Will a 'Real-Time Crime Index' Help Us Get Reliable Shoplifting Data?
Reliable data allows hypotheses to be tested, and helps policymakers figure out what's working

Is Shoplifting on the Rise? No One Knows, and That's the Problem

The debate over how best to fight crime is hampered by a lack of reliable statistics.

If it matters, it should be measured. When it comes to crime, however - which certainly does matter - the US fails to abide by this rule. The result is a political debate that operates almost entirely in a vacuum of reliable information.

Shoplifting, of course, can be a difficult crime to measure, since a lot of incidents go unreported. By contrast, local law-enforcement officials more or less know when someone in their jurisdiction gets killed.

Data alone doesn't fix problems, of course. But it does allow hypotheses to be tested, and helps policymakers figure out what is and isn't working. Right now several major retailers and moderate mayors are pushing California to reverse Proposition 47, a criminal-justice reform bill that (among other things) defines retail theft as a felony only if the value of the stolen goods is more than $950.

Lots of people in California say that this was the root cause of the state's shoplifting spree. But even if you agree there has been a spree, it's not clear that this is true. California's new threshold isn't actually very high - in Texas, for example, it is $2,500. On the other hand, it could be the case that news about the policy change, rather than the number itself, spurred more people to give crime a chance, so to speak.

There is an effort, funded by the philanthropy Arnold Ventures, to create a Real-Time Crime Index. The idea is to take advantage of the fact that most large cities release reasonably timely crime data. A small team will work with a few hundred of those cities to try to put that information into some kind of standardized format. The result, theoretically, would be frequently updated information about crime nationwide. It's a great idea, and all major cities should participate.
 
Most Americans would agree that it would be good to know the most effective and efficient ways to fight crime. To find out, however, America will need to get much more serious about finding out what exactly is going on. bloomberg.com


Spotlight on LPRC's Critical Work to Fight Retail Theft
The SaferPlaces Lab, a simulated storefront located at the UF Innovation Hub, is at the forefront of this nationwide initiative to protect retail shoppers financially and physically.

UF spearheads nationwide effort to combat retail theft

The nation's largest stores depend on UF research to help stop retail crime

On the outskirts of UF's campus, 'Justin's General Store,' a code name for the SaferPlaces Lab, blurs the lines between a real store and a shoplifting simulation straight out of a sci-fi movie.

From Target to Topgolf, 85 of the nation's largest retail stores rely on technology developed by the Gainesville-based Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC) to deter shoplifting. The SaferPlaces Lab, a simulated storefront located at the UF Innovation Hub, is at the forefront of this nationwide initiative to protect retail shoppers financially and physically.

"We deal with active shooters, armed robberies, burglaries, theft, fraud," said Read Hayes, a UF research criminologist and director of the LPRC. "There's nothing like it out there that we're aware of for crime prevention research."

Hayes' research team, affiliated with the UF Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, develops technology to make committing crime harder, riskier and less rewarding. Then, the gadgets are installed and tested in the SaferPlaces Lab, a mock store stocked with every possible item type.

He estimates they've developed over 400 new devices. To make it easier for legitimate shoppers to get their items, Hayes is experimenting with a new type of box that allows customers to input their phone number and receive a code through text message to unlock it.

The research team isn't just focused on shoplifting, either. They're developing new initiatives to stop any threat that might occur in a store, including active shooter situations.

This technology will be demonstrated at the LPRC's Integrate summit Feb. 29, where simulation exercises are used to better prepare local first responders for active shooter situations and test lifesaving measures, like the color-coded beacons, developed by UF researchers. alligator.org


CA's Crime Wave Has Retailers Shutting Down Self-Checkouts
Self-checkouts are disappearing from retailers. Here's why
You may be seeing fewer of them in major retailers nowadays, and you can blame California's retail crime wave. On social media, one user recently posted this picture of the Walmart in West Hills - with the self-checkout lanes roped off. The post said all Wal-Marts have removed self-checkouts due to theft.

A Wal-Mart spokesperson told us they needed to research the issue. They later replied, saying, "We're always looking at ways to innovate and improve our stores. We have nothing to announce related to self-checkout removals at this time."  When pressed for specifics, the retailer offered none.

It's the not-so-secret secret: retail chains are doing away with these lanes, and many do not want to talk about it.

In December, SFGATE.com reported that Target quietly removed self-checkouts in San Francisco, calling it "a trend in 'defensive retailing' that may soon spread across the city." Other reports say Target, when it does allow self-checkout, is only doing so for customers with ten items or less. No more big carts full of items.

Other chains, including Costco, have been dealing with the issue, saying that "shrink," or the measure by which chains track retail theft, has increased in part due to the rollout of self-checkout.

Two years ago, when KTLA 5 News consumer expert David Lazarus reported on Kohl's, H&M, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Zara all testing self-checkouts, he noted "It's obvious why the [self-checkout] technology is attractive to businesses. One of their top expenses is labor. So, any form of automation that reduces human interaction with customers is money in the company's pocket."

Now, California crime trends may be proving too costly. ktla.com

   Read why self-checkout is likely here to stay in RetailDive's article below


Connection Between NY Bail Reform & 34% Surge in Larceny?
Op-Ed: Crime and its connection to bail reform
Long Island is the midst of a crime wave. While violent crime is in check, property crime has been on the rise. Crimes such as car theft, burglary and grand larceny have spiked to unprecedented levels. Retail theft has gotten so out of control that many stores are placing products under lock and key.

That hasn't served as much of a deterrent, as overall larceny on Long Island, which includes all theft except auto, jumped by 34 percent from 2021 to 2022. According to the Retail Council of New York State, retailers statewide lose about $4.4 billion per year from retail theft. And who pays for that? Naturally, it's the consumer, in the form of higher retail prices to make up for the losses, further contributing to the rise in inflation. Such activity also puts store workers at risk of being assaulted should they attempt to intervene against shoplifters.

Why is this happening? In my opinion, it's no coincidence that what we're seeing is directly tied to the progressive bail reform laws passed by Albany lawmakers in early 2020. Those laws, led by cashless bail, have emboldened criminals, who have learned they can commit these types of crimes without fear of being kept in jail if they get caught.

While the mainstream media and progressive elected officials find all kinds of excuses to either sugar-coat these facts or offer other reasons for this crime epidemic, I believe it's becoming increasingly clear that bail reform is the major contributor. There's hardly a day that goes by without the issuance of an NCPD notice describing one or more people being arrested for committing a crime that too often also involved a previous arrest, but resulted in the perpetrators being released due to cashless bail. In too many cases, these criminals are back out on the street within hours, with no fear of repeating or even escalating their criminal activity.

Early last year, the NCPD issued warnings about organized crime rings that were sneaking small teams of men across the border to rob and steal, knowing that if they were caught, they would likely receive nothing more than appearance tickets. Since then, these gangs have been committing all kinds of crimes, mostly of the auto theft, burglary, and retail theft variety. liherald.com


Do Big City Shoplifters Have a License to Steal?
Small businesses taking extreme measures to stop shoplifters because of soft-on-crime laws: Security expert

'These crimes aren't being prosecuted and the reward outweighs the consequences for offenders,' one security expert said

Some small business owners in blue cities across the U.S. have resorted to unusual and extreme measures to combat rampant shoplifting in their stores. A small business owner in San Francisco says he requires customers to shop with an employee escort to thwart potential thieves.

It's the same story in New York City for hardware store owner Robert Morales, who has reportedly adopted similar protocols. He only allows one or two people in his store at a time and makes his other customers wait by the door until an employee can assist them to keep a better eye on potential shoplifters.

He lamented to NYC-based The City about the lack of consequences for shoplifters when he reports robberies. "We need that when we call law enforcement they come on time and arrest these people," he said. Private investigator and security expert Patrick McCall says that businesses are seeing record numbers of robberies because thieves know their crimes won't be prosecuted.

"The fact is lack of laws and the new bail reform laws - these crimes aren't being prosecuted and the reward outweighs the consequences for offenders," he told Fox News Digital. Despite these businesses' efforts, thefts continue to happen, he said.

"Shoplifters now realize that the consequences will be minimal if they are caught. They will probably be released immediately, and not prosecuted, especially in larger cities, such as New York, where the crime has taken a serious upward turn," she continued. foxbusiness.com


U.S. Can't Deport Some Criminal Migrants
Venezuelan migrants linked to more crimes in the United States, but Venezuela shuts door on all deportations
A wave of violent crimes being carried out across America has been linked to Venezuelan migrants, and the U.S. government cannot deport any of them, as the South American country will not take any of its citizens back.

An illegal immigrant originally from Venezuela has been charged in connection with the violent murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus on Thursday. Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, the suspect, was released into the U.S. via parole, three ICE & DHS sources told Fox News.

In New York City, the NYPD are trying to crack down on a violent Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua that it says is responsible for terrorizing residents with dozens of robberies in the Big Apple, where the group has now been blamed for scooter and moped robberies as well as retail theft.

President Nicolás Maduro's authoritarian regime is refusing to cooperate with deportation requests after Washington reimposed some of the economic sanctions it had previously lifted on Venezuela, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. foxnews.com


El Cajon and San Diego District Attorney's Office campaigning to reform Prop 47

Chief enforcer of U.S. gun laws fears Americans are numb to mass shooting violence