Retail Fatalities Follow National Trends
in Increased Violence & Murders

Retail Fatalities Up 30% Over Three Years

Leading Retail-Specific Industry Trends Continue Unabated

488 Retail Fatalities in 2018 - Up 15% Over 2017
Q4 Up 8.7% Over 2017
2017 FL/TX Hurricanes - Drove Q4 2018's Increase

The 15 percent increase goes above the 7 percent rise in violent crime trends, and very close to the 21 percent murder spike from 2014 to 2016, which was reported by DOJ earlier this month at the National Sheriffs' Association Winter Conference. The D&D Daily has validated 488 publicly reported violent deaths that took place in Retail America in 2018, reflecting a 15 percent increase in 2018 over 2017 and a 30 percent increase from 2016's 374 violent deaths.

A number of trends continue to dominate the numbers: From more victims killed than suspects by two to one, with men shooting their victims, to Saturday, Sunday, and Monday being the most violent days of the week.

Homicides outnumber actual retail crime deaths and outside the store is more akin to the killing fields, with armed men usually being the most prevalent perpetrators.

The dominant locations remain the same year after year: C-stores, Gas stations and grocery stores represent 43 percent of all violent deaths running parallel to armed robberies, from the quick in and outs to the most cash closest to the door.

Texas, California and Florida remain the most violent states year after year, once again running parallel to robberies and ORC activity. Interestingly enough, these three states - the highest crime states in the U.S. - do not participate in the FBI's NIBRS crime data report and therefore are not included in the DOJ's data either.

Of special note here is that while most surveys and news outlets reported somewhat flat numbers in 2017 in all three of these categories and were quick to call it out, and in a few cases take credit, they failed to consider or mention Houston and Florida being shut down for almost the entire fourth quarter, the busiest of the year, due to the hurricanes and how those two locations alone, being the highest in virtually every category, impacted the overall numbers. With Houston leading the way year after year in violent deaths and armed robberies.

The bottom line is that the 15 percent increase for the year is probably more realistic and may still be a little inflated because of last year's anomaly - the hurricanes shutting down hundreds if not thousands of stores for months.

-Gus Downing



Full Report: 2018 Retail Violent Death Report
 

The Opioid Impact - Epidemic & Crackdown:
With virtually every law enforcement agency across the country documenting and reporting the impact the opioid epidemic and crackdown is having on armed robberies, organized retail crime and overall violence, the intersection of which to violent deaths is only natural to assume. Although no one is collecting or reporting this data publicly.

However this report we feel ties these factors together, which clearly points to "the nations retailers becoming the silent victims of this overall epidemic and crackdown." With sharp increases in violent deaths running parallel to the opioid crackdown which started around 2015. When we started seeing huge and sustained spikes in pharmacy robberies and armed robberies.

As the CDC noted just this past Friday that opioid prescribing peaked at 81.3 prescriptions per 100 people in 2012, and by 2017 it had fallen to 58.5 prescriptions per 100 people. Proving the crackdown is having its desired medical impact at least from the legal market prospective. However as the Society for Human Resource Management pointed out last week the crackdown led some patients to turn to the black market to get the pain medications on which they'd come to rely. Which intern drives crime up and becomes a major contributor to the increase in robberies.

Furthering this finding the National Safety Council latest report analyzing 2017 data on accidental deaths found for the first time in history your chances of dying in a car crash are 1 in 103. Your chances of dying from an opioid overdose? One in 96. Opioid overdoses have surpassed vehicle crashes as one of the leading causes of death in the country. With this fact alone its only natural once again to assume its intersection and impact on retail crime and violent deaths as well.

Lastly in this category is the increased strength and supply of opioids on the streets. As more and more states legalized marijuana and the DEA cracked down on Doctors and pharmacy's the cartels were quick to increase supply, lower costs and introduce Fentenal to the black market, which drove half of all reported opioid overdose deaths in 2016. shrm.org

Recent U.S. Congressional Research Service Report: The "Ferguson Effect"
"The Ferguson Effect" is one of the more widely discussed, and controversial, explanations for the recent increases in violent crime. It refers to the assertion that crime has increased recently because police are avoiding proactive policing tactics out of fear of repercussions for the use of aggressive tactics. There is a small but growing body of literature on the Ferguson effect, and the evidence is mixed. For example, recent research conducted by a Johns Hopkins University sociologist found some evidence of a post-Ferguson decrease in arrests and a post-Ferguson increase in crime in Baltimore. However, the research did not reveal a causal link between the decreasing arrests and increasing crime.

Some of the largest cities in the United States saw increases in violent crime rates, homicide rates, or both from 2014 to 2015 and/or 2015 to 2016. For some of these cities, violent crime or homicide rates were the highest they have been in the past 20 years.

Recent increases in violent crime and homicide in large cities have received a great deal of attention, but in smaller communities violent crime and homicide rates also increased from 2014 to 2015 and again from 2015 to 2016, although not as much as in the largest cities. shrm.org

Mass Shootings & Active Shooters -
Numbers Confirm The Daily's 3 Year 30% Increase
Retail Establishments in Top Two Locations: Shootings in schools and houses of worship tend to stand out in our minds, but they make up a relatively small portion of public mass shootings. More common are those in offices and retail establishments such as restaurants and stores. California has had more of these public mass shootings than any other state, with 25.

Incidents: In 2017 there were 30 separate active shooting incidents in the U.S., the largest number ever recorded by the FBI during a one-year period. In 2016 20 were recorded. Representing a 33 percent increase year over year. This 33 percent increase has remained steady for three years according to the FBI. Virtually matching The Daily's 30 percent finding.

Between 2000 and 2017 there were 250 active shooter incidents in the U.S. as defined by the FBI. fbi.gov

Hawaii grocery chain deters 3,000 scan avoidance incidents in 1 year with StopLift

Groceries at the six Down to Earth Organic & Natural Stores on Maui and Oahu used to go through the checkouts without the customer paying for them. And that took a toll on the supermarket chain's bottom line. But that was before technology was installed to detect every item that the cashier failed to scan.

Cliff Hillier, COO of Down to Earth Organic & Natural Stores, has been relying on StopLift Checkout Vision Systems for the past two years to monitor the cameras over the checkouts. StopLift's Artificial Intelligence (AI) video analytics software automatically analyzes security video to detect theft and improve operational efficiency at all the checkouts at the six supermarkets.

In a recent month, StopLift's ScanItAll detected 316 incidents, with previous months averaging about 250 incidents. That would be in excess of 3,000 incidents per year, some of which were accidentally unscanned items. Many were false alarms, while others were accidentally missed items which Hillier discussed with the team members. Read more in today's Vendor Spotlight column below.
 

3SI Security's GPS Tracking Technology Helps Put Away Nearly 900 Criminals, Recover $8 Million in 2018

In 2018 3SI Security Systems, with the help of our Law Enforcement partners, put away nearly 900 criminals and recovered close to $8M in cash and stolen assets!

We think these numbers are worth mentioning. Take a look at our January Successes

Synthetic Identity Fraud Increasing
Confronting the Harsh Realities of 'Cross-Industry' Fraud
New research from LexisNexis Risk Solutions confirms that the pace of so-called "cross-industry fraud" is accelerating and becoming costlier for organizations of all kinds.

Cross-industry fraud occurs when bad actors who commit fraud against companies in one industry are emboldened to exploit other industries with the same fraudulent credentials.

The most egregious fraud activity is perpetrated by sophisticated, organized rings or individuals that make their living from fraud. While these professional thieves don't have a particular bias for a given industry or sector, cross-industry fraud is particularly prevalent across financial services, health care, insurance, communications, retail, and government entities.

For example, a perpetrator of a typical insurance fraud scheme, staging an auto accident, could expand into exploiting system gaps to fraudulently claim government benefits or participate in telecommunications, retail, or credit card fraud.

For the first time since the inception of the LexisNexis Fraud Mitigation Study four years ago, the latest survey shows a significant increase in the number of organizations (89%) reporting cases of cross-industry fraud. A quarter of the surveyed fraud mitigation professionals said they see evidence of cross-industry fraud in more than half of fraud cases they have investigated.

The severity of the financial impact of fraud is increasing as well. Cross-industry fraud cases have become significantly more expensive for organizations than fraud cases stemming from isolated events. Approximately 80% of study respondents said that these fraud events exacted at least a moderate toll on their organizations, with more than half of cases causing extreme financial harm.

Synthetic Identities Add New Complications

One reason fraud mitigation is becoming the purview of CFO organizations is the emergence of a new variant called "synthetic identity fraud."

New-application and account-takeover fraud each account for 20% of all fraud losses within the financial services industry.

While combatting fraud is typically the domain of  chief information security officers, the CFO department should establish closer working connections with the company's special investigative units or fraud team. Some organizations have gone so far as to move the fraud team into the CFO organization. cfo.com

Supreme Court Fails to Explain How Courts Decide Excessive Fines of Forfeiture
In a blockbuster decision on Timbs' case, the nation's highest court declared Wednesday that the constitutional ban on excessive fines applies to state and local governments.

"In other words, the court has said that the rule applies but it hasn't clearly articulated what that rule is."

At the core of the case was the practice of civil asset forfeiture, increasingly used by police and prosecutors to seize property believed to be used in crimes. In 2017, the federal Asset Forfeiture Fund took in about $1.6 billion in gross forfeiture revenue, including both cash and proceeds from the sale of seized cars and other property, according to a U.S. Department of Justice inspector general audit. That's down from $1.9 billion in 2016, the report said.

Judges across the country will grapple with the question. Hottot said they may eventually find that "the next step is to end civil forfeiture."  law360.com

Unstable retail schedules are bad for workers' health
Retail workers' have better health with more stable work schedules, according to a study of Gap employees by the University of California Hastings Center for WorkLife Law, University of Chicago and the University of North Carolina. The stress of unstable work schedules, which include working erratic hours, waiting to see if a call to work comes in and rearranging personal activities around work, can rob retail workers of much-needed sleep and create adverse health outcomes, the study noted. retaildive.com

Senior Vice President Asset Protection Posted for Burlington Stores
in Burlington, N.J.
Responsible for management and oversight of all Asset Protection and Loss Prevention functions including shrink, safety, business continuity, shortage control, investigations, field team leadership, and corporate security. Your business acumen and forward-thinking, strategic mindset will help cultivate an agile team focused on driving solutions and delivering results in a fast-paced, challenging environment to reduce shrink, drive sales, and provide a safe, secure customer and associate experience. burlingtonstores.jobs

We operate more than 670 stores in 48 states and Puerto Rico. Over the past 5 years, we have added more than 20 stores each year and are on our way to 1000+ stores. Revenues exceeding $6 billion in 2017. Q3 reported 11-28-18 comp's up 4.4%, sales up 13.7%. burlingtonstores.com

Reposted Friday: VP Loss Prevention for Fred's in Dallas, TX. - 600 Stores

HBC Expects to Close 20 Saks Off Fifth Stores in U.S.

Luxury bag retailer Rebag raises $25 million for more tech, talent and stores

David Lund, VP of LP for Dick's Sporting Goods, named Vice Chairman
for Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania

Last week's #1 article --

Payless Shoe Source Bombshell
New bombshell accusations surface nearly 1 year after toddler's death at Payless

"Remove the mirrors and destroy them so the little girl's family/attorney could not get them"

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. - A local contractor told Channel 2 Action News that his company was ordered by a vendor to destroy metro Atlanta-area Payless store mirrors soon after a Riverdale toddler was killed in one of its stores.

An attorney for Payless denies allegations that the now-bankrupt chain tried to cover up any signs of negligence, noting the actual evidence from the store where the child died has been preserved for trial. The vendor accused of issuing the instructions also denies the claims as the contractor seeks payment for services. wsbtv.com