California Shoplifting Surges 28% Since 2019
Commercial Burglaries Fell in 2023, but Shoplifting Continued to Rise
Retail theft is at the center of criminal justice policy debates across the state. Recently released crime statistics for 2023 show continued growth in shoplifting statewide; reported incidents are 28% higher than in 2019. Commercial burglaries dropped by 9% in 2023 but remain about 6% above their pre-pandemic level. Our analysis shows that while most large counties saw increases in retail theft (both shoplifting and commercial burglary) from 2019 to 2023, more than 90% of the statewide rise occurred in just four counties: Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Mateo.

While several proposals have been considered in the state legislature to curb retail theft, proponents of Proposition 36 have cited concerns that Proposition 47 (2014)-which reclassified a number of drug and property offenses from felonies to misdemeanors-has contributed to the increases. With the aim of informing ongoing criminal justice policy discussions, we use California Department of Justice (CADOJ) 2023 statewide crime data to update our previous work on trends in retail theft in California. Given that under Prop 47, shoplifting is a specific crime category limited to theft incidents in which the value of the stolen merchandise does not exceed $950, we also examine commercial burglaries, which include higher-value incidents of retail theft in which the individual is charged with entering the premises with the intent to steal merchandise worth more than $950. These incidents can be treated as either misdemeanors or felonies (second-degree burglaries).

As with any data, there are limitations. Perhaps most importantly, retail theft data are limited to incidents reported to law enforcement agencies, and these incidents-especially low-value thefts-are likely underreported. Furthermore, agencies may vary in how they report and categorize an offense, and underreporting may change over time-possibly due to criminal justice responses to reported incidents and to media coverage.

Both shoplifting and commercial burglaries were higher in 2023 than they were before Prop 47 passed, with increases since the pandemic accounting for most of the rise. Shoplifting jumped in 2015 but decreased over the next several years, before falling dramatically (by 29%) in 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic. Shoplifting then jumped 29% in 2022 and surged another 39% in 2023; as a result, it was 28% higher-with about 24,000 more reported incidents-than in 2019, and at its highest observed level since 2000.

The 9% drop in commercial burglaries in 2023 countered the increase in shoplifting to some extent; however, commercial burglary was still roughly 6% above its 2019 level, with about 3,100 more reported incidents. Looking at shoplifting and commercial burglaries as a combined measure of retail theft, we see an increase of about 14% in 2023, 18% higher than 2019 and 11% higher than 2014. ppic.org

The Theft Surge is Giving Amazon a Boost
Drug store theft woes driving customers to Amazon, CEO says
Drug stores' woes are working in favor of Amazon. CEO Andy Jassy on Thursday said that anti-theft measures in brick and mortar chains are helping to drive more customers to shop online and use Amazon's pharmacy business.

Why it matters: Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid are among big pharmacy chains that have been struggling to keep up with the changing economics of their industry and shifts in consumer behavior. Over the past few years, all three brands have closed hundreds of locations each, with Rite Aid also filing for bankruptcy last year.

Driving the news: Following the release of its earnings report on Thursday afternoon, Jassy told investors on a call that walking into pharmacies in cities now "is a pretty tough experience with how much is locked behind cabinets - where you have to press a button to get somebody to come out and open the cabinets for you - and shoplifting going on in the store."

"The combination of what's happened in physical world and how much improvement we've made to our pharmacy experience is driving a lot of customers," he added.

The big picture: Retailers know that locking up items hurts sales. Secured cases can cause sales to drop 15% to 25%, Joe Budano, CEO of anti-theft technology company Indyme, told Axios' Kelly Tyko last year.

The intrigue: Amazon's also been the target of criminal resale activity, in which organized crime rings list stolen goods online. The company says it uses "sophisticated detection and prevention solutions" across its operations to spot theft and potential resale of stolen goods.

Last summer, the Inform Act, a bipartisan bill that requires online platforms like Amazon to disclose and verify the identity of its sellers, also took effect to curb retail theft. axios.com

   RELATED: Shoppers hate anti-theft measures & Amazon is reaping the rewards


Theft & Fraud Top Challenges for Food Retailers
Study reveals theft and fraud remain top challenges for food retailers
As food retailers continue to grapple with challenges that impact the bottom line, a study conducted by Coresight Research found that theft and fraud remain top concerns for food retailers.

Coresight Research said that, according to the Food Industry Association, 85% of food retailers report theft or fraud (shrink) as the top threat that negatively impacted their businesses last year. Consumers have also noticed an uptick in theft. Coresight Research found that 27% of consumers report they have personally witnessed shoplifting as of May 2024, compared with just 18% in July 2023.

However, extra security measures could lead to shoppers taking their business to another store, the report says.

The Coresight Research study indicated that a significant portion of U.S. shoppers are deterred by aggressive security measures, such as locked items, which can push them toward alternative shopping locations or channels - with 23% saying they would shop at another store and 25% saying they would just shop online if a retailer put in security measures like locking up products or moving them into cases.

The report says that retail shrink through theft continues to be a persistent and intensifying headwind for retailers globally. Shoplifting and organized crime negatively impact retail margins and, as such, have become a growing focus for the sector.

U.S. results from the study:

• On July 17, it was reported that grocer Giant Food has enhanced security protocols at some of its stores in Montgomery County, Md., due to increased shoplifting.

• On June 27, Bloomberg reported that Target is lowering the threshold for how much shoplifters can steal before employees are permitted to intervene, with the company adopting a stricter stance to curb store theft.

• According to the Food Industry Association's annual research report, "The Food Retailing Industry Speaks 2024" (published June 27), asset protection was the top challenge facing the food industry in 2023, with 85% of food retailers citing theft and fraud as a factor that negatively impacted their businesses that year. thepacker.com


Billboards to Discourage Theft: Clever Idea or Waste of Money?
To deter retail theft, Sacramento County is putting up 20 billboards. Will it help?
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office latest attempt to fight retail theft: buying billboards along freeways and major thoroughfares.

"Retail theft! Comes with free bracelets," reads one electronic billboard on westbound Capital City Freeway. Other campaigns - some of which include Sheriff Jim Cooper making a stern face - are located on websites such as USA Today and exercise website Shape, according to the Sheriff's Office.

The money to place billboards around Sacramento comes after the California Board of State and Community Corrections awarded $9.4 million to the Sheriff's Office in September 2023. A portion of the grant money must address retail theft beyond the typical enforcement and highlight the efforts deputies are taking to combat theft, said Sgt. Amar Gandhi, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Office.

Gandhi noted a survey issued by the Sheriff's Office gauged whether residents know of the problems posed by retail theft. People were surprised to hear that deputies were conducting undercover operations, and the survey showed billboards helped to raise awareness of the existence of retail theft, he said.

The Sheriff's Office plans to have 20 total physical and digital billboards launched by December. At least some of them are already up, including near Folsom Boulevard and 65th Street, along the Capital City Freeway and along Watt Avenue.

However, experts said the most hardened criminals will not be deterred by billboards to stop theft. sacbee.com


California Continues Crime Crackdown
Newsom finalizes agreement to speed up prosecutions in Alameda County
Building on the state's efforts to crack down on crime in the East Bay, Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that the California National Guard's (CalGuard) Counterdrug Task Force has finalized a memorandum of understanding with the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) to allow CalGuard prosecutors to begin handling cases originating in Alameda County. The agreement is modeled after a successful partnership established in San Francisco with District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, which has helped boost felony narcotics convictions in San Francisco.

With the agreement in place, local and state law enforcement officials are wasting no time in collaborating to tackle violent and organized crime in Alameda County.

This follows the Governor's recent announcement that he would quadruple the number of shifts CHP officers conduct in Oakland and increase ongoing surge operations over four months beginning in July. In the first six months of the operation, CHP officers arrested 562 suspects, recovered 1,142 stolen cars, and seized 55 guns connected to crimes. gov.ca.gov


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More Sectors Using Facial Recognition to Bolster Security
NFL to roll out facial authentication software league-wide

Twenty-five top soccer stadiums already use facial recognition

The National Football League is the latest organization to turn to facial authentication to bolster event security, according to an announcement this week.

All 32 NFL stadiums will start using the technology this season, after the league signed a contract with a company that uses facial scans to verify the identity of people entering event venues and other secure spaces.

... Wicket technology was deployed in a handful of NFL stadiums last year as part of a pilot program. Other stadiums will start rolling it out beginning on Aug. 8, when the pre-season kicks off.

...Wicket's website says its technology uses "facial biometrics algorithms" to authenticate individual faces in less than a second and with 99.7% accuracy even in poorly lit spaces. The company markets itself to large venues by promising that it speeds entry and decreases congestion.

League-wide adoption of Wicket technology is designed to prevent the use of fraudulent credentials and make stadiums more secure, according to NFL officials.

...The NFL is not the only sports league deploying facial recognition technology. Soccer stadiums worldwide are rapidly adopting and deploying facial recognition technology..., according to a Privacy International (PI) report published in May.  therecord.media


Cutting Store Footprint By 23%?
Big Lots may close up to 315 stores

The retailer requires "significant changes to the business model to continue as a going concern," analysts said.

Big Lots may now close up to 315 stores under amended credit and loan terms, according to an 8-K filed Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Previous terms with lenders allowed it to close up to 150 under performing stores. In June, the company said it planned to close up to 40 stores.

If the company moves to shutter the full number of stores allowed under the updated term sheet, that would represent a nearly 23% cut in the company's store footprint, which was 1,392 locations as of June. retaildive.com


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$1B in Losses After CrowdStrike Outage - But Couldn't Been Worse?
Insured loss impact could reach $1B following CrowdStrike outage

Guy Carpenter said it could be worse: Had the incident involved a ransomware attack, losses could have reached $2 billion.

The insured losses connected to a global IT outage July 19, which a faulty CrowdStrike Falcon software update triggered, are expected to range between $300 million and $1 billion, according to a report released Friday from Guy Carpenter.

The losses would have likely been much larger had the incident been malicious, according to the report. A ransomware attack involving such a widely used technology system could have ranged from $600 million to $2 billion, according to the company, which is the reinsurance brokerage business under Marsh McClennan.

The insurance industry may need to reevaluate its perspective on potential risks and think less in terms of a single catastrophic "super cat" incident, but rather on the risk of mid-sized "kitty cat" incidents that take place on a more frequent, but smaller scale, Guy Carpenter said.

The CrowdStrike incident is widely considered one of the largest IT outages in history. The outage caused massive disruptions after thousands of commercial flights were canceled globally, hospitals had to cancel surgeries and 911 systems were temporarily knocked offline in multiple U.S. cities.

Many insured organizations have already filed notices of circumstances, but it is still very early in the claims process. The report estimates less than 1% of companies globally with cyber insurance coverage were impacted.  cybersecuritydive.com


The Down Side of Automatic IT Updates
After CrowdStrike outage, what will become of automatic IT updates?

Blind enterprise trust in software updates is the latest symptom of a race toward IT automation.

Businesses around the world screeched to a halt on July 19 after millions of Windows computers crashed, flashing the dreaded blue screen of death. The culprit: a software update in security vendor CrowdStrike's platform, which led to hours of disruption for some - and days for others.

The IT outage grounded airlines across the country and crashed banking apps, showing the tangible effects a bad piece of code can have in any IT-dependent operation.

In the aftermath of the CrowdStrike outage, analysts stressed to CIOs and other tech leaders the need for closer scrutiny over automatic software updates. Part of the problem is a steady push toward broader IT automation and the industry's disproportionate reliance on centralized vendor updates.

"There's been an almost crazed drive towards automation of SaaS over the last five years," said Phil Fersht, CEO and chief analyst at HFS Research.

"This is a big, big wake up call to the whole IT industry's overreliance on a blind trust that everything's just going to be upgraded," said Fersht. "Fairly small code issues can cause massive ramifications as we've just seen."  cybersecuritydive.com


Software Supply Chain Fears
CrowdStrike outage renews supply chain concerns, federal officials say

The White House and the U.S. Government Accountability Office are raising questions about the resilience of the software supply chain and memory safety vulnerabilities.

Federal officials said the global IT outage stemming from a faulty CrowdStrike software update is raising prior concerns about the security of the software supply chain.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report Tuesday noting the July 19 outage, which led to the disruption of 8.5 million Microsoft Windows systems. The CrowdStrike incident resurrected concerns raised during the state-linked supply chain attack against SolarWinds in 2020, according to the GAO.

The CrowdStrike incident highlights specific warnings about memory safety issues in software development, the White House said on Thursday The remarks build on a February report that raised questions about the link between memory safety issues and software vulnerabilities. cybersecuritydive.com


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