More States Increase Jail Time for ORC Rings
Tougher laws & robot security guards. How North Carolina is fighting rise in organized retail theft
Cabarrus County District Attorney Ashlie Shanley says organized retail theft is happening across the region, state and country.

Stolen merchandise costs North Carolina businesses more than $3 billion in 2021, according to the North Carolina Retail Merchants Association. Shanley has seen a steady increase in these kinds of organized retail theft rings over her 25 years working in the criminal justice system.

But now Shanley's in a position to influence how organized retail crime is handled at a national level. This summer, Shanley was appointed to chair the National Organized Retail Crime Advisory Board. Created last year by the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the National District Attorneys Association, the board works to promote improvements in retail security.

CHANGING RETAIL THEFT LAWS

Given the scope of organized retail theft, state and federal lawmakers are working to strengthen laws dealing with such crimes. In January, a bill introduced in Congress would establish an Organized Retail Crime Coordination Center at Homeland Security to help further investigate organized retail crime rings. Meanwhile, a new law in North Carolina will increase potential jail time for organized retail crime rings. In December, state legislators passed the "Organized Retail Theft" bill, which allows prosecutors to combine the value of stolen goods across county lines, allowing for more serious felony charges. It's the difference between putting someone in jail for about three years, or more than 19 years, Cabarrus County GOP Rep. Kevin Crutchfield said.

Another bill, this one sponsored by Crutchfield, would allow for harsher sentencing if the merchandise is from an organized retail crime ring. The bill passed the House but has yet to be voted on in the state Senate. This bill will help prosecutors stop repeat offenders, Ellen said.

TURNING TO ROBOTS TO DETER RETAIL THIEVES

In March, Mooresville-based Lowe's began using 400-pound security robots in select stores as a pilot program, Lowe's spokesman Larry Costello told The Charlotte Observer. Those robots, made by Silicon Valley-based Knightscope, are in Lowe's stores in the Charlotte area, Costello said.

Lowe's wants to prioritize using technology to enhance its efforts against retail theft, as well as be proactive with customers service and asset protection, Costello said in an email.  charlotteobserver.com


California's Employee-vs-Shoplifter Bill in the News
Legislators Propose Bills to Address Employee Injury Due to Shoplifting
As retailers grapple with how to protect employees from shoplifters, legislators are working on bill that would protect workers from workplace violence due to theft.

Legislators in the California Assembly nixed a provision of S.B. 553 that would require businesses to have anti-violence strategies. The bill, retailers said, would have made it illegal for workers in retail stores to stop shoplifters.

The provision was removed, officials said, when businesses complained that the proposed legislation would prevent them from having any employee, even security guards, stop shoplifters. Businesses said the bill essentially left them without any security.

Incidents of employees injured, or even killed, seem to be on the rise. Retailers are reporting increases in the number of thefts. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), retail stores reported losing more than $94 billion in 2021 because of theft and other shrinkage factors. Organized retail theft - when groups of shoplifters act in unison - was up 26.5 percent, a survey by the NRF found, with 80 percent of those surveyed reporting that violence and aggression associated with organized event was also up.

According to the National Retail Association, more than 37 percent of retailers said in a survey that their policy is that employers are not allowed to intervene if they catch someone shoplifting.

"More and more we're seeing the risk being brought into the stores, and people being hurt, or people even being killed in many cases because of these folks," Home Depot Vice President of Asset Protection Scott Glenn said earlier this year. "They just don't care about the consequence."

Mark Walls, vice president of client engagement at Safety National Casualty Corp., told Business Insider the issue is complicated. Many retailers already have policies in place keeping workers from stopping or approaching would-be shoplifters. At the same time, retailers have faced lawsuits following incidents where shoplifters were detained by retail stores but not charged. workerscompensation.com


Retailers Worldwide Deploy Body Cams to Fight Theft & Violence
Coles supermarkets to introduce body-worn cameras at 30 stores to combat theft and violence

The cameras will be fitted to workers and will beam vision back live to management.

An Australian supermarket giant will arm workers with new devices to combat the increasing number of threats against staff and a shoplifting scourge that costs the industry $9 billion annually.

Coles will roll out body-worn cameras across 30 high-risk stores in South Australia, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. You may have already noticed them, with security guards and retail staff having trialled the wearable recorders over the last few months.

Coles transformation general manager Sophie Wong said the company was adapting to an increase in retail crime, as well as growing physical and verbal abuse targeted at staff amid increasing cost-of-living pressures.

The cameras will be fitted to workers and beam vision back live to management. "(It enables) us to understand in real time what is happening to our team members and the community as well," Wong said.

Retail experts say theft costs Australian businesses about $9 billion every year. Wong said the cameras comply with Australian privacy laws and regulations and that Coles would not hold on to the vision "for any longer than a few weeks".

Body-worn cameras, which have also been trialled by other supermarket chains including Woolworths, are just one element of the fight against crime, with Coles also investing in duress watches. 7news.com.au


'Soros-Backed Rogue Prosecutors' Fueling Big City Crime
Opinion: Organized shoplifting is a $100B problem. Here's why we're all screwed

Theft is hurting businesses big and small, as shoplifting costs jobs and even lives

Corporate America is finally waking up to the fact that woke policies on crime are costing them billions. Organized shoplifting efforts and flash mobs of robberies across the country caused businesses $100 billion in losses in 2021 and have only gotten worse since then according to the National Retail Federation.

And a lawless society is bad for business. Big companies, from Whole Foods, Walmart and Walgreens to Nordstrom, Dick's Sporting Goods, Lululemon and more have all suffered. Mom-and-pop businesses have suffered too.

As a result, companies have closed stores, revised earnings estimates, and taken hits to their top and bottom lines, resulting in loss of shareholder value and harm to the communities they serve.

But why is this happening now? The answer is simple: George-Soros-backed rogue prosecutors. In big cities across the country, these so-called public servants refuse to prosecute petty thieves and even go so far as to call their illegal behavior "quality of life" crimes which, according to them, don't harm anyone.

Not only do these crimes hurt businesses, large and small, they also harm the people who work in those businesses and the city residents who shop at those businesses. Plus, employees and customers face danger from these offenders too.

There is a common-sense and simple solution to this recent phenomenon. Prosecute every person who steals, even if it's a misdemeanor. Why? Because not doing so contributes to a lawless society, and criminals must be held accountable.

It's time for local district attorneys in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, New York City and elsewhere to do their jobs. Businesses large and small, their employees, customers, shareholders and investors deserve no less. foxnews.com


Stores Across the Pond Either Closing Or Turning Into Security Fortresses
High street shops are turned into fortresses with everyday goods under lock and key amid shoplifting epidemic

Stores introduce extra guards, security barriers and body cams for employees

High street stores are being turned into fortresses amid a shoplifting epidemic - with everyday items from duvets to washing powder put under lock and key. The problem has even led to the Co-op warning some communities could become 'no-go' areas for shops.

And a Sainsbury's in south London, which was once the chain's biggest supermarket in the country, is set to shut later this year with staff claiming theft is one of the factors behind the decision.

Fortress stores are introducing extra guards, electronic security barriers at self-service tills, body cameras for employees and even facial recognition systems to spot known shoplifters. Some retailers are putting dummy packages on sale - for products such as coffee - which have to be taken to the till to be swapped for the real thing.

It comes after The Mail on Sunday yesterday launched a major campaign to crack down on shoplifting, a crime now so widespread a theft takes place every two seconds.

Our sister paper had backing from political and business heavyweights in its call for the police, Crown Prosecution Service and courts to be much tougher with shoplifters, and for a change in the law to make abuse or violence towards staff a specific offence.

Generally, officers do not attend and prosecute reports of shoplifting if the value of items taken is below £200.

The British Retail Consortium has reported a 27 per cent surge in losses due to shoplifting which has, in some cases, become organised looting, taking the figure close to £1billion a year. dailymail.co.uk


Illinois' statewide no-cash bail policy begins Sept. 18
Ending cash bail could bring 'chaos,' increased taxpayer costs, opponents warn
Judges will still have discretion about who should remain behind bars pending trial. "What those are are generally crimes that are classified as forcible felonies, so involving some element of violence or threatening another person," Ruddell told The Center Square.

Ken Good, an attorney and member of Professional Bondsmen of Texas, predicts things will be chaotic.

"Your criminal justice system will collapse unless they just are hiding it by dismissing cases until people decide to work together to find policies that will provide public safety," Good told The Center Square.

In an Op-Ed, state Sen. Andrew Chesney, R-Freeport, said the 48 hours prosecutors have to make the case to hold a criminal defendant pending trial will be during a time when a crime may still be under investigation. That will require more taxpayer resources, Chesney said, to comply with a "very high bar."

"The law is mostly silent about how weekends and holidays affect this schedule, so courts are now looking at adding Saturday and holiday hours, and additional personnel to ensure compliance,"

Good said Illinois' policy could lead to many criminal defendants not showing up for hearing dates.

"They have to commit another crime to come back into the system so you're going to have people not show up for court and you don't have the manpower or the people to do anything about it," Good said. thecentersquare.com


McDonald's Theft Prevention
Say goodbye to self-serve soft drinks at McDonald's
The owner-operators interviewed by the State Journal-Register said several factors contributed to axing the soda machines from dining rooms, including food safety, theft prevention, and fewer dine-in customers.

My day watching shoplifters at the stores under siege by thieves
Cheese, wine and steak is being placed under lock and key as Britain's shops face an epidemic of brazen petty crime.

Minnesota's violent crime went down in 2022, but not significantly

Allen declines to release additional records related to mall mass shooting

Opioid Lawsuits Pushing Rite Aid Toward Bankruptcy?
Will Lawsuits and Debts Drive Rite Aid Into Chapter 11?
Rite Aid is reportedly preparing for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in the near future that would help the retailer navigate its $3.3 billion debt load and pending lawsuits regarding its alleged involvement in the overprescription of opioid painkillers, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.

Rite Aid has not yet reached a settlement with federal, state, or private opioid plaintiffs to resolve the liabilities in a potential Chapter 11, according to the sources. The retailer plans to treat them as general unsecured claims, which would come after its collateralized debt in bankruptcy. They would be part of the debts left over after secured claims are paid in full. However, the people noted that the terms offered to Rite Aid's opioid-related claimants in potential bankruptcy proceedings could change.

More than a thousand federal lawsuits Rite Aid faces have been consolidated into multidistrict litigation in Ohio. The retailer is also dealing with state lawsuits that claim that it contributed to the opioid epidemic, in addition to a civil lawsuit filed by the Justice Department that states that Rite Aid violated the False Claims Act and Controlled Substances Act in the way it dispensed controlled substances.

Rite Aid has also been struggling with challenges beyond the opioid lawsuits as it seeks a path to profitability. Revenue dropped 6% in fiscal Q1 2024, which ended June 3, while the company's net loss nearly tripled year-over-year to $306.7 million, up from $110.2 million in the year prior. Same-store sales increased 8.4% year-over-year, driven by a 13.3% increase in pharmacy sales that offset a 4.4% decrease in front-end sales. retailwire.com


$44M Walgreens Fraud Settlement
Walgreens Reportedly Paying $44M to Settle Theranos Fraud Claims

Proposed settlement will provide consumers who participated in lawsuit with "approximately double their out-of-pocket damages"

Walgreens Boots Alliance has reportedly agreed to pay $44 million to settle class action claims by consumers who received flawed blood tests in Arizona and California through the pharmacy chain's partnership with Theranos, per a Bloomberg report.

The proposed settlement, which needs court approval, will provide consumers who participated in the lawsuit with "approximately double their out-of-pocket damages," lawyers for plaintiffs said in a court filing Wednesday in federal court in Phoenix, according to the report.

Less than a year ago Theranos founder, Elizabeth Holmes, was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months in federal prison for defrauding investors.

According to The Mercury News, the lawsuit accused the retailer of being "willfully blind" to fraud at Theranos and entering into a partnership with the startup even though it had good reason to suspect its finger-prick testing technology didn't really work. progressivegrocer.com


"Companies that sell background reports are on notice"
FTC Says TruthFinder, Instant Checkmate Deceived Users About Background Report Accuracy, Violated FCRA While Marketing Reports for Employee and Tenant Screening
Under proposed order, companies will pay $5.8 million penalty, implement FCRA monitoring program.

The Federal Trade Commission will require background report providers TruthFinder and Instant Checkmate to pay $5.8 million to settle charges that they deceived consumers about whether consumers had criminal records and that the companies violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by operating as consumer reporting agencies while, among other things, failing to ensure the maximum possible accuracy of their consumer reports.

"Companies that compile personal information and sell background reports are on notice: Don't make false claims about the contents of your reports," said Samuel Levine, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. "And, if you market your reports to be used to screen tenants or employees, you are a consumer reporting agency and you must follow the requirements of the FCRA." ftc.gov


Office Occupancy Rates at Half of Pre-COVID Levels & "We're Not Going Back"
Return-to-office is a $1.3 trillion problem few have figured out
Three and a half years after millions of office-goers were sent home en masse, companies, employees and governments are still figuring out how to adapt to lasting changes to corporate life. But stark differences have emerged across continents and cultures, with Asian and European workers largely returning to offices at a faster pace than their counterparts in the Americas.

Then there are places such as the U.S., where policymakers have stayed largely silent, leaving bosses and employees to navigate the changes on their own. As the post-Labor Day period marks a time of resuming normal schedules after summer vacations, companies including Amazon and even Zoom are cracking down on getting workers back to offices for at least part of the week.

In the U.S., Labor Day has emerged as a marker of a renewed push toward stricter office-attendance policies, and this year is no different.

But any leader who keeps hoping things will get "back to normal" will be disappointed, because the workplace is fundamentally different now. Office occupancy rates have plateaued in the U.S. at half of pre-COVID levels. Lobbies are ghost towns on Fridays. Business leaders grumble about the effects of working from home, but they also know it's now ingrained, according to a new survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Work is no longer a place people go, it's a thing they do - and when, where and how it happens is no longer written in stone.

"COVID was a portal we walked through," said McKinsey's Kirschner. "And we're not going back." seattletimes.com


Loss Prevention & Safety Digital Messaging?
Are you thinking about it?

Why retailers are reticent on in-store retail media: Capex and CX
Recent news of Walmart's expansion of in-store ads, including audio and product demos, plus The Kroger Co.'s planned roll out of digital ads in the cooler aisle, has intensified the spotlight on the rise of in-store retail media. This fast-emerging segment is perhaps the most critical development in the digitization of the store, retail's next mega-trend. Physical stores have enormous-and almost completely untapped-potential as the next major media channel, yet US retailers have been remarkably slow to adopt. insiderintelligence.com

Editor's Note: Six second messages is all one needs for a positive or proactive message. Where LP can take awareness and prevention to the next level. Great place for a solution provider can add value. Just a thought.


Texas led the nation in workers who died of injuries suffered on the job in 2021
According to figures kept by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

What Will Holiday Shopping Look Like for 2023?

Bain: Holiday sales to grow 3% - lowest since 2018

Chinese Gang Running Counterfeit Gift Card Scheme at Target Stores
DOJ: Chinese National Admits to Trafficking Counterfeit Gift Cards At Target Stores in Midwest
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. - A woman originally from China admitted involvement in counterfeit gift card scheme directed at Target shoppers across the Midwest, after she pled guilty to the federal crime in a U.S. District courtroom in East St. Louis on Thursday.

Hongying Wang, 53, originally of Hunan Province, China, admitted guilt to using and trafficking in a counterfeit access device. For the charge, Wang faces a statutory maximum of ten years imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000.

According to court documents, the scheme involved individuals placing altered gift cards on the sales racks at Target while retaining the access numbers. Once a gift card was loaded with money by an unsuspecting patron, the fraudsters would have the codes needed to steal the funds.

In January 2023, a Target security officer observed Wang and a co-defendant placing gift cards onto the racks in the Belleville store for customers to purchase. Upon further review, the gift cards were altered with the codes scratched off and covered by stickers to appear untouched.

In addition to Belleville, the following Target locations across the Midwest were knowingly affected by the scheme: Albuquerque, New Mexico; Norman, Oklahoma; Edmond, Oklahoma; Liberty, Missouri; Independence, Missouri; St. Peters, Missouri; Town and Country, Missouri; and Brentwood, Missouri.

Wang admitted to possessing 6,100 fake gift cards with intent to place on the shelves. Guangwei Gao, also of China, was named and charged in the indictment with one count of using and trafficking in a counterfeit access device. justice.gov


Man defrauded Maine Home Depot & Lowe's Stores by changing UPC codes
DOJ: Madison Man's "Ticket Switching" Scam Leads to Guilty Plea to Wire Fraud, Attempted Wire Fraud
BANGOR, Maine: A Madison man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Bangor today to wire fraud and attempted wire fraud.

According to court records, from June 2021 to April 2023, Aaron Hoster, 51, removed UPC labels from low-cost items and applied them to higher-priced items which he then purchased. Hoster defrauded multiple Home Depot and Lowe's Home Improvement stores in Maine, cheating the retailers out of more than $51,000. In one instance, Hoster purchased a $439 cordless finish nailer kit, paying just $19.98 by scanning a price code for trimmer line. In another example, he scanned a code for an $11.36 chrome-plated plastic tailpiece despite purchasing a powered drain cleaner valued at $429.

Hoster faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.

There were more than 160 purchases made at Lowes and Home Depot for a total of $51,269 of losses.  justice.gov  bangordailynews.com


Hitting 30 Walmart Stores for $64,000
DOJ: Canadian Man Accused of Sleight-of-Hand Theft in Missouri, Illinois, Elsewhere
ST. LOUIS - A man from Canada has been indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis and accused of stealing more than $64,000 in cash from Walmart stores across the country using sleight-of-hand.

Mohsen Akbari, 37, was indicted August 16 on one count of wire fraud and one count of interstate transportation of stolen property. He was arrested on September 5 and pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday.

The indictment says Akbari entered the United States on March 1, 2023 from South Korea on a visitor visa. Akbari then traveled across the country, entered various retail stores and used sleight-of-hand to steal cash, the indictment says. After making a small purchase, Akbari would claim that he and his family collect Unites States currency, typically $100 bills, the indictment says. Akbari would ask the cashier to show him the bills in the cash register so he could examine them, and then surreptitiously place some of the bills into his sleeve or pocket, the indictment says.

The indictment accuses Akbari of stealing about $33,700 from 30 different Walmart stores in nine states from March 23 to June 8, 2023.

The wire fraud charge carries a potential penalty of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both. The interstate transportation of stolen property charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and the same fine. justice.gov


Rincon, GA: Final suspect accused of attacking Ga. Lowe's employee during robbery has now been arrested
It was a story that went viral earlier this year - a coastal Georgia Lowe's employee lost her job after she was attacked trying to stop a group of thieves from stealing merchandise from the store. Now, the third and final suspect involved in that attack has been arrested. Takyah Shalone Berry, 22, was booked into the Effingham County Detention Center and charged with robbery, battery, exploitation or inflicting pain to an elder person and wearing a mask, hood or device to conceal identity. The incident happened in July. Donna Hansbrough, 68, worked at the Lowe's home improvement store in Rincon. Police said three people came into the store and loaded up their shopping cart with about $2,100 worth of merchandise. That's when one of the thieves hit Hansbrough in the face three times, leaving her with a black eye, police said. Police said despite the attack, Hansbrough was fired for violating the store's policy when it comes to shoplifting. Days later, Lowe's senior management spoke to Hansbrough and reinstated her job and Hansbrough accepted their offer. Up till now, only two of the three suspects had been arrested. Police confirmed to WJCL-TV, that the final suspect, Berry, was taken into custody on Thursday with the help of Savannah police. Berry's charges include two felonies and two misdemeanors. She is currently being held without bond.  news.yahoo.com


Plumstead Township, PA: Five Citizens of Chile Allegedly Involved in "Distraction Theft" at Local Store
A group of Chilean citizens was arrested earlier this month after local police charged them with stealing the purse of a woman in a local store and going on a spending spree. On Aug. 22, Plumstead police went to the Marshalls/HomeGoods store in the Cross Keys Place shopping center at about 4 p.m. for the report of a "distraction theft." Store employees said that five people, including one female, had worked together to distract a customer so they could steal her wallet. Police allege that the group immediately began to use the victim's credit cards. One of the thieves tried to make an online purchase for $1,700 item before trying to make a $1,000 in-person purchase at the Warrington Walmart. By using video surveillance, license plate recognition cameras and facial recognition software, police identified five citizens of Chile: Juan Aravena Aguirre, Priscila Christiansen, Byron Contreras-Fuentes, Jaime Molina Olea and Cristobal Yanezdupuy. Police charged the five with theft, receiving stolen property, identity theft and access device fraud. All are third-degree felonies. On Sept. 1, all five were arrested by the South Hackensack police without incident and taken to Bergen County Prison. They are awaiting extradition to Bucks County.  tapinto.net


Apple Valley, MN: Lakeville woman used 'skip scanning' to steal $1K of goods from south metro Target

Concord, NH: New Hampshire Police seek public's help finding New Bedford wanted for nationwide warrant