Using AI & Facial Recognition to Fight Shoplifting Rings & Other Criminals
Artificial Intelligence Use in Criminal Investigations Gains Traction
In the United Kingdom, police departments are testing out an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to analyze evidence in cold cases—including the unsolved stabbing murder of a 30-year-old man in 1994—in the hopes of catching any missed clues. The software can sift through video footage, financial transactions, social media, emails and other documents simultaneously. Authorities claim the tool was able to review evidentiary material in 27 cases in just 30 hours.

The UK police aren’t alone. They are among the fast-growing cohort of law enforcement agencies employing new artificial intelligence technologies to help solve crimes.

In the summer of 2024, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department brought in a team of AI researchers to go over their work on a 20-year-old unsolved murder. The group used an AI tool to create a timeline of events by analyzing 3,000 pages in the investigative file, including handwritten notes, the Indianapolis Star reported.

And in January 2024, a Miami Police Department official told lawmakers in a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing that facial recognition technology and AI tools helped dramatically reduce homicide and violent crime rates in his city in recent years.

In addition to facial recognition software, police are using AI to pinpoint the location of gunshots in real time, narrow down areas populated with violent offenders with outstanding warrants and identify stores targeted by shoplifting rings, experts told A&E True Crime.

But as law enforcement agencies ramp up use of artificial intelligence to help solve crimes, experts warn the technology is still in its infancy and should only be used to augment traditional investigative methods. aetv.com


Drug Stores Still Grappling with Theft 'Headache'
Rite Aid’s All-Item Lockup Underscores Big Drugstore Industry Headache
Rite Aid is grabbing headlines for locking up nearly all items in a southern California store, putting everything from baby formula and paper towels to makeup and potato chips behind plexiglass.

The drugstore chain, which emerged from federal bankruptcy protection earlier this month, took measures at its store in Compton that go beyond locking up higher-value items that require a drugstore employee to unlock a case. Rite Aid’s Compton store this summer began requiring customers to “ring for help” by pressing a button that alerts an employee to come unlock the encased products throughout the store.

Rite Aid wouldn’t say whether the near all-item lockup would be replicated at stores outside of southern California, but said it’s part of a strategy to test “a range of product protection solutions across (the company’s) footprint to ensure merchandise is available to our customers.”

Some see Rite Aid’s theft control effort as “extreme,” but drugstore chains, including rivals CVS Health and Walgreens, are facing tough decisions to close underperforming stores and theft and its costs to the companies are figuring into those moves.

Walgreens, for example, in June disclosed it was finalizing a “footprint optimization program” to close certain underperforming stores of the company’s more than 8,600 U.S. locations. Manmohan Mahajan, Walgreens executive vice president and global chief financial officer, said “25% is the overall footprint” that executives are evaluating for potential closure. While there are many reasons Walgreens stores are underperforming, company insiders and analysts who follow the company say store theft definitely figures in store underperformance.

“Retail crime continues to be one of the top challenges facing our industry today. We are focused on the safety of our patients, customers and team members, and have taken a number of steps to help reduce organized retail theft in our stores,” Walgreens said in a statement. “We also continue to partner with others across the retail industry, as well as law enforcement, elected officials and community leaders to improve shrink trends.”  forbes.com


Is the U.S. Theft Wave Fueled By Terrorists - Or Have Stores Overreacted?
OPINION: America's absurd war on 'organized retail crime'

Target and CVS call them criminal masterminds. Most are homeless or mentally ill.

Even though retailers nationwide reported little, if any, overall increase in lost inventory, it became common in major cities to hear reports of people brazenly stuffing merchandise into bags and walking out in full view of shoppers and employees. Many chains, including CVS and Target, began locking their wares behind plastic shields, requiring shoppers to search understaffed stores for an employee to help them purchase items as simple as razors or Tide Pods.

Retailers and prosecutors responded to the thefts with the kind of coordinated crackdown usually reserved for terrorists and drug cartels. Arguing that the epidemic of thefts is being orchestrated by high-level crime rings, the retail industry successfully lobbied 9 states in 2023 to up the penalties for what it calls "organized retail crime" and to prosecute it aggressively. Last fall, Sen. Chuck Grassley stood outside the Capitol flanked by leaders of the National Retail Federation to introduce a bill that would make organized retail theft a federal crime. Some lawmakers and industry lobbyists have gone so far as to claim that retail theft has direct links to human trafficking and domestic terrorism.

To be sure, there have been a handful of cases where people have been convicted of organizing multi-million dollar thefts and recruiting others to steal for them. But after thousands of arrests, prosecutors have shown no evidence that the nationwide wave of shoplifting is being secretly coordinated by mobsters or terrorists.

The crackdown by industry and law enforcement has effectively criminalized poverty. Attorneys, defendants, and experts familiar with the surge of prosecutions report that retail theft is overwhelmingly committed by people in serious need, especially those lacking housing or suffering from drug addiction or mental illness. The result, as with the government's long-running "wars" on drugs and terrorism, has been a dragnet that ensnares a lot of small fish who are then presented to the world as big catches. Several others facing felony charges for what the San Francisco police describe as "prolific Organized Retail Crime" are minors, including a 14-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy. businessinsider.com


Will Prop 36 End California's Theft Crisis?
It’s time to end Calif.’s retail theft epidemic

“Proposition 36 offers a comprehensive approach to tackling the root causes of crime while also protecting businesses and communities,” writes Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce CEO Timm Quinn.

In November, Californians will have the opportunity to vote on Proposition 36, the Homeless, Drug Addiction, and Retail Theft initiative which offers a sensible approach by addressing some of the unintended consequences of Proposition 47, particularly regarding repeat retail theft. It holds repeat offenders accountable, potentially leading to jail time for shoplifters with multiple convictions. Most importantly, the initiative encourages thieves to participate in rehabilitation programs as an alternative to incarceration, while also addressing homelessness and issues related to fentanyl abuse.

By addressing issues related to homelessness and drug addiction, Proposition 36 offers a comprehensive approach to tackling the root causes of crime while also protecting businesses and communities.

Stockton is doing its part to address retail theft. However, without changes to state law, thieves are not held accountable. That’s why we need Proposition 36.

The epidemic of retail theft in California shows no signs of slowing down, but with collaborative efforts such as "Stockton Takes Action Against Retail Theft" (STAART) and the potential passing of Proposition 36, there is hope for a safer and more secure environment for businesses and communities. It is crucial that the state takes action to address these issues and hold perpetrators accountable for their actions. By voting in favor of Proposition 36, Californians can help combat the scourge of retail theft and work towards a safer future for all.  sjvsun.com


Another State Rolls Out Bill to Increase Theft Penalties
Utah bill would stiffen penalties for retail theft by groups or across state lines
Lawmakers are considering ramping up penalties for retail theft, in particular what they call illegal, out-of-state “businesses” that target Utah stores and resell the merchandise on the black market.

The bill, called Criminal Offense Modifications, also addresses a number of issues related to gang activity and organized crime in the state, including increased penalties for adults who recruit or intimidate minors into a gang.

It would enhance the penalty for people who come to Utah intent on stealing from retail stores, a crime that, as long as there isn’t more than $500 of goods stolen, is usually a class B misdemeanor.

Under the bill, if the person was convicted of a similar, class A misdemeanor offense in another state, they could now be charged with a third-degree felony.  heraldextra.com


Kansas AG files first case after Kris Kobach pushed for new laws on retail crime

Opinion: Proposition 36 wants to return to a failed past. Vote no.
 

Los Angeles, CA: Update: Long Beach man pleads guilty to robbing Beverly Hills jeweler
A Long Beach man faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to his role in a $2.6 million heist at a Beverly Hills jeweler two years ago. The smash-and-grab robbery happened at Luxury Jewels of Beverly Hills in the area of South Beverly Drive and Charleville Boulevard, near Reaves Park. A video shows the accomplices of Ladell Tharpe, 39, shattering the front windows with sledgehammers before stealing dozens of jewelry and accessories. Immediately after the March 2022 incident, the Beverly Hills Police Department said the robbers got out of a gray SUV that has since been reported stolen in Long Beach and quickly smashed the store's window. They then took off in a white Audi that was waiting for them outside. Federal prosecutors said the crew stole at least 19 bracelets, seven pairs of earrings, four necklaces, a pair of obelisks, eight rings and 20 watches. The Department of Justice said the jewelry was worth an estimated $2.67 million.  cbsnews.com


Atlanta, GA: Over $100,000 Worth of Items Stolen from Atlanta Consignment Store
Atlanta-based consignment shop Full Circle ATL became the victim of a burglary on Monday morning, with the crooks believed to have stolen over $100,000 worth of products. News of the robbery was first reported by Atlanta News First yesterday and was confirmed by Full Circle ATL on Instagram. When Complex reached out to the store about the incident, one of the co-owners, Pi, confirmed that a truck and small car crashed through the store around 5:40 a.m. yesterday, and around seven to 10 people hopped out of the vehicles and stole at least $100,000 in merchandise from the shop. Full Circle ATL said on its Instagram caption that they had been ransacked and its store will be closed until further notice. It's worth mentioning that this isn't the only hardship that Full Circle ATL has faced in recent memory. Back in November 2019, the store's original location caught on fire, thus prompting the opening of its current shop located at 1085 Howell Mill Road.  complex.com


Fairfax County, VA: Update : 3rd Suspect In $60K Robbery At Tysons Chanel Store Arrested In PA
A 27-year-old woman in Pennsylvania was arrested on a warrant Thursday by federal marshals for her role in the theft of $60,000 in luxury goods from a Chanel store. In August, Fairfax County Police reported they had identified Martina Lyons on Pennsylvania as a suspect in the June 25 robbery at the Chanel store in the Tysons Galleria. "The crew's M.O. is to bring a fire extinguisher with them, and they discharge the fire extinguisher the moment that they encounter a loss prevention person," Deputy Chief Gregory Fried of the Criminal Investigations Division said in August. During the robbery, two men and three women grabbed numerous luxury handbags, according to police. One of the men sprayed store security employees with a fire extinguisher to help cover the group's escape. No injuries were reported during the robbery.  patch.com


Mansfield, TX: North Texas police bust shoplifting ring, recovers $10k worth of stolen merchandise

Washington, DC: 64-year-old arrested for stealing nearly $7K of merchandise from CVS stores in DC

Nashville, TN: Man accused of stealing more than $2K worth of trading cards from Target on 12 separate occasions