It's 'Gatekeeper Week' on the D&D Daily! Follow along in the 'Vendor Spotlight' column below as Gatekeeper showcases LP/AP solutions for the retail industry

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On-Demand Webinar Retail crime and ORC related activity have continued to grow and pose a significant safety and security risk for retailers around the globe. As two technology leaders in the industry, Axon and Auror have joined forces to build a more efficient and collaborative workflow to create safer communities. Together, Axon and Auror can connect retailers and law enforcement to prevent, capture, and resolve cases against the high-impact offenders negatively impacting our communities with workplace violence and theft. Learn from Mike Shore, SVP of Enterprise for Axon, and Bobby Haskins, SVP Customer - North America for Auror, about how the strategic partnership between Auror and Axon will force multiply existing retailer safety and security through capturing more actionable intelligence, preventing crime in real-time, and resolving more cases faster. Plus, hear directly from Brian Friedman, Director of Asset Protection and Risk Management at REI, on how the Auror and Axon partnership has enhanced REI's workflows and process to create better and safer outcomes. Click here to register

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Is Retail Crime the One Crime That Isn't Exaggerated?
Most crime in Chicago is exaggerated. But theft really is that bad.
Perceptions of high crime in Chicago are often exaggerated, but retail theft incidents are no hyperbole. Retail theft is up citywide. Experts say it increasingly looks like organized crime with repeat offenders. As a result, the city's business districts are bleeding, sometimes literally.

"Chicago continues to be an epicenter for what's going on (with theft), particularly with organized retail crime," said Rob Karr, president of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association. "People are stealing a large number of items, carts full of items, and they are getting a lot more confrontational."

The numbers are up across the board. The Chicago Police Department tracks burglary and theft separately. The former is defined as "the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft, or an attempt to do so." The latter is "the unlawful taking or attempted taking of property or articles (valued at $500 or more) without the use of force, violence, or fraud."

CPD has already tracked more burglaries this year than last. The city is on pace to clock 7,780 reports by year's end, up from 6,904 in 2023. Theft reports for 2024 currently total 18,771, also on pace to exceed last year by about 7%.

Those figures include theft and robbery of varying types, though. A closer look at specific shoplifting data shows retail crime is up even more. Two recent studies from the Council on Criminal Justice, a nonprofit think tank, found shoplifting in Chicago from January 2024 through October 2024 was 46% higher than during the same period in 2023.

It's worth noting the recent rise in retail theft follows a pandemic-induced drop in crime nationwide, so some of the uptick represents a plateauing effect. That was true for Chicago in 2023, when shoplifting jumped 10% yet remained just below 2019 levels.

But the CCJ found things now really are worse for Chicago, and 2024 retail crime is not just a pandemic hangover. "Reported shoplifting in the first 10 months of 2024 was higher than in all 12 months of each of the preceding six years," the think tank wrote about the city. chicagobusiness.com


Businesses Applaud New Felony Theft Threshold
'We fully expect to see a decrease in those kinds of crimes here.'

Chicago Mag Mile businesses welcome new Cook County State's Attorney's crackdown on shoplifting
It's holiday shopping season on the Magnificent Mile in downtown Chicago, and with thefts across the city at the worst levels in five years, retailers have high hopes for a crackdown on shoplifting by the county's top prosecutor.

The Mag Mile and surrounding shopping district in the Streeterville, River North, and Gold Coast neighborhoods is the economic engine for the city when it comes to sales taxes generated, but the area has been battered when it comes to retail crime over the years.

Newly sworn-in Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke has done away with the $1,000 threshold her predecessor put in place for prosecuting shoplifting cases as a felony, and instead will follow state law, which allows for retail theft to be prosecuted as a felony when the total amount of stolen goods is $300 or more.

Mag Mile retailers and other business owners hope that shift will make a difference. Holiday shopping was in full swing on the Mag Mile on Friday, and along nearby Oak Street, but the CBS News Chicago Investigators have tracked less than holly jolly behavior in the area over the years.

The latest data showed more than 3,000 retail thefts have been reported this year in the districts that cover the Mag Mile and Oak Street shopping areas.

For perspective, during the 8-year tenure of Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, who didn't run for re-election this year, there were 3,704 guilty verdicts in theft cases, with arrest rates for theft at 7%, according to the numbers shared by the State's Attorneys office.

The change was hailed as great news for groups like the Magnificent Mile Association, led by Kimberly Bares.

"Criminals, and especially organized retail crime, they're very aware of the laws and how they're being applied; and we fully expect to see a decrease in those kinds of crimes here," she said.  cbsnews.com


More Coverage of Cook County's Retail Theft Policy Shift
New Cook County state's attorney setting pretrial detention, retail theft policies
The new Cook County state's attorney is setting policy for pretrial detention and retail thefts.

After officially being sworn in to replace Kim Foxx, Eileen O'Neill Burke announced the Cook County State's Attorney's Office will demand pretrial detention for the highest classes of violent offenses. Under the SAFE-T Act, their focus will be on cases involving violence on public transit, offenses involving certain firearms, as well as domestic violence sex offenses and crimes against children.

Burke's office will also restore retail theft thresholds to the state level of $300, not $1,000 set by Foxx. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson reacted Thursday.

"I can say this, there have been policies in the past that have demonstrated that they are not effective," Johnson said. "The good news, the part that's encouraging, is there is a collective table of the county and the state and the city working together to improve public safety."

CBS Chicago reports retailers are praising the decision as a deterrent to organized retail theft. gazette.com

 
Thanksgiving Weekend Was Busy for Retail Criminals
California Law Enforcement Touts Black Friday Retail Crime Busts

Thanksgiving weekend was a time for deals-and quite literally-steals.

California law enforcement groups had their hands full during the holiday shopping blowout, which brought throngs of consumers to shopping centers and malls across the Golden State.

In a blitz that began on Black Friday and ended on Sunday, the Ventura County Organized Retail Task Force (ORCTF) arrested 20 suspects for stealing from the Camarillo Premium Outlets in Camarillo, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles. Collaboration between the Ventura Sheriff's Office, California Highway Patrol, and police officers from Camarillo, Ventura and Simi Valley, resulted in the on-site recovery of about $9,000 in stolen merchandise from stores like Nike, Calvin Klein, Old Navy, Lacoste and more.

The passage of recent retail crime legislation has empowered law enforcement with more tools. Prop. 36, the ballot initiative passed by 70 percent of California voters in November, approves felony sentences for offenders who steal goods valued at under $950 if they've already been convicted twice before.

Meanwhile, an 11-bill package signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom this fall created avenues for cross-jurisdictional prosecution, giving district attorneys the ability to aggregate crimes-even across county lines-in the pursuit of a felony charge, and creating penalties for fencing stolen goods.

"With the new laws changing... that's going to be a godsend for us," Tapia said. "Crews that come from out of the county into our county-if they've committed a crime in our county, it does not matter where they live, we will go and finish our investigation and arrest them."   yahoo.com


Fighting Theft Without Alienating Customers
Author says locked display cases are 'the single most customer unfriendly' retail strategy

The author of The Metail Economy suggests a theft-prevention measure that shoppers will actually like.

The book argues that in today's consumer-centric "metail" paradigm, retail executives should take a lesson from Costco, which makes the hoses on its gas pumps extra long to reach the gas tank even if shoppers pulled in on the wrong side. It's a convenience apt to delight customers, Bines told us at the time, but it's also a way to sell more gas, because, "if you come at it from a logistics perspective, you get massively more throughput through the gas lines than you would if you had to have cars backing up and moving around to get on the other side."

We've been covering the growing ubiquity of locked display cases, which retailers including Target and CVS have installed to curb what they claim is a growing problem of shoplifting rings contributing to stores' overall merchandise losses (AKA "shrink"), so we wondered if Bines had any thoughts about the practice.

As for how to address shoplifting in a way that doesn't also create friction for those without sticky fingers, Bines said one promising solution is letting consumers unlock the cases themselves through store apps on their phones, as CVS is doing in a pilot program.

Another option for shoplifting-prone stores, he said, is putting less stock on shelves but restocking more frequently. retailbrew.com


Letters to the Editor: Retail theft: Hold state accountable

'Defund the police' activist goes viral after begging for help when everything she owned was stolen in San Francisco
 

Pacoima, CA: Over $20,000 worth of stolen goods found in Southern California retail theft bust
A Southern California pawn shop owner was arrested after police found his store filled with merchandise that was allegedly stolen by organized retail thieves. Karlen Pogosyan, 38 of Arleta, is the owner of Allrite Pawn Shop, located at 9044 Woodman Avenue in Pacoima, according to the San Fernando Police Department. The pawn shop was suspected of operating as a "fence," a location that buys and sells stolen property, authorities said. On Dec. 3, police served a search warrant at the shop. During the bust, they discovered over $20,000 worth of suspected stolen merchandise. Many of the items were taken from retailers such as Target and JCPenney.  ktla.com


Vacaville, CA: Police bust retail theft operation that hit several outlet stores
Two people were arrested after they allegedly stole over $1,500 worth of merchandise from several stores inside the Vacaville Premium Outlets. On Wednesday afternoon, the Vacaville Police Department was patrolling the outlet areas when they said a Tommy Hilfiger employee came running over and told them they had just chased two shoplifters out of the store. The alleged thieves were reportedly seen cutting tags off merchandise. VPD said the individuals were repeat retail theft offenders who had been caught stealing from several other stores on the same trip. They were found to have about $1,500 worth of stolen merchandise from at least five different stores. Police said they both eventually admitted to stealing the items and said they were planning on sending them to relatives in another country.  fox40.com


Citrus Heights, CA: 3 arrested during retail theft blitz operation at Citrus Heights Target store
Citrus Heights Police arrested multiple suspects, including two juveniles, for theft after conducting a retail theft blitz operation at Target on Sunrise Boulevard on Dec. 3. The Police Department announced on social media that the blitz operation resulted in the recovery of over $1,000 in stolen merchandise. The operation was conducted in partnership with Target Loss Prevention and the Folsom Police Department.  citrusheightssentinel.com