U.S. anti-money laundering requirements, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

The exchange called Bitzlato moved more than $700 million dollars within the Hydra Marketplace, which was formerly the world’s longest-running and largest dark web marketplace before U.S. and German authorities took it down last April, according to the DOJ.

The arrest comes as the U.S. ramps up efforts to crack down on attempts by cybercriminals to use cryptocurrency as a means to evade financial regulations and transfer illicit funds. The exchange’s founder, Anatoly Legkodymov, is a Russian national who resides in China. Legkodymov, who operated the exchange from Miami from 2022 up until his arrest by FBI agents in Miami on Tuesday night.

“To all those exploiting the cryptocurrency ecosystem to enable cryptocrime, we have a clear message: we will not only target hackers, fraudsters, and criminals that mask their profits in cryptocurrency,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “We are also unleashing the full force of the Department of Justice on the illicit actors and entities that support cybercriminals — like Legkodymov and Bitzlato.”

U.S. officials say that Bitzlato’s failure to enact know-your-customer procedures made it a haven for funds from criminal activity since its founding in 2016. Bitzlato reportedly facilitated transfers from Russian cybercriminal groups including Conti, and received more than $15 million in ransomware proceeds.

Officials said the arrest is a warning shot to Russian criminals and their enablers seeking to evade U.S. sanctions.

Officials declined to answer questions about whether Bitzlato was directly used by Russian actors to evade sanctions. According to cryptocurrency analysis firm Chainalysis, Bitzlato received $2.5 billion in cryptocurrency since 2019, 27 percent of which came from illicit sources such as ransomware and sanctioned entities. The exchange also received $32,000 worth of cryptocurrency from pro-Russia paramilitary groups since the outset of the war in Ukraine. cyberscoop.com


'2022 State of Ransomware Report'
2022 SMB ransomware report reveals increased cybersecurity investments
A 2022 State of Ransomware report was released by Datto on January 17. The report surveyed nearly 3,000 IT professionals in small to medium-sized businesses across eight countries: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. The report shows that SMBs are aware of increasing cyber threats and allocating resources and investing in areas such as network and cloud security.

Key takeaways from this year’s survey include:

• About a fifth of IT budget is dedicated to security and many are seeing increases in budgets. Forty-seven percent of SMBs plan to invest in network security in the next year.

• Over 50% of SMBs have implemented AV and email/spam protection, with network and cloud security as the top areas planned for investment in the next year.

• 37% of respondents run IT security vulnerability assessments three or more times a year, with 62% running them at least twice a year.

• 69% of SMBs currently have cyber insurance and 34% of those without cyber insurance are highly likely to get it in the next year.

• 42% of SMBs with cyber insurance think it’s extremely likely that a ransomware attack will happen in the next year, while only 16% of SMBs without cyber insurance think the same.

Only three in 10 of SMBs have a best-in-class recovery plan in place, with 52% of them claiming they have a standard recovery plan in place. MSPs can help their clients improve their disaster recovery plan by building out their security and backup offerings or requiring clients to have cyber insurance. Cyber insurance can offset the risks of potential breaches, something which became increasingly more important when many SMBs accelerated their digital transformation efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic..

Click here to download the full report. securitymagazine.com


FBI Warning About Search Engine Malware
Google ads increasingly pointing to malware
The FBI has recently warned the public about search engine ads pushing malware diguised as legitimate software – an old tactic that has lately resulted in too many malicious ads served to users searching for software, cracked software, drivers – anything that can be downloaded, really – via Google and Bing.

Malware peddlers employ a variety of methods to deliver their wares to unsuspecting users:

• Malicious links or attachments served via email and messages, or posts on social media
• Malicious ads served via popular sites
• SEO poisoned websites
• Malicious ads served by popular search engines

The latter tactic is particularly good at hitting a wide pool of potential targets, since most internet users also use search engines.

Lately, though, they have been overdoing it – or perhaps it’s just that more people have begun noticing it and talking about it online? helpnetsecurity.com

 
Sophos Cuts 450 Jobs to Focus on Cybersecurity Services
Layoffs intended to cut costs, help company shift its focus on cybersecurity services, Sophos says.

ICS Confronted by Attackers Armed With New Motives, Tactics, and Malware

ChatGPT Could Create Polymorphic Malware Wave, Researchers Warn

Vancouver, BC, Canada: Thieves steal up to $250K in products from Vancouver snowboard shop
The owner of a popular snowboard shop in Vancouver says his business was targeted by thieves, who were able to make off with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of items early Tuesday. Murray Fraser, owner of The Boardroom, said thieves were able to pry open a backdoor to his store and had apparent targets in mind. “We saw they went after specific products in specific areas,” he said. “They went into the office area and took a bunch of products pulled for online sales. They went into the manager’s desk and stole files – (sensitive) employee information. (They also) took a lot of products from the back and the front of the store on different racks. “They also took a safe.” The owner said it was not just a smash and grab, noting the “four to five” suspects returned multiple times. “They came back several times and reloaded,” Fraser said. “They got away with a lot of stuff, probably around $150,000 to $250,000 (worth of goods).”  globalnews.ca


Update: Livingston County, MI: Ulta shoplifting raid suspects arraigned on multiple felony charges
Five woman accused of committing an organized shoplifting raid at a makeup store in Green Oak Township near Brighton have been arraigned on multiple felony charges. Laronda Nashea Chase, Tirezah Renee Scott, Shanel Jean Webster, Joya Omega Williams and Kari Deloris Williams were arraigned Sunday, Jan. 15, on multiple felony charges in connection with a shoplifting raid at the Ulta beauty shop in Green Oak Township, Jan. 12, court records show. The cases stem from an incident where, at 8 p.m., Jan. 12, police were called to the Ulta beauty store inside the Village Place Mall, 9930 Village Place Blvd., for a report of multiple theft suspects filling bags with merchandise, according to the Green Oak Township Police Department. Officers arrived to discover five women stealing items from the store in an apparent organized raid, police said. mlive.com


Lee Summit, KS: Shoplifting arrest in Lee's Summit leads to return of trophy to KC Chiefs legend
A shoplifting arrest led police in Lee's Summit to return a trophy to the family of a Kansas City football legend. According to a post on the Lee's Summit Police Department's Facebook page, on January 6th, 2023, plainclothes officers with their Crime Reduction Team were working in a shopping mall to catch shoplifters. A business alerted the police to a potential shoplifter. Police detained the person and said the person took about $6,500 worth of clothing, electronics, jewelry, and cologne. The person also drove a car reported stolen out of Kansas City. When police searched the car, they found more stolen merchandise. One of the stolen items was a large, silver trophy. The trophy was engraved with the name of Len Dawson. Someone awarded the trophy to Dawson in 1979 for his "Meritorious Service in Pro Football." Dawson died in August 2022. The Kansas City Chiefs connected detectives with Dawson's wife, Linda. Detectives said Linda was "overjoyed" to get the trophy back. They also say it was probably stolen in the early 1980s.  krcgtv.com


Kelly Township, PA: Over $700 stolen in Walmart theft, two charged
State police say two men are being charged in a Walmart theft where over $700 worth of items were stolen. According to Pennsylvania State Police, on January 12 around 5:50 p.m., troopers responded to a reported theft at a Walmart in Union County. Police say two men, ages 45 and 43, were found to have taken a total of $797.43 worth of items without paying. pahomepage.com


Murfreesboro, TN: Thousands of dollars in Record (33’s) stolen from Target
Detectives need help identifying a subject in a December 26th theft case. Evidently the day after Christmas, an unidentified individual stole hundreds of dollars' worth of vinyl records from the Target store on Old Fort Pkwy. While many didn't realize the store even sold 33's, loss prevention workers were well aware of their goods being quietly lifted, so quiet that the crime was not reported until 2-weeks had passed. wgnsradio.com


Sebastian, FL: Woman says she was in a rush and forgot to pay at Walmart
Police arrested a 40-year-old woman who told officers she forgot to scan $343.18 in merchandise using the self-checkout at Walmart in Sebastian, Florida. A loss prevention officer told police that the suspect, Nicole Machado of Vero Beach, was not scanning all merchandise at the self-checkout aisle. The “checkout host” was alerted, and they warned Machado to scan all items. However, Machado continued to scan one item but bagged two. “Even with the warnings from Walmart, Nicole [Merchando] continued to scan multiple items at a time and was also not scanning some items. Nicole [Merchando] then paid for some of the items she scanned, which totaled 70 items for an approximate total of $278.93,” police said.  sebastiandaily.com