Businesses Demand Federal ORC Action
U.S. Chamber Letter on Organized Retail Crime and Retail Theft

This letter was sent to the Members of the United States Congress as well as to the National Governors Association, National Conference of State Legislatures, and the National District Attorneys Association, on retail theft and organized retail crime.

Communities and businesses large and small across the United States are facing a significant increase in retail theft and organized retail crime that requires the swift response of policymakers.

A recent survey of small business owners founds that a majority (54%) experienced an increase in shoplifting in 2021. According to a survey of larger retailers by the National Retail Federation, organized retail crime cost stores an average of over $700,000 per $1 billion in sales in 2020, up more than 50% in the last five years.

These crimes are not victimless. In addition to the growing number of thefts that turn violent, innocent consumers, employees, local communities, and business owners and shareholders bear the costs of rising retail theft. Twenty-five percent of small businesses report raising prices as a result of shoplifting. Some retailers have been forced to shutter locations in response to rampant theft.

As this problem continues to grow, we urge you to take the following steps:

Congress should pass legislation to stop the sale of stolen goods on online marketplaces: The bipartisan H.R. 5502, "Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for (INFORM) Consumers Act," would increase transparency and identity verification of high-volume third-party sellers in online retail marketplaces while protecting the privacy of small sellers and establishing a uniform federal standard that would provide certainty and consistency for the business community. This legislation would deter retail crime by closing off a prominent avenue by which criminals seek to profit by selling stolen goods, often to unsuspecting customers.

Update the definition of organized retail crime and increase criminal penalties: States should act to define the crime of "organized retail theft" in criminal law to specify those thefts involving two or more participants and an intention of resale and include increased penalties for those specific violations.

The law and prosecutors must hold those who engage in organized and significant retail theft accountable: Since 2000, at least 40 states have raised the thresholds for the value of stolen goods to trigger a felony charge. In some instances, criminals are taking advantage of these increased higher thresholds to engage in repeated thefts and avoid prosecution. States should reconsider these thresholds and prosecutors should avoid adopting broad non-prosecution policies.

With a coordinated and focused effort among lawmakers, law enforcement, and the business community, we can stop the rise of organized retail crime.  uschamber.com

Magnificent Mile Businesses Call on Kim Foxx to Prosecute Criminals
'We want to see the Cook County State's Attorney's Office prosecuting'
"We want to see the Cook County State's Attorney's Office prosecuting," Bares told ABC7 News. "Violent crime has been up and that's what has us concerned. "Carjackings, recovery of guns, some shootings -- those kinds of things."

Bares is calling on Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx to fight back by prosecuting more of those cases, along with more aggressively going after the organized retail theft rings that are terrorizing the ritzy shopping district.

"We want to see the Cook County State's Attorney's Office prosecuting," she said. "When the police have put together a solid case, we want to see that prosecuted. And we want to see the judiciary sentence appropriately."

With felony crime on the rise, a report by the Chicago Tribune says Foxx and her staff have dismissed upwards of 25,000 felony cases - including many involving charges of murder and other serious crimes - over her first three years in office. By comparison, Foxx, who was swept into office largely on a platform of criminal justice reform, had dropped charges against felony defendants at a clip that's more than 10 percent greater than predecessor Anita Alvarez.

With "smash-and-grab" robberies now on the rise and estimates pegging total retail theft losses felt by merchants last year as high as $4 billion, state Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) has filed legislation targeting the organized theft rings behind the crime wave.

House Bill 4275 creates the crime of organized retail theft, a felony punishable by up to 15 years in jail if the value of the stolen goods is more than the state's current felony threshold of $300. Individuals would face such charges whenever they "work with one or more people to steal merchandise with the intent of selling or returning the merchandise for profit" or "act as an agent of another individual or group of individuals to steal merchandise from one or more merchant's premises as part of an organized plan to commit theft." chicagocitywire.com

California Turns Up the Heat on Theft Crews
Authorities aim to stop shoplifters who have been stealing many items from stores
At various cities in California, there have been several recent reports of groups of shoplifters walking into stores, brazenly grabbing items, and leaving without paying.

"California has seen a rise in thefts in recent years where suspects will walk into a store, clear out shelves and walk out without a care in the world. Unfortunately, some counties are not prosecuting people for these types of crimes," Romero said, but he indicated that local law enforcement personnel are taking these incidents very seriously.

"Fontana Police Department will arrest all suspects," he said. "San Bernardino County is prosecuting and holding people accountable for their actions."

On March 25, the state made progress in the fight against these types of crimes as California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the arrest of and felony charges against members of an organized retail theft ring operating throughout California, including the Inland Empire.

The theft ring was operating in Los Angeles County as well as in San Bernardino, Riverside, Alameda, Fresno, Kern, Orange, Sacramento, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Ventura counties.

"Organized retail theft hurts businesses, employees, and the public - and this criminal activity will not be tolerated in California," said Bonta in a news release. "Today we take another step toward tackling this issue by announcing the arrests and felony charges against individuals alleged to be participants in an organized criminal scheme targeting retailers throughout our state." fontanaheraldnews.com

New Orleans Calls On National Guard to Help with 'Tornado of Crime'
Residents worried as 2 severe beatings just latest in crime wave

The city will have additional resources from JPSO, State Police and feds for this weekend's Final Four.

Rhonda Findley with New Orleans Safe, started a petition drive to get city leaders to request help from the National Guard. So far, the petition on petition.org, has received 5,000 signatures.

"We're in a crisis," Findley said. "We're in a tornado of crime and it's time to bring in support. We have the guard here at Jackson Barracks."

New Orleans is getting help from the Louisiana State Police, Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, and federal law enforcement agencies this weekend for the NCAA Men's Final Four basketball tournament in the Caesar's Superdome.

"You're going to see a large presence of officers throughout this weekend in the downtown area, the entire weekend," NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said.

Neighbors are asking for stepped up police presence on a daily basis, not just for large events. wwltv.com

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Russia's Retail Collapse
'I am watching my business fall apart' - Can retailers survive inside Putin's Russia?
Western brands have swiftly moved to shut down operations in Russia since the invasion of Ukraine, wiping well-known goods from the shelves. But what does it feel like for those trying to run businesses in the country?

"To say I have concerns about the future is a huge understatement. Waking up every day with the knowledge that you are an unwilling part of this nightmare is devastating.

"I have been building my business for decades, and now I am watching it fall apart. I have people depending on me - not just my family, but my employees, who will lose their source of income, their health insurance, their livelihood. One of my biggest concerns is their welfare. But of course, compared with the tragedy that's happening in Ukraine, all business concerns seem insignificant.

"As of this moment, retail businesses are still functioning - but the biggest question we all have is what will happen in a few weeks or months, when supplies run out.

"The big brands that operate in Russia themselves, like Ikea and Inditex [the owner of fashion chain Zara], have a bit more freedom - they can afford to temporarily suspend operations while continuing to pay their employees.

"The businesses that work under a licence agreement are facing much tougher challenges. I fear we will all have to make a difficult, strategic choice - whether to close our businesses permanently and sell off our remaining stocks, or try to keep the business afloat in the hope that the situation improves and supplies can be resumed." theguardian.com

U.S. Retailers Step Up to Help Ukraine
Maine retail association creates statewide relief program to send aid to Europe
The Retail Association of Maine is calling on businesses and residents in the state to donate essential supplies to its relief program for Ukrainians in the embattled country.

As part of the From Maine to Ukraine relief program, the association is asking retailers around the state to donate new clothing and household items, which will be sent overseas to the Association Retailers of Ukraine to help the victims of war.

Shortly after the invasion of Ukraine in February, Retail Association of Maine CEO Curtis Picard reached out to Oksana Prykhodko, the CEO of the Ukrainian retail association, to ask how his team could help.

The retail association is working with individual businesses to collect and gather the donated goods at a centralized location in Maine. There is also a growing list of businesses that have signed up to collect food donations. foxbusiness.com

Retail Traffic Suffering Amid High Gas Prices
Gas prices seem to be hitting retail foot traffic, Placer.ai data finds
Higher gas prices may be taking a toll on retail foot traffic, according to a new report from data intelligence platform Placer.ai.

Though prices at the pump have begun to decrease, with a current national average of $4.25, the price per gallon is still $1.37 higher than a year ago amid the Ukraine-Russia war and other supply-chain issues. Now, combine that with elevated food prices and it appears that consumers are making fewer visits to retailers, according to Placer.ai's analysis.

During the week of March 7th, visits to U.S. retailers decreased by 4.3% compared to the same week three years ago, marking the steepest decline in weekly foot traffic over the past 12 months that were not correlated with the impact of COVID-19 or the holidays. If gas and food prices remain high, Placer.ai warns that retailers with higher exposure to lower-income consumers for which gas makes up a larger portion of the household budget, may face ongoing impact. finance.yahoo.com

Academy Sports + Outdoors to open 80 to 100 stores during next five years

BJ's teams with DoorDash to offer grocery delivery

French retail giant says its Russian stores will stay open

Modesto-based Save Mart Supermarkets sold to Los Angeles private equity firm

Advancing Collaboration on Organized Retail Crime in Canada

Addressing organized retail crime is a top priority for retailers across Canada. Collaboration between retailers, law enforcement, and justice is key. This panel examines how retailers can work together to drive change in the perceptions and impact of major retail crime. This discussion includes ideas for how retailers can take the lead and how Canadian retail organizations can achieve a deeper level of collaboration for increased results.

See the full agenda here
 

Canadian Stores Enlist Axis Communications Tech to Fight Theft
Retailers Find Benefit in Using Camera Technology for Customer Experience
​​Mitch Mershon, Business Development Manager, End to End Solutions at Axis Communications, said retailers want to be able to protect their premises by recording everything with high quality video managed via a video management software that is very easy to use and that they know is going to work.

"(Within the retail environment), there is obvious theft that occurs. We know that's always going to be there. So, if somehow there's a large theft and they're able to catch and view a person's face very plainly and clearly, it makes prosecution easier. On the other side of that is slip, trip and falls. One slip, trip or fall can cost a retailer tens, hundreds of thousands of dollars. So being able to prove proper compliance as the business owner, that's the difference between some places staying open and some places closing.

"One of the cool things we're starting to really move towards is working with analytics to where we can now start talking about more business intelligence. Being able to get not only recorded video for evidence, we can now start to look at how many people are coming into your store every day, where are they going as we track them around your store."

That business intelligence is crucial. It can help retailers with marketing the areas of a store that are particularly busy. It can help them with making staffing decisions. What area of the store needs more people? Less people? Video surveillance can also help retailers mitigate the risk of internal theft as well.

Axis Communications has "feet on the street" in at least 50 countries. In Canada, it has an office in Mississauga. It is known primarily as video surveillance manufacturer but over the years it has grown and expanded its reach in this field. retail-insider.com

Businesses Dealing with Shattered Windows Amid Crime Wave
"Unbelievable": Glass companies swamped by Vancouver's crime surge
Since the pandemic began, it has been fairly common to see work vans parked in downtown Vancouver belonging to glass repair companies. From the perspective of business owners, they've never seen anything like it. The perspective is largely the same from the companies that have been serving the businesses that are being impacted.

The situation that is currently facing Vancouver is unprecedented. His company is dealing with multiple calls a day. You might recall that two years ago when the pandemic began, when people were told to shelter in place, thieves made the most of it. Many businesses that were forced to close were also forced to board up their windows because of the sudden spike in theft. That uptick in theft and vandalism has persisted two years later.

Extreme Glass has done work with 100 towers in downtown, and Frazao suggested the spike he's seen in breakages is "dramatic." He also said he knows of a pet store in Yaletown that has had four incidents in just two weeks. Frazao said that it's "very expensive stuff."

"We're basically doing a few of those calls each day and that's just during regular hours. We get sent out during the night as well."

When Daily Hive Urbanized spoke with Jackie Haliburton about her retail store being repeatedly robbed and vandalized, she said that another glass company told her they'd never seen anything like this. Frazao agreed, he hasn't seen anything like this since the 90s.

The issue with adding layers of security as Frazao points out, is that it impacts the aesthetic of the store. This is especially the case when it comes to higher end stores. Window film is one potential solution that Frazao says would keep the glass intact, but installing shutters that come down every night might offer the best protection. dailyhive.com

Targeted & Gang Shootings on the Rise
'Brazenness' of shootings escalating, police say, as videos of public gun violence released
Edmonton police swear they are using every means at their disposal to address escalating gun crime and violence. The promise was made Thursday morning, when police agreed to take questions from media on recent shootings and also released security footage of three very public 2020 and 2021 shootings.

"The brazenness of these shootings is definitely, I would say, escalating. And why that trend is happening, we can't tell you. But it's definitely concerning to all of us," Staff Sgt. Eric Stewart, who oversees the Edmonton Police Service's firearms investigations and gang suppression teams, told reporters.

EPS counted 158 shootings in 2020 and 150 in 2021. Of the 2021 shootings, 72 per cent were "targeted" and 47 per cent had "gang involvement." In nearly half of the shootings, there was potential for innocent bystanders to be harmed. edmonton.ctvnews.ca

The U.S. and Canada Reestablish the Cross-Border Crime Forum
Officials Discussed Cybercrime, Violent Extremism, Public Safety, Firearms Violence, and Justice Reform
 

Canada's Fraud Prevention Month

Canadians Lost $375M to Scams in 2021
Thwarting cybercriminals before they get your financial info

Canadians lost $375 million to scams in 2021 alone, a 130 per cent increase over previous years

Cybercriminals are doing all they can to stay one step ahead of us by finding new ways to take advantage of our vulnerabilities. Canadians lost $375 million to scams in 2021 alone, a 130 per cent increase over previous years. The way to protect ourselves from their creativity in trying to trick us out of our money is to improve our ability to prevent them from gaining access in the first place.

The first step in preventing fraud is increasing our knowledge of how the fraud happens. One of the most common online scams to gain access to your financial data is when a cybercriminal sends an email (phishing) or text (smishing) regarding a refund or electronic transfer of funds. To receive the money, you must provide your banking access info. Unless you are expecting an e-transfer, do not click on the link and never provide your banking info unless directly logging into your financial institution's secure website.

The rise in online shopping has also provided a wealth of opportunities for cybercriminals. It's important to ensure you are dealing with a reputable company when making online purchases. For example, clicking on a link from another application can result in being redirected to a fake website designed to gain access to your banking or credit-card info. It's wiser to go directly to the company's website to purchase the product and ensure you are buying from a legitimate seller.

Use a low-limit credit card for online purchases to reduce the amount that can be accessed should your card info fall into the wrong hands. And be sure to review your monthly credit card and bank statements to ensure that all the transactions are indeed yours. financialpost.com

Police Urge Public to Report Fraud
RCMP offer tips to combat fraud

Fraud Awareness Month: Tips and reminders from Regina police
 

Columbus, OH: Shoplifting Spree Leaves Ulta Beauty Stores With Over $18,000 In Losses Do you recognize the suspects in the photos? They have shoplifted at multiple Ulta Beauty Stores in Columbus resulting in over $18,000 in losses. Anyone who has information or could identify these suspects is encouraged to contact Detective Beard at 614-645-2091 / bbeard@columbuspolice.org or Central Ohio Stoppers at 614-461-8477. shorenewsnetwork.com

Jackson Township, NJ: Three Female Shoplifters Pack Bags And Walk Out Of Jackson Outlets Store With Stolen Goods
On Friday, three women filled their bags with $3,000 worth of merchandise from the Under Armour store at the Jackson Premium Outlets and walked out the door. At 11:21 am on Friday, Jackson Jackson Police Officer Mitch Kafton responded to the Under Armour store located in the Jackson Premium Outlets. "A store employee reported that on the previous day, 3 unidentified females entered the store and then began putting merchandise in bags they were carrying. They left the store with merchandise valued in excess of $3,000.00 without paying for it," Captain Steve Laskiewicz said in a statement. shorenewsnetwork.com

Beverly Hills, CA: 5 Men arrested for Grab and Run on Rodeo Drive, Security Guard assaulted

San Fernando Valley, CA: 35 luxury cars, $2.3 Million in total, seized in SoCal fraud investigation

Boston, MA: 2 arrested after allegedly shoplifting more than $4,000 worth of sunglasses in Back Bay

Australia: Cigarettes worth $80,000 stolen from Pambula in break and enter