Retailers, Lawmakers & Law Enforcement Debate Ways to Fight Theft
And once again, California's Prop 47 is at the center of the debate

Commission hears retail theft complaints linked to Prop 47 criminal justice reforms

"It's getting worse," said Lynn Melillo, VP for asset management at Bristol Farms

A California commission charged with delivering recommendations to the governor and state lawmakers next year on how to curb rampant retail theft, questioned claims that state criminal justice reforms are to blame for the troubling trend.

During its second hearing Thursday, the Little Hoover Commission, an independent state watchdog agency, heard testimony from retailers and law enforcement officials about the brazen store thefts and other crimes that have been regularly featured on newscasts and led to calls to reconsider criminal justice reforms.

"It's getting worse," said Lynn Melillo, vice president for asset management at Bristol Farms, Lazy Acres Natural Market and New Leaf Community Markets. "There is organized retail crime, but it's also more than that. It's so-called consumers coming in and loading a grocery cart up and bypassing the register, avoiding the check stands, knowing there's no consequences."

Republican lawmakers who have criticized criminal justice reforms advanced by Democrats to reduce prison overcrowding and address social justice concerns had asked the commission to look at the reforms' impact on retail thefts. A reform often cited is Proposition 47, which voters approved in 2014 to reduce drug and property crime penalties.

But many of the commissioners - mostly Democrats - questioned the extent of the problem and whether Prop 47, backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, and other reforms are to blame.

"For a lot of people changing Prop 47 is a huge ask," said Commissioner Janna Sidley of Los Angeles, a former prosecutor and Democrat appointed by former Gov. Jerry Brown.

Added Commissioner David Beier, a nonpartisan commissioner and Bay City Capital managing director from San Francisco, also appointed by Brown, "I want to go to a world where Prop 47 isn't the target."

The commission held an initial meeting on retail theft last month. It heard testimony from Democratic and Republican members of the Assembly Public Safety Committee and a Beverly Hills retailer. Additional hearings are planned for January and February before the commission issues a recommendation.  mercurynews.com news.yahoo.com

   RELATED: Dramatic rise in California retail theft prompts action from lawmakers


A New Wrinkle in Prosecuting Theft Cases
Should Retail Theft Suspects Benefit From Discount Prices?

Two men charged with stealing from a Kohl's in Colorado argued that they should face a misdemeanor charge rather than a felony since some of the items were on sale.

If an item is on sale, should someone who steals it be able to get a deal, as well? That question was raised by a recent case in Colorado, where two men accused of stealing shoes, KitchenAid mixers and other items from a Kohl's department store argued that they should face a lesser charge based on the sale prices of the items.

The argument was vitally important to their case. In Colorado, theft under $2,000 is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. But theft between $2,000 and $5,000 is a felony punishable by up to 18 months in prison.

The district attorney's office argued that the "documented value" of the items was $2,094.98. That would make the theft a felony.

But the two men, Michael Green, 50, and Byron Bolden, 37, who had pleaded not guilty, contended that the value of the items was $1,856.19, because some of the goods, including at least one of the mixers, were on sale, said Thomas A. Ramunda Jr., Mr. Bolden's lawyer. That would classify the charge as a misdemeanor.

Eric Ross, a spokesman for the district attorney's office in the 18th Judicial District of Colorado, which prosecuted the case, rejected the sales-price argument. He said the Parker Police Department spoke to the Kohl's loss prevention manager, who provided the retail price of the stolen goods.

Even if some of the items were on sale, "we argued that doesn't count," Mr. Ross said. "You can't get sale prices or sale promotions on stolen goods. Sales prices, promotions, coupons - all of that only applies to paying customers."

On Dec. 6, a jury agreed and found Mr. Green, of Aurora, and Mr. Bolden, of Denver, guilty of felony theft, Mr. Ross said. Mr. Green was sentenced to 15 months in prison. His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment. Mr. Bolden was sentenced to 90 days in jail, with credit for time served. nytimes.com


Businesses in Washington Shut Down as Retail Crime Surges
Officials urge retailers to report retail theft so they can prosecute criminals

Retailers encouraged to report thefts as retail crimes continue to climb
SEATTLE - Retail crimes are continuing to climb in western Washington, causing many businesses to close up shop permanently, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office (KCPAO).

The KCPAO held a press conference Friday to discuss the rising trend and its approach to put criminals behind bars. Earlier this year, the KCPAO launched its Economic Crimes and Wage Theft Division, which focuses on tackling retail crimes.

In 2022, the KCPAO filed 157 felony retail theft cases compared to 52 in 2021. These cases often involve multiple codefendants and/or multiple incidents per defendant. This year, 92 cases were filed as of Dec. 1, officials said the reason why they could be seeing less cases being filed is because of underreporting.

Officials said they are doing everything they can to put criminals behind bars, but said one problem they are seeing is the fact that many retailers are not reporting these crimes.

Prosecutors said they're working with other agencies to prosecute criminals tied to retail crimes, but added that in order for that to happen, the crimes need to be reported. Prosecutors also said reporting the crimes is how law enforcement determines where they staff their officers in order to deter retail crimes.

Some police agencies have added extra patrols in highly shopped areas during the holidays to help curb retail theft. komonews.com


Security Guard Killed By Shoplifter - Community Protests & Demands Action
Protesters demand justice for 7-Eleven security guard shot & killed in Oakland
A protest was held on Friday outside the 7-Eleven store in Oakland where a 59-year-old security guard was shot and killed a week ago. Police say the security guard, identified as James Johnson, confronted a shoplifter, who allegedly pulled a gun and shot him before escaping on the night of December 8. The 7-Eleven is located on the 2300 block of Harrison Street, near Lake Merritt.

Oakland Police say no arrests have been made as their investigation continues. Organizers say the protest will honor the father of two.

"We are outraged and saddened by this senseless act of violence that took the life of a hardworking and courageous man who was just doing his job," said Edward Escobar, one of the organizers of the demonstration. "We want to honor his memory and show our support to his family and friends.

The Coalition for Community Engagement will also be demanding action from city leaders and justice for "crimewave victims."

"We also want to send a clear message to the authorities, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, Council President Nikki Bas & Alameda County D.A. Pamela Price, that we demand a swift and thorough investigation to find and prosecute the killer," escobar continued. "We will not tolerate this crimewave spiralling out of control bringing more & more extreme violence into our communities."

Co-workers say they're now scared to be at work after Johnson's death inside the store despite the efforts of paramedics. Those who work at the 7-Eleven told ABC7 News that Johnson lived down the block at a homeless shelter and worked as an unarmed security guard. abc7news.com


More PDs Beef Up ORC Patrols & License Plate Readers in Shopping Centers
San Jose police beef up organized retail theft detail
The San Jose Police Department is reinforcing its organized retail theft detail, which means more officers in uniform walking around malls and storefronts.

The goal is to curb the rise in retail theft and catch crooks in the act.

"We're hoping that these patrols will assist not only in building relationships with business owners and community members who are going shopping, but also just be a visual deterrent," San Jose police Officer Steve Aponte said.

In San Jose, retail thefts increased 25% last year compared to 2021.

"They're fast, they're violent, and they're disturbing," Aponte said. "These types of criminals come in with the sole purpose of taking property away from businesses. But in doing so, they deter future shoppers from coming to the area."

The department is using state grant money to pay for the additional overtime patrols. It's also paying for a specialized unit of investigators looking deeper into these crimes. Those funds also help pay for the license plate readers that are currently up at malls around the city.

The expanded team will work six hours per day, four days a week. The department won't be more specific for strategic reasons, only to say officers will see the crooks before the crooks see them. nbcbayarea.com


The Challenges of Tracking ORC
Is the Retail Crime Wave a Tsunami or a Ripple?
The fact is that it's extremely difficult to get accurate figures about retail crime - not just how much there is, but what exactly is causing it.

Additionally, definitions remain vague. If a cashier "sweethearts" for his friends and family, how many people need to be involved for it to be classified as "organized retail crime"? Where do fraudulent returns fit in, and is it possible to definitively determine if these bad actors are working alone or for a larger group? (Amazon recently sued an international organization for its role in millions of dollars of returns fraud.) And let's not even get into cybercrime, where the black hats do everything they can to cover their nefarious tracks.

The NRF admitted the challenges associated with getting accurate crime data: "We stand behind the widely understood fact that organized retail crime is a serious problem impacting retailers of all sizes and communities across our nation," said an NRF spokesperson in comments provided to Retail TouchPoints. "At the same time, we recognize the challenges the retail industry and law enforcement have with gathering and analyzing an accurate and agreed-upon set of data to measure the number of incidents in communities across the country. Retailers and law enforcement agencies continue to experience daily incidents of theft, partner in large-scale investigations and report recoveries of stolen retail goods into the millions of dollars."

But this narrative of a retail theft tsunami has been more than a data accuracy challenge. I'd say one reason the NRF's figures weren't challenged earlier is that they fit into a perception of overall lawlessness. And here we get into another sticky wicket, because those perceptions are frequently shaped by people's political persuasion. retailtouchpoints.com


Undercover surveillance teams cracking down on retail theft in LA
Undercover surveillance teams at shopping centers across the country are trying to crack down on organized retail theft.

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eBay 'Harassment Campaign' By Security Executives Civil Lawsuit Moves Forward
Couple's case over eBay stalking campaign can move forward, US judge rules
BOSTON, Dec 13 - A Massachusetts couple may move forward with a lawsuit that seeks to hold former eBay Inc CEO Devin Wenig and others responsible for a campaign the e-commerce company's employees carried out to harass and stalk them, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Patti Saris in Boston on Tuesday narrowed the case David and Ina Steiner filed following the criminal prosecution of several ex-eBay security employees, however, dismissing their stalking and assault claims against various defendants.

But she rejected motions by Wenig and two other eBay executives to dismiss claims that they inflicted emotional distress and were negligent, saying the complaint adequately alleged they "could reasonably foresee that harm to the Steiners would result."

The Steiners, a married couple from Natick, Massachusetts, produce the newsletter EcommerceBytes that was perceived as critical of the company. They sued eBay, top former executives and others in 2021 over what they say was a relentless campaign by its employees to terrorize them.

Saris also rejected motions by eBay and Wenig to dismiss claims that they were negligent in their supervision of employees who were prosecuted for their roles in the cyberstalking campaign.

Saris said the Steiners had also plausibly alleged the executives violated the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act by interfering with their constitutional rights to free speech.

The ruling clears the way for the case against most of the 13 defendants to move forward and potentially go to trial in March 2025. EBay has said it has engaged in settlement talks with the Steiners, though no deal has been reached so far.

The Steiners filed the lawsuit after prosecutors in 2020 charged seven former eBay security executives, who later pleaded guilty to participating in an extensive harassment campaign a year earlier that involved sending the couple cockroaches, fly larvae and a bloody Halloween pig mask.

Several eBay workers traveled from California to Natick to surveil the Steiners and try to install a GPS tracking device on their car, prosecutors have said. reuters.com

Click here to read the full story, including the list of ex-eBay Security executives involved, pleas, sentences & awaiting sentencing + previous coverage.
 

Can RFID Save Self-Check Machines?
The Self-Checkout Even the Haters Will Love

At Uniqlo, shoppers actually want to use the self-checkout machines. It's a revolutionary new system-and it's built around old technology.

At most stores, the self-checkout line has the appeal of wet socks. But this one has become so popular that it's used by 70% of Uniqlo's customers, including 90% in some markets.

So what's the magic behind this brain-melting automated process? As it turns out, it's surprisingly primitive tech. The self-checkout machines use radio frequency identification readers to automatically detect RFID chips hidden in the price tags of Uniqlo's products.

Those invisible chips have become indispensable to a company that sells a billion pieces of clothing a year in thousands of stores around the world.

The architect of Uniqlo's curious strategy was Takahiro Tambara, the chief information officer at Fast Retailing, the brand's Japanese parent company. "RFID has a long history," Tambara told me through a translator. "But in terms of application to self-checkout, it did not have a history."

Fast Retailing began testing RFID tags in 2013, introduced the self-checkout machines in 2014 and switched to the current model in 2019. They came to America on a trial basis in 2021, followed by an official rollout in 2022. This was the year they arrived in every Uniqlo store in the U.S.

The first time he tried Uniqlo's self-checkout, Hassan Khan found himself blown away. "I was just amazed," said Khan, a U.S. government employee with a Ph.D. in semiconductor policy. "This tech isn't much more advanced than scanning a bar code, but it just works in a much smoother way," he said. "It doesn't feel like you're doing labor."  wsj.com


New 'Supply Chain Resilience Center'
Readout of Secretary Mayorkas's Roundtable with Supply Chain Executives on DHS's Supply Chain Resilience Center
WASHINGTON - On Tuesday, December 12, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas hosted a roundtable with private sector stakeholders to discuss the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) newly announced Supply Chain Resilience Center (SCRC) and its role in securing American and global supply chains.

Secretary Mayorkas and Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans Robert Silvers gave remarks and heard from key leaders representing some of the country's leading transportation and logistics providers, manufacturers, retailers, and related associations. Secretary Mayorkas's and Under Secretary Silvers's opening remarks can be found here.

The discussion focused on goals for supply chain resilience amid global threats, climate events, and cyber risks. Secretary Mayorkas outlined how the SCRC will maximize DHS capabilities to identify and prevent these major disruptions. In addition, Under Secretary Silvers provided an overview of the SCRC's first project: a review of our nation's port security. The review will focus on cranes and other types of hardware equipment that may be subject to adverse foreign influence or control and develop a strategy with practical recommendations to address these challenges in a responsible, commercially practical way to ensure our ports can continue function every day.

Among stakeholders that attended included American Association of Port Authorities, Retail Industry Leaders Association, National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, and the Cargo Airline Association.

See the secretary's full remarks here


The COVID Death Spike is Over
California is on pace to have fewest annual deaths in four years, from all causes

COVID deaths are one third of what they were last year, through Oct. 31

For the first year since COVID-19 upended our lives, the number of deaths from all causes is expected to fall under 300,000 in the Golden State, closer to pre-pandemic normals.

The decline is primarily due to fewer COVID deaths - there have been close to 6,000 deaths from the virus so far this year, compared to over 18,000 at this time last year. To date, the virus has killed more than 104,000 Californians.

Although the final tally is not in, the lower death projections are evidence that with effective vaccines and three years of experience and exposure, COVID has taken its place alongside flu and pneumonia as an endemic disease. But they all can still kill.  mercurynews.com


Retail sales rose 0.3% in November vs. expectations for a decline
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Quarterly Results

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750 Million Fraudulent Microsoft Accounts & Websites Seized
Microsoft seizes infrastructure of top cybercrime group

Relying on a court order, the tech giant seized websites belonging to a top purveyor of fraudulent Microsoft accounts.

Microsoft took sweeping action against a cybercrime operation responsible for creating roughly 750 million fraudulent Microsoft accounts and various websites used to enable a bevy of cybercrime activities, the company said Wednesday.

The announcement comes nearly a week after Microsoft obtained a court order from the Southern District of New York allowing it to seize U.S.-based infrastructure and websites used by a group the company tracks as Storm-1152. The group is one of several that "enable scores of cybercriminals to carry out their malicious activities more efficiently and effectively," Amy Hogan-Burney, Microsoft's associate general counsel for cybersecurity policy and protection, wrote in a blog post on the company's website.

The group "plays a significant role in the highly specialized cybercrime-as-a-service ecosystem," Hogan-Burney wrote, offering fraudulent Microsoft accounts as well as services to bypass CAPTCHA puzzles, which are designed to reduce inauthentic, spammy behavior by forcing a human to answer questions or solve puzzles to access certain web services. Microsoft described the group as "the number one seller and creator of fraudulent Microsoft accounts."

The investigation also identified several individuals based in Vietnam that Microsoft said were instrumental in developing and maintaining the websites associated with the activity, producing step-by-step videos explaining how to use their products to exploit fraudulent Microsoft accounts and even providing chat services to customers. cyberscoop.com


Investment & Education: The Keys to Fighting Ransomware
Fortifying cyber defenses: A proactive approach to ransomware resilience

Ransomware has become a pervasive threat, compromising the security and functionality of vital systems across the United States.

Getting the right tools

Instead of investing time in formulating non-binding pledges rather than working on actionable solutions, the US Government should adopt a more proactive stance by directly procuring advanced cybersecurity tools.

These tools, which have been developed to keep data safe and stop ransomware attacks, exist and are continually evolving. By spearheading the implementation, through investment and education, the government can set a powerful example for the private sector to follow, thereby reinforcing the nation's cyber infrastructure.

The effectiveness of such tools is not hypothetical: they have been tested and proven in various cybersecurity battlegrounds. They range from advanced threat detection systems that use artificial intelligence to identify potential threats before they strike, to automated response solutions that can protect data on infected systems and networks, preventing the lateral spread of ransomware.

Investing in these tools would not only enhance the government's defensive capabilities but would also stimulate the cybersecurity industry, encouraging innovation and development of even more effective defenses.

This approach can also foster public-private partnerships, as government agencies can collaborate with cutting-edge technology firms to develop new standards, best practices, and adapt commercial tools for government use, ensuring the most robust protection possible. helpnetsecurity.com


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