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80% of Retail Workers Are 'Scared Every Day'
Study: Most retail workers feel unsafe; want better planning, security

A wide majority of retailer workers feel unsafe on the job.

Eighty-percent of retail workers are "scared every day" as they clock in for work, and 72% have experienced incidents in which staff couldn't respond to a threat because their store was understaffed, according to the 2024 Retail Worker Safety Survey, conducted by Theatro by third-party platform Pollfish.

More than six-in-10 (62%) of workers surveyed said they feel ill-equipped to deal with difficult situations, and 51% rate their store's technology as only slightly or moderately effective. A majority of in-store workers think their store would be safer if leadership solicited feedback from in-store workers, yet 23% said they hadn't been involved in any capacity in safety and security planning for their store.

"In-store workers are the backbone of the retail industry, bringing the heart, soul, and connection that transforms customers into loyal brand advocates," said Chris Todd, CEO at Theatro. "This survey exposes the dangers these frontline employees face daily as they work tirelessly to keep our stores safe and secure, and outlines a clear path for what the industry must do to respond."

According to the survey, 37% of workers reported spotting the need for discrete emergency alert systems, and 31% reported wanting communication devices with established code works for emergency situations. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of retail workers are considering leaving their jobs, and 64% would consider suing their employer over a store crime incident.

"Ensuring employees feel safe, valued, and protected is not just a moral obligation; it's a business imperative that drives customer satisfaction and loyalty," said Todd. "Now is the time for retailers to prioritize training, communicate proactively, and audit communication solutions and processes, knowing that an investment in worker safety is an investment in the organization's long-term success."

The survey included 600 in-store retail workers aged 18+ in the top 15 metropolitan areas across the United States. chainstoreage.com


Hitting Retailers When Theft is Already Keeping Them Down
WSJ: California's Self-Checkout Heist

A bill would limit the technology that retailers could use to cut costs.

Which is a bigger danger to retailers in California-thieves or state lawmakers? Hard to tell sometimes. Consider how Democrats in Sacramento are trying to banish self-checkout and cost-saving technologies in the name of-get this-stopping theft.

California has been losing retail jobs amid an increase in online shopping and theft. Walgreens has shut more than a half dozen stores in San Francisco in recent years, blaming in part organized retail crime. At the same time, discount grocers with lower labor costs are gaining ground. These trends increase the need for retailers to become more efficient, which unions oppose when it reduces dues-paying union employees.

Enter the state Senate, which last week passed a bill to limit self-checkout at grocery and drug stores. Some stores now task one employee with supervising several kiosks and assign more when needed. The legislation would require one employee who is "relieved of all other duties" to monitor at most two self-service stations.

If a store has six self-checkout stations, three employees would be required to monitor them even if there are no customers. Retailers would also have to limit self-checkout to purchases of 15 or fewer items. These mandates would reduce labor savings and possibly increase a store's costs. That's the goal.

The bill would also require stores to "complete a worker and customer impact assessment" before adopting robotics, sensors, artificial intelligence, electronic monitoring and effectively any technology designed to increase worker productivity or customer convenience.

The bill's sponsor, Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, claims her goal is to reduce shoplifting, as if retailers want to be pillaged. If Democrats truly cared about theft, they'd champion reforms to the state's Prop. 47, which effectively lets organized criminals plunder stores with impunity as long as they steal less than $950 in goods each time.

Instead, Democrats are hitting retailers when they're down. When their regulations harm workers, they will blame the businesses. Robots could surely run California better than the gang in Sacramento. wsj.com


California Progressives Balk At Shoplifting Bill, But It Passes Anyway
The bill would make it easier to arrest shoplifters

How did a shoplifting bill get through California's liberal Assembly with most Democrats opposed?
Assemblymember Ash Kalra did something exceptional last week. He was the only legislator to vote "no" on a controversial piece of legislation while nearly half of the 80 members in the state Assembly - and a majority of the Democrats - did not vote.

The bill, which would make it easier to arrest shoplifters, is a recent example of a pattern CalMatters revealed in April with legislators dodging votes to avoid offending the bill's supporters or to eliminate a record of their opposition on controversial topics.

Assembly Bill 1990 passed the Assembly 44-1 last week with 35 lawmakers not casting a vote including 32 of the 62 Democrats and the Assembly speaker, Robert Rivas. Some of those not voting had excused absences, but the Legislature's online record does not distinguish between an absence, an abstention or not voting.

The bill would allow police to make an arrest for shoplifting without a warrant, even if they did not witness the crime. Los Angeles Assemblywoman Wendy Carillo, who authored the bill with five Democratic and two Republican coauthors, said it is "in response to the alarming escalation of organized retail theft," which has become a hot-button political issue.

But progressive Democrats, leery of increasing incarceration rates for minor offenses, were uncomfortable with the bill.  calmatters.org


State Retail Crime Task Force is Paying Off
Michigan AG touts results of retail crime task force
Once conversation with Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel revealed a program that could put you at ease and save you some money. The goal: limiting retail crime.

"Retail crime is expensive. It costs our state over a billion dollars a year and it's scary and sometimes involves acts of violence," Nessel said. That, Nessel said, is why she created a special unit within her office to combat such crimes.

With an additional appropriations of $3.5 million, she has staff dedicated to tracking down and prosecuting specially organized retail crimes. She said it's working. "As a result, we have 11 cases that we have charges in just over a year," Nessel said.

At least one of those was a high-profile case that involved a lot of people and money. "We also recently busted this enormous ring of individuals that were stealing hundreds and hundreds of vehicles right from auto dealerships and doing so in a very violent manner. They were shooting at police through the windows of their cars. They were ramming security vehicles," Nessel said.

Nessel said that in addition to trying to reduce violence, the new task force could help consumers save money by preventing loss, the cost of which is often passed along to paying customers. The new force includes two prosecutors, two investigators and a special analyst.  woodtv.com


'Next Generation People Screening' to Fight Theft
Sensormatic Solutions Collaborates with Thruvision to Thwart Retail Crime

A newly announced alliance between Sensormatic Solutions and Thruvision will provide retail businesses with non-invasive scanning capabilities to detect everything from weapons to theft.

Sensormatic Solutions, a global retail solutions portfolio of Johnson Controls, has announced its partnership with Thruvision, a global provider of walk-through security screening technology.

According to Sensormatic, the new partnership will enable next-generation people screening to become more accessible to retailers around the world. Using passive terahertz camera technology, Thruvision's cameras and scanning software complement Sensormatic Solutions loss prevention solutions portfolio and will provide retailers with a fast, respectful and reliable people-screening option in distribution centers and other logistics facilities to address and help reduce internal shrink. Thruvision's offering is available now through Sensormatic Solutions.

"The discussion about retail theft often focuses on sales floors and through the organized retail crime (ORC) lens, but internal theft is a growing problem. According to research we conducted with Retail Economics [published Nov. 2023], 40% of the total value of theft is attributable to employees. Additionally, retailers have seen an increase in employee theft over the past year, and 70% state they've seen an increase in distribution centers," states Colin Evans, chief executive officer, Thruvision. "Sensormatic Solutions' extensive retail expertise, global footprint and proven record of delivering cutting-edge loss prevention solutions made it a natural fit for helping us reach more retailers in need of our technology. We look forward to working alongside the team to help retailers address this fast-growing driver of shrink." securitysales.com


Kroger's Tougher Security Measures
Why some Columbus Kroger stores are now requiring receipt checks
Kroger is now requiring receipt checks and prohibiting shoppers from carrying large bags at six Columbus-area stores, a move the grocery giant says is a response to increased incidents of theft.

At the entrance of these stores, shoppers are greeted with a sign that tells them receipts are required when exiting the store; suitcases, duffel bags and roller bags are not permitted and that Kroger reserves the right to search bags shoppers may bring in. The rules were effective May 13.  dispatch.com


Albuquerque business owner frustrated by ongoing retail crime

16% of homicide victims in Davidson County, TN in 2024 have been teens, kids
 

Glendale, AZ: Woman in custody after stealing more than $14,000 worth of garments from Victoria's Secret
A 24-year-old woman is in custody accused of stealing more than $14,000 worth of women's garments from Victoria's Secret. Glendale police say the woman shoplifted eight different times from Victoria's Secret locations in Glendale and Phoenix. Court paperwork shows the incidents took place between November 2023 and March 2024. Two of the reported incidents happened at the same store on the same day. Overall, the woman allegedly stole about $14,200 worth of women's underwear. She reportedly admitted to police that after she stole the apparel and would sell the garments for profit. The woman is facing multiple charges, including organized retail theft of merchandise.  abc15.com


San Antonio, TX: Man sentenced to 16 years in prison for robbing pawn shop, selling stolen firearms online
A San Antonio man was sentenced to 16 years in federal prison for robbing a pawn shop of firearms and then selling them on social media. According to court documents, Antonio Hinojosa Jr., 21, and three other men planned the robbery on a social media chat. The men wore gloves, masks and dark clothing when they robbed the store on May 18, 2023, and threatened store employees by brandishing firearms, a news release from the US Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas said. The suspects stole 14 firearms and more than $8,600 worth of jewelry before fleeing in a getaway truck, the news release said. After the robbery, Hinojosa posted photos of the stolen firearms on social media to advertise and sell them to his contacts, court documents said. Hinojosa was arrested on June 26, 2023. He pleaded guilty on March 7 to one count of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, one count of brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and one count of conspiracy to traffic firearms. Co-defendant, Joshua Michael Govea, whose role in the robbery was to detain the store workers at gunpoint, pleaded guilty to the robbery conspiracy and brandishing charges. He was sentenced to nine years last week. Two other co-defendants, Cesar Alan Garcia and Sebastian Louis Xavier Suarez, are pending trial and remain in custody.  ksat.com


Rocky Mount, Police charge 2 with organized retail theft
Two men were arrested on May 20 after patrol officers with the Rocky Mount Police Department investigated a theft from a local business. Turkise Maurice Petway, 29, was charged with organized retail theft and nine counts of possession of stolen goods after detectives discovered $4,300 worth of property stolen from Harbor Freight, Walmart, The Children's Place, Burlington, Citi Trends, Belk, Target, Lowe's and Tractor Supply Co., according to a police news release. Following a lead and a vehicle familiar to them from prior cases, officers located 53-year old Timothy Jones at 601 Hammond St., where police say they also found an air compressor belonging to Tractor Supply. Jones was charged with felony larceny, resisting a public officer and organized retail theft. He was issued a $6,500 secured bond and booked into the Nash County jail. Petway received no bond. Police say the case marks the fourth time since early 2023 that the department seized stolen property from the Hammond Street address.  restorationnewsmedia.com


Ventura County, CA: Ventura County Task Force apprehends trio suspected of Organized Retail Theft in Simi Valley and Camarillo
Thieves who allegedly made off with merchandise from Ace Hardware and a Nike Outlet have been nabbed by the Ventura County Organized Retail Theft Task Force. Reports identify the suspects as 42-year-old Josef Hartmout Lugo of Simi Valley, 36-year-old Jamaal Reilly of Oxnard, and 38-year-old Nickol Rosser of Newport Beach. The trio was busted on felony organized retail theft charges, and with the stolen goods in tow, the task force put an end to their operation.  hoodline.com


San Francisco, CA: SFPD arrests 3 women, 3 men, 1 juvenile for group retail theft at CVS
The San Francisco Police Department arrested seven people-three men, three women, and a juvenile-on Wednesday regarding an organized retail theft incident at a CVS in the Ingleside district. Police said an off-duty sergeant was driving near the CVS at the 700 block of Portola Drive when he witnessed "a large group of people walking toward the pharmacy store carrying empty bags." The sergeant then watched the group leave the store "in a chaotic manner," with one suspect pushing a shopping cart "full of merchandise," police said. The sergeant then relayed the information to dispatch before officers from the Ingleside station responded to the area. Officers detained all seven suspects, including the juvenile. Police also recovered stolen merchandise, including: Makeup, Diapers, Bath and body products, Batteries, Vitamins, In addition to the list above, police said they recovered "various other items." Police said they developed probable cause to arrest all suspects for organized retail theft. SFPD said it has been conducting routine "blitz" operations at local businesses, leading to hundreds of arrests in recent months, but have clarified the CVS arrest was not part of the operation. "Although these recent arrests were not part of a blitz operation, officers are ready at a moment's notice to respond to crimes in progress. Any business that would like to participate in a blitz operation can contact sfpd.retailtheft@sfgov.org," SFPD said.  yahoo.com


Shippensburg, PA: Two women arrested after allegedly posing as delivery drivers, stealing over $1,000 in electronics from Shippensburg Walmart

The Villages, FL: Pair arrested in theft of more than $1,300 in merchandise at Walmart

Bakersfield, CA: Five Bakersfield residents arrested for grand theft at Tehachapi Walmart

Irvine, CA: Woman wanted for switching tags on items purchased at a Target store

Monroe County, PA: Three wanted for alleged retail theft at Pocono Outlets