'Historic Drop' in Violent & Property Crimes During Q1 2024: FBI Crime Data
Violent crime went down by 15.2% & property crimes decreased by 15.1%

New FBI stats show 'historic' declines in violent crime rate, with murder showing sharpest drop

Philadelphia's police chief is "excited" about what he's seeing in the numbers, but he "is also very cautious that we don't overstate & overestimate the direction we're going."

The latest FBI statistics point to a "historic" drop in crime in the first quarter of this year, Attorney General Merrick Garland says.

And this, after a year in which the murder rate fell at one the fastest rates ever recorded, a top criminologist added.

The rate of violent and property crimes dropped precipitously in the first three months of 2024 compared to the same period last year, according to quarterly statistics released Monday by the FBI known as the Uniform Crime Report.

The murder rate fell by 26.4%, reported rapes decreased by 25.7%, robberies fell by 17.8%, aggravated assault fell by 12.5%, and the overall violent crime rate went down by 15.2%, the statistics show.

Reported property crimes also decreased by 15.1%, according to the UCR report, which the FBI compiles using crime statistics supplied to the agency by law enforcement agencies across the U.S.

"This data makes clear that last year's historic decline in violent crime is continuing," Garland said in a statement. "This continued historic decline in homicides does not represent abstract statistics. It represents people whose lives were saved - people who are still here to see their children grow up, to work toward fulfilling their dreams, and to contribute to their communities."

Brian Higgins, an adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, said there could be a correlation between the crime decline and the efforts in recent years to beef up police forces that lost officers in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder and amid calls to "Defund the Police."  nbcnews.com


It's Official: Prop 47 Rollback Measure Makes the November Ballot
Big retailers put big money behind the ballot measure

California voters may decide whether to roll back Prop 47 crime measure

San Francisco Mayor London Breed and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan endorsed the ballot measure to roll back Prop 47 earlier this year.

Californians may have the chance to roll back parts of a law they approved in 2014 that downgraded drug possession and thefts worth less than $950 to misdemeanors, after a measure to reimpose felony punishments for those offenses qualified Tuesday for the November ballot.

The 2014 law, Proposition 47, aimed to reduce jail populations, but critics say it has emboldened thieves. The ballot measure to change it would eliminate the $950 threshold for a third theft, meaning someone caught stealing three times could be charged with a felony, regardless of the value of the merchandise stolen. It would do the same for a third drug possession charge. It would also increase jail time for repeat thefts and organized retail theft and includes provisions to compel people with multiple drug possession convictions into treatment.

The campaign in support of the measure has reported more than $8.5 million in contributions so far. Its top donors are Walmart, Target and Home Depot.

Though most Democrats have backed Prop 47, there has been support for overhauling the proposition among the party's moderates for years. San Francisco Mayor London Breed and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan endorsed the ballot measure earlier this year, signaling growing distaste for Prop 47 among Democrats.

They join California Republicans, who have long been the harshest critics of the law and have repeatedly tried to overturn it.

"Our goal is not to keep people locked up," Breed told the Chronicle earlier this year. "But when there are no real consequences for crimes that are committed in this city, that's a real problem." sfchronicle.com

   RELATED: California Democrats squabble over poison pills in anti-crime laws


'Shutting Down Organized Theft Rings'
California lawmakers fast-track bill requiring online sellers to verify their identity
A California bill that would require marketplaces like eBay and Nextdoor to start collecting bank accounts and tax identification numbers from high-volume sellers who advertise online but collect payments offline was fast-tracked by Democratic lawmakers with committees voting on it Tuesday.

The idea is that thieves will be less likely to resell stolen merchandise if authorities can track them down.

The measure is part of a legislative package of 14 bills to combat retail theft in the state. The California Retailers Association has said the issue has reached crisis levels, though it's challenging to quantify because many stores don't share their data.

Proponents, including district attorneys and some big box retailers, said the data collection proposal would shut down organized theft rings seeking to resell stolen goods and would close a loophole in existing laws that don't require platforms to track offline transactions.

The rules under the bill would apply to sellers who make at least $5,000 profit and engage in at least 200 transactions in a year.

Opponents say the measure also runs contrary to a federal law that went into effect last July, which requires online marketplaces like Amazon to verify high-volume sellers on their platforms as part of an effort to tamp down the number of goods being stolen from brick-and-mortar stores and resold online.

Requiring platforms to monitor all transactions, including those happening offline, is an impossible task, Szabo said.

The proposal is part of a legislative package that would increase penalties for organized crime rings, expand drug court programs and close a legal loophole to make it easier to prosecute auto thefts, among other things. fox40.com


Another State Enacting Retail Theft Law
Will harsher retail theft penalties in new law have an impact on Vt. scofflaws?
After getting approval from Governor Phil Scott last week, a bill that stiffens penalties for repeated retail theft will become law next month.

"That's what's really critical -- is to have the accountability," said Rep. Martin LaLonde, D-South Burlington, the original author of the retail theft bill, which is aimed at creating harsher penalties targeted at repeat offenders.

In the final version of the bill, the penalties increase for misdemeanor offenses. Those charged with retail theft a second time face a $1,000 fine or up to two years in jail if it's committed within two years of the first offense.

Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George has faced criticism for her handling of low-level crimes like retail theft, but she says her office has 565 retail theft cases pending right now. She questions the effectiveness of stiffer penalties. "Whether someone is going to be charged with a misdemeanor or a felony is not a deterrent, it never has been. It's been proven time and time and time again not to be a deterrent so I'm not sure it's going to have the deterrent effect it was meant to," she said.

George says many of the cases they see have underlying issues such as homelessness and addiction. She says investments outside the criminal justice system would have the most impact on crimes like retail theft. "If we really addressed the housing crisis and some of the substance services that are lacking, that in itself will make a huge difference in our caseload and our backlog," she said.

The new laws will now go into effect on July 1st. wcax.com


Video: Extra measures retailers are taking to combat ongoing retail theft

Hawaii crime reaches new heights, police urge beachgoers to take valuables into ocean
 

Most Trusted Brands 2024
Retail Brands & Products Recognized in Annual Ranking

Morning Consult's definitive ranking of the brands that lead the way on consumer trust

This year, we're expanding our rankings to include more brands than ever before - 118 brands are included across our 14 rankings - from long-standing brands like UPS and Colgate to newer entrants such as ChatGPT and Spotify.

Highlights from this report

Items you'll find on the grocery store shelf, including food, household, and personal products, make up 13 of the 25 Most Trusted Brands ranking. These are the tried-and-true staples of American households, from Cheerios to Clorox.

The next biggest group of brands on the ranking are stores that stock many of those same brands - retail giants like Amazon and CVS. Additionally, the three largest American shipping brands, UPS, USPS, and FedEx all make the ranking. pro.morningconsult.com

Retail Ransomware Attacks Fall, But the Recovery Cost is Still Rising
The State of Ransomware in Retail 2024

IT and cybersecurity leaders reveal ransomware realities for retail businesses today.

Attack rates have dropped, but recovery is more expensive

45% of retail organizations reported they were hit by ransomware last year. This is a notable and welcome drop from the 69% and 77% ransomware rates reported in 2023 and 2022, respectively.

The mean cost for retail organizations to recover from a ransomware attack was $2.73M in 2024, an increase from the $1.85M reported in 2023.

Devices impacted in a ransomware attack

On average, 40% of computers in retail are impacted by a ransomware attack. Having your full environment encrypted is extremely rare, with only 2% of organizations reporting that 91% or more of their devices were impacted.

Retail's propensity to pay the ransom has increased

66% of retail organizations restored encrypted data using backups, while 60% paid the ransom to get data back. The use of backups in retail organizations has fallen slightly for the second consecutive year, but what is more concerning is the sector's propensity to pay the ransom, which has increased considerably over the last year.

A notable change over the last year is the increase in the propensity for victims to use multiple approaches to recover encrypted data (e.g., paying the ransom and using backups). In this year's study, over one-third of retail organizations (39%) that had data encrypted reported using more than one method, more than double the rate reported in 2023 (16%).

Retail victims rarely pay the initial ransom sum demanded

78 retail respondents whose organizations paid the ransom shared the actual sum paid, revealing that the average (median) payment has decreased by 68% over the last year, from $3M to $950K.

Download the full report for more insights into ransom payments and many other areas.  news.sophos.com


'Deepfakes-as-a-Service'
Fighting deepfakes via payments

"Since many of these deepfake software services accept credit cards, payments providers are on the front lines of detecting these companies," writes one corporate compliance officer.

The payments industry plays a critical role in the deepfake fight. The digital commerce landscape is inundated with online services that facilitate deepfake creation via artificial intelligence.

Since many of these deepfake software services accept credit cards, payments providers are on the front lines of detecting these companies and stopping malicious actors from profiting.

Deepfakes were once the domain of technical experts, requiring significant computing power and expertise. However, this landscape is rapidly changing.

"Deepfakes-as-a-service" websites now allow almost anyone with an internet connection, credit card, and malicious intent to create highly convincing deepfakes. These platforms offer easy-to-use interfaces, pre-trained AI models, and even access to databases of source material.

The existence of affordable and accessible deepfake creation services makes this serious problem easy to scale - and difficult to police in the absence of comprehensive laws. paymentsdive.com


Global Cybercrime Fight Continues
LockBit & Conti Ransomware Hacker Busted in Ukraine

Accused cybercriminal has special skills that helped Conti and LockBit ransomware evade detection, according to law enforcement.

Police have arrested a 28-year-old Ukrainian man for his work as a freelance developer for the Russian ransomware groups Conti and LockBit.

The accused is an expert in developing cryptors, software that hides malware from antivirus detection, and according to a Ukrainian police report (translated with Google Translate), he frequently worked for Conti and LockBit in exchange for cryptocurrency. Law enforcement was able to identify his cryptors in successful ransomware attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.

The crimes could land the accused in prison for up to 15 years, according to the announcement.

The splashy arrest is part of Operation Endgame, an ongoing international law enforcement campaign against cybercrime. Dutch officials said the suspect was taken into custody on April 18 with assistance from the multinational cooperation. darkreading.com


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