"The rise in shoplifting and robberies, offenses committed to acquire money or property, could reflect a return to normal living conditions and daily routines, which increased the opportunities to commit certain types of offenses," report authors Ernesto Lopez and Bobby Boxerman wrote.

Crime data has been notoriously difficult to gather and evaluate, and the CCJ authors themselves offered several caveats. The 38 cities they looked at in order to assess the prevalence of 12 types of criminal activity "are not necessarily representative of all cities in the United States," for example. The data on shoplifting came from 25 cities.

Plus, the researchers said they obtained the crime data from online portals of police departments, and warned that the classifications of offenses vary somewhat across the cities, and that not all cities report data for each crime.  retaildive.com counciloncj.org

RELATED: Homicide, Gun Assaults, Most Other Violent Crimes Fall in U.S. Cities but Remain Above Pre-Pandemic Levels

Will Theft & Shrink Data Become Clearer in 2024?
7 reasons why everyone's confused about shrink and theft
Despite years of attention on retail crime from business groups, media, prosecutors and political leaders, retailers are starting off 2024 understanding less about the issue than before. Here are seven issues that complicate the discussion of shrink and retail theft.

1. Reported retail crime is going down in many areas, including cities singled out as especially troublesome for stores. For these and other reasons, some shoplifting may be considered organized retail crime or vice versa, if it's categorized at all. Often, law enforcement or even a retailer's own staff disagree on how to categorize an event.

2. Self-checkout is an inventory sieve. Lost merchandise from self-checkout causes more shrink than organized retail crime in many stores, according to Congressional testimony last year from CCIA's Wagener. A 2022 study from the University of Leicester in England estimated that self-checkout in the U.S. and elsewhere causes between one-fifth and nearly one-quarter of all unknown store losses.

3. Employees steal more goods and money than any other type of theft. Theft by employees accounts for nearly a third of all shrink, and the NRF considers it "just as concerning for retailers as other forms of theft."

4. Shrink isn't the biggest hit to margins, even at retailers citing it as a major problem.

5. Many related costs are not factored into shrink or theft reports. It's possible that the financial consequences of theft are up significantly, even if actual crime rates or shrink levels aren't. There also may be costs from preventive measures like beefing up security personnel or technology.

6. The threat of violence is a major risk that complicates loss prevention. The prevalence of guns in the U.S. makes confronting thieves in stores potentially deadly, complicating retailers' approaches to loss prevention, according to a number of crime and retail experts.

7. Cargo theft is an under-appreciated aspect of retail crime. retaildive.com


More Policing & Financial Incentives for Stores to Improve Safety
In effort to alleviate fears of business owners and customers, New York state working to combat retail theft
As retail theft continues to climb, state leaders are pushing for more policing, and tax credits for businesses that improve safety. Organized shoplifting is costing businesses billions, and creating anxiety and fear for customers and store owners.

"Retailer is just open game. Walk away with anything. No one is going to challenge," Kahn said. Statewide, retailers lost $4.5 billion last year. The cost was passed on to the consumer, said Matt Cohen, president and CEO of the Long Island Association. "Simple shoplifting has really graduated to organized, sophisticated crimes. It's like the Wild Wild West out there," Cohen said.

Some retailers and civic groups met with Gov. Kathy Hochul in Albany and said they are pleased with her new proposal to budget a commercial security tax credit. "There are some tax credits that can be used for stores to upgrade their safety equipment," said Kent Sopris, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores.

Business owners who invest in qualified retail theft prevention expenses would get substantial tax credits, working with state police and district attorneys. "I have stores in blue areas and red areas. This is not a political thing," Sopris said.

Shoplifting is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. Merchants on Long Island suffering through a 35% spike in larcenies want an increase in penalties. There are now pending bills in Albany to create a statewide office to combat retail theft and to increase penalties for repeat offenders. cbsnews.com


Retail Theft Up 16% in Los Angeles
Officials propose license plate readers & $500K investment in cameras

Violent crime down, property crime up in Los Angeles
Authorities in Los Angeles are touting a citywide drop in violent crime in 2023, based on statistics released on Wednesday. Homicides were down 17% over 2022 and, overall, violent crime was down 3.2%, according to a Los Angeles Police Department.

Property crime, however, climbed 3.5% over the prior year, and thefts citywide, including retail theft cases, were up 16%. There were 137 flash mob robberies throughout the city in 2023, officials said.

With the new year, officials are proposing new crime mitigation strategies to help curb some of the city's most common crimes. One step already taken by authorities is the creation of the Organized Retail Crime Task Force, which made more arrests in 2023 than any previous year, LAPD said.

Among other proposed measures is a pilot program for license plate readers introduced by City Councilman John Lee, whose District 12 covers the northwestern portion of the San Fernando Valley.

Parts of the San Fernando Valley reported massive upticks in crimes, including a neighborhood in Lee's district north of Rinaldi Street which reported a 103% increase in burglaries in that area, LAPD said.

The motion would allocate $500,000 to the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Lighting and LADOT to begin implementation of the cameras. ktla.com


Fear Sweeps Oakland As Violent Crime Surges
Violent crime in Oakland rose 21% last year. Residents worry it will define the city
Reports of violent incidents rose 21% last year compared to 2022, while robberies climbed 38% and burglaries ticked up 23%. For the second consecutive year, the city logged 120 homicides. Fear seemed to ripple through every neighborhood - including Grand Lake, with its leafy sidewalks and buzzy shopping corridors.

Already in 2024, crime has shaped Oakland politics, fueling recall campaigns and calls for more police officers. City leaders are mired in a protracted and often divisive search for a new police chief, which has dragged on for nearly a year. Feelings of fatigue, desperation and outrage have reached a fever pitch.

"It's pure fear," said Father Jayson Landeza, the pastor of St. Benedict Catholic Church in East Oakland, and a chaplain with the Police Department. Downtown, many businesses no longer accept cash, fearing it makes them more vulnerable to robberies.

This month, the Oakland Police Department rolled out a new strategy to quell the chaos. Top department officials dismantled a Violent Crime Operations Center that former chief LeRonne Armstrong formed in 2021, aiming to centralize resources so that police could focus on Oakland's most serious crimes: shootings and killings.  sfchronicle.com


50% Decrease in Law Enforcement Deaths
Line of Duty Death Statistics for 2023
In this month's Roll Call, we present an overview of the 2023 annual statistics for officer Line of Duty Deaths (LODDs). The trend in declining LODDs has continued, but despite a notable drop from the numbers in 2022 and 2021, law enforcement remains one of the most perilous professions in America. The following data underscores the significant sacrifices made by officers in protecting American citizens over the past year.

In 2023, 124 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty, a 50% decrease from 2022. The cause breakdown from our major cause categories are:

One City Goes Above & Beyond in PD Funding - But Crime is Still Up
Alameda went far beyond what other cities were willing to pay to recruit officers. Did it pay off?

The force is nearly back to full strength, but crime is up and arrests are down

In Alameda's rebuilding effort, its police department was willing to go further with financial incentives than any other city in the country, offering $75,000 in signing bonuses to new officers last year. Ten months later, the recruitment plan has worked, but it has yet to be reflected in the city's crime statistics.

Between 2022 and 2023, robberies and burglaries in Alameda increased by 18.4% and 14.7%, respectively. Petty theft, embezzlement and fraud, and vandalism all increased, whereas assault, drug offenses and DUI's fell. Arrests in Alameda also fell 16% between 2022 and 2023.

Although the Alameda department is almost fully staffed, with only one vacancy per squad, Joshi said he would still prioritize patrols over community policing roles and that they would need at least a year to judge results. mercurynews.com


   Related Articles

   • Even at $112,000 starting pay, fewer people want to be San Francisco cops

   • CHP officers get biggest raise in 20 years - almost 2x what Gov. Newsom gave other unions

   • Antioch extends hiring bonuses to attract new police hires


Podcast: South American organized crime blamed for US retail theft
Retail theft is a growing occurrence across the US. Some experts are pointing to organized South American gangs for targeting stores, along with trucks belonging to retailers, for goods to resell online. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Read Hayes, a criminologist at the University of Florida, about these gangs and the efforts to stop them.

6 best practices for preventing retail theft

Data: How many mass shootings have happened in Kansas City?

Blocking Dollar Store Openings in Chicago
Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and others could face new restrictions in Chicago

City Council will consider measure that would hinder store openings

City of Chicago lawmakers will have a chance to consider a measure that would prohibit dollar stores opening within a mile of one under the same owner or manager, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. The city's Committee on License and Consumer Protection approved the measure and the full city council will vote on it next week.

Chicago currently has 150 discount grocers. The proposal does not mention dollar stores like Dollar Tree and Dollar General by name but refers to small-box retailers that could not be within a mile of an existing store with the same owner or manager. The measure includes stores that are between 4,000 and 17,500 square feet in size and sell most of their product for $5 or less. Locations with pharmacies, gas stations, or those that have 10% of their floor occupied by fresh foods would be exempt.

Dollar General had this to say about the measure:

"We believe restrictive measures harm communities by limiting customer choice, convenience, and affordability, particularly in inflationary times, and forcing customers to travel farther and/or spend more to access basic household and food items. Our mission of serving others and our intense customer focus differentiate Dollar General from other seemingly similar retailers."

Chicago certainly has its share of food deserts. According to a WBEZ-Chicago Sun-Times analysis, low-food access has jumped 63% in the city over the last decade. A few major grocers have left over the last few months, including a Walmart Supercenter in Chatham, a Whole Foods in Englewood, and an Aldi in Gresham.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announced a plan late last year that involves the city owning grocery stores in order to prevent the spread of food deserts. supermarketnews.com

   Click here to read the D&D Daily's initial coverage about the nationwide 'War on Dollar Stores'


Shoppers More Loyal to Stores With Human-Staffed Checkouts
Self-checkout is alienating shoppers, new research finds

Self-checkout might be making customers less loyal to stores that use it, according to new research.

Retailers, including Kroger and Costco, have turned to the tech over the last couple of decades. But customers don't like bagging their own groceries or the other tasks of ringing up their own purchases, surveys of shoppers conducted at Drexel University's LeBow College of Business found.

Customers are more likely to return to stores where they used a human-staffed checkout, versus stores where they used a self-checkout, according to the researchers, Yanliu Huang and Farhana Nusrat.

"Our findings indicate that self-checkout systems, despite their advantages in terms of speed, ease of use, and cost reduction, can result in lower customer loyalty compared to regular checkout systems, especially when the number of purchased items is relatively high (e.g., more than 15 items)," Huang, a professor at LeBow, said in a press release.

Customers were more likely to come back to a store when they used traditional checkout, the researchers say, because of the easier process and a "sense of entitlement" to good service while shopping.

Self-checkout has faced a reckoning at some retailers lately. Recent data found that self-checkout kiosks are contributing to retailers' theft problems, with shoppers either intentionally using the unmanned kiosks to get items for free or accidentally walking away with merchandise that didn't ring up correctly.  businessinsider.com


Cracking Down on Retail Returns - Is It Working?
Retail Solutions That Led to Decreased Returns in 2023
Based on a recent PYMNTS report, retailers have been adopting a more strategic approach to handling returns. For example, Pitney Bowes, in partnership with PackageHub, has launched a returns drop-off network. This network facilitates free returns at almost 1,000 locations, eliminating the requirement for a box or label. The company reportedly intends to expand this service to hundreds more locations nationwide in the near future.

And some retailers like Chewy are even going as far as eliminating returns altogether by encouraging customers to "keep it." According to data from returns services firm goTRG, the adoption of such policies has surged to 59% among retailers, marking an increase from the 26% reported last year.

Meanwhile, retailers like H&M, as reported by PYMNTS, have chosen to impose return charges on non-loyalty program members while offering free returns to loyal customers, aiming to bolster their loyalty program.

And then there's the use of artificial intelligence (AI), with retail giants like Amazon looking to get in front of the returns problem by establishing a more confident initial purchase. In early January, PYMNTS reported that Amazon looked to address size and fit challenges through AI.  pymnts.com


Southeastern Grocers Finalizes Fresco y Más Sale
Southeastern Grocers Inc. has completed its strategic divestiture of Fresco y Más to Fresco Retail Group. The grocer will continue to own and operate Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie grocery stores.

As previously announced in August, Southeastern Grocers entered into definitive agreements with Aldi and Fresco Retail Group to effectuate a comprehensive strategic divestiture of its businesses. Under the proposed merger agreement, Aldi will acquire all outstanding capital stock in an all-cash transaction, which encompasses all grocery operations under the Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie banners.

The grocer anticipates that the proposed merger with Aldi will be completed in the first half of 2024. theshelbyreport.com


REI lays off hundreds, says it expects tough year ahead
REI is laying off 357 employees as the company braces for a challenging year, CEO Eric Artz told employees on Thursday.

Kroger was most-visited grocer in 2023, followed by Publix, Safeway, Aldi & H-E-B

Jersey Mike's Subs streamlines voice orders with AI