Home Depot Boosting Security - Urging Action From Congress & DAs
Home Depot combats organized retail crime with investments

Organized retail crime costs an average of $719,548 for every $1 billion in sales

Home Depot has ramped up its security investments over the past several months as retailers across the United States have been targeted by a surge in organized crime.

"We've been doing more physical security. We've been innovating some new tools and technologies to make it a little bit harder for the bad guys and girls to steal products," Home Depot Vice President of Asset Protection Scott Glenn told FOX Business. "But we've also been investing in our own behind the scenes technology, innovative things like activation of product."

Product-activation technology utilizes Bluetooth to create an on-and-off switch in certain products that must be activated through a transaction at the register.

Glenn believes that the rise of anonymous online marketplaces, mask requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic, police funding being cut in some U.S. cities and the opioid epidemic are all factors that have helped embolden bad actors to commit retail crimes.

"It just kind of boils down to there's an opportunity," he explained. "And I think that there's a certain group of folks out there, bad actors as we like to refer to them, that are seeing the consequences and the risk of even being caught doing any of these things are much lower than I would argue that they were five years ago."

In addition to stepping up its security investments, Home Depot has signed onto a letter with 19 other retail executives urging Congress to pass the Integrity, Notification and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces (INFORM) for Consumers Act, which would aim to make it easier for consumers to identify third-party sellers and harder for criminals to sell counterfeit products online.

"We believe that online accountability is a must. It has to happen at the federal level for it to be very effective. And we've been working with our government relations teams and individual legislators and supporters of the enforcement at the federal level. But we've also been doing it at the state level," Glenn says. "Additionally, we've been working with key district attorneys and key attorneys general across the country making sure that they hear our story and they understand our pain points and the things that we need from them to take this uptick in organized retail activity or crime activity a little bit more seriously across the board." foxbusiness.com

ORC's Impact on Shoppers
Billions lost due to ORC could have consumers paying more for goods
Every year, criminals target retailers around the country and in the Mid-South, taking off with large quantities of expensive items and making them available for sale online or in pawn shops. It’s a problem difficult to stop because most workers are ordered not to stop the thieves, and once they’re gone, there is little way to track them.

It adds up to billions of dollars stolen from retailers, leaving consumers paying for it.

Walking the aisles of a Home Depot, you can see expensive tools and hardware just about everywhere. However, it’s those expensive tools, some of them locked away, that make them targets for what is known as organized retail crime, or ORC.

“We don’t talk about the financials only that it’s been increasing over the last three to five years, every year,” said Mike Combs, director of investigations for Home Depot.

Exact numbers are closely guarded by retailers, many of whom coordinate with trade group Coalition of Law Enforcement and Retail, or CLEAR. CLEAR is run by the head of CVS’ investigations, Ben Dugan, who details the group’s work in a lengthy interview with the Wall Street Journal.

“There’s a couple things that we think are the bigger drivers of this problem getting bigger, and that is the online marketplaces,” said Combs, who agreed to interview specifically about issues facing Home Depot. Combs spoke about online marketplaces and the issue they pose for large retailers.

Online marketplaces are where criminals are taking the items they steal and selling them, where they are unable to be tracked. “They’ve also been kind of a haven for criminals to go out there and sell counterfeit and stolen product without the consumer really knowing who they’re buying from,” Combs said.

Congress has attempted to legislate against the issue. The INFORM Consumer Act, a bill introduced in the Senate would mandate online marketplaces track the ID, tax ID, bank account and contact information of “high-volume” and “third-party sellers” that it defines as vendors who have made at least 200 sales in a 12-month period, totaling at least $5,000.

“We’ve done a really good job at Home Depot to offset some of the losses that we’re seeing. But that’s always a challenge, when you get to a growing loss problem, that prices could creep up.” fox13memphis.com

Another State Considers ORC Legislation
Online market takes retail theft to a new level
Retail theft happens regularly, and it isn’t always a kid stealing a gumball. The retail industry and law enforcement are increasingly aware of what’s known as organized retail crime. It doesn’t necessarily involve the mafia, but it usually features groups that hit up stores for high-end items and then try to resell them, often utilizing online marketplaces that allow anonymity.

“The retail theft rings, they come through here fairly often,” said Sgt. Roy Hoskins with the St. Joseph Police Department. “We are on a major corridor between Omaha and Kansas City. Sometimes they come here because they think a town of our size is going to be an easier target. And that’s not necessarily the case.”

Retailers try to counter the trend with security, locking up high-end items and using technology like GPS tracking and alarm tags. But Tony Sheppard, director of loss prevention solutions for ThinkLP, said the trend continues to grow because of the ease of reselling stolen items online.

In Missouri, one state representative filed legislation that seeks to define organized retail crime and stiffen penalties for those who steal from multiple stores. “It acknowledges the fact that there are groups of people who do this in an organized fashion,” said Rep. Lane Roberts, R-Joplin. “It’s a big, big deal. Retail theft is a high-dollar crime. It has a big impact on the economy.”

Under House Bill 2108, a person engaged in organized retail theft would face a Class C or Class B felony, depending on the dollar amount of the stolen merchandise. Roberts, a former Joplin police chief, also seeks greater accountability from the online platforms that can be used to resell stolen items.

His proposal would require online marketplaces to verify certain information from high-volume, third-party sellers. This could include bank information, a photo ID or a physical address, phone number or email account.

Roberts anticipates some pushback, but he believes this is the best way to tackle the problem. A comparison could be made with a pawn shop, which has a legal responsibility to work with police and avoid dealing in stolen items. newspressnow.com

Using CA's Budget Surplus to Fight Retail Crime
Newsom wants to use California’s $46 billion surplus to combat crime, homelessness, and other crises

California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposes using funds to combat homelessness, crime, climate change, wealth inequality and the COVID-19 pandemic

Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a budget Monday that would use California’s repeat surplus to help combat the thorniest problems facing the Bay Area and the state, from a lack of affordable housing to growing street encampments to organized retail theft.

Newsom’s ambitious spending proposal comes as California projects it will have a $45.7 billion budget surplus heading into the 2022-23 fiscal year, which starts July 1, due to another year of higher-than-expected tax revenue fueled by a rapid economic rebound.


The governor has proposed spending much of the one-time surplus focusing on five key areas, which his office called the state’s “greatest existential threats”: combating the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, homelessness, wealth inequality and crime.

The governor said his budget will also include about $300 million to combat organized retail theft, increasingly brazen smash-and-grab crimes that have drawn national attention. Newsom’s plan includes $255 million for a grant program to give police more tools to arrest and investigate thieves.

But some criminal justice advocates are skeptical that putting more funding into policing efforts is the right approach, saying the budget for law enforcement is already inflated and that concerns about theft are driven by a national media frenzy.  sfchronicle.com

California's Retail Crime Surge is Top Issue in State Budget Debates
Op-Ed: CA's Next Budget Needs To Fix Long-Festering Problems — & New Ones

Skewed priorities in past budgets have allowed problems to fester; many are now reaching the crisis stage.

The Legislature re-convened for the second half of the 2021-22 session Jan. 3. Due to the magnitude of the problems we face, priority number one will be creating a budget that addresses our most pressing concerns.

As Assembly Minority Leader, I recently joined Assemblyman Vince Fong, vice chair of the Budget Committee, in a letter asking the Governor to fully fund public safety, including curtailing "smash and grabs" by expanding the California Highway Patrol's Organized Retail Theft Program. patch.com

Big City Progressive DA's 'Soft on Crime' Approach
Op-Ed: Manhattan's D.A. 'reimagines' crimes but even social justice warriors will tire of being victimized

This “progressive path” has destroyed the proud city I served as a “street agent” in the FBI’s New York City Office

Last week, the newly-minted D.A. Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., who made history as the first African-American elected to the post, issued a 10-page memorandum to his staff that essentially dismantles the penal code in New York.

It hews to the progressive prosecutor movement’s goals of emptying prisons and transforming the justice system into one less punitive. Running counter to recently-elected New York City Mayor Eric Adams's pledge to reduce the rise of violent crime, Bragg vows not to prosecute fare evasion, trespassing, and resisting arrest. Criminals, take note.

An analysis of the murder wave in 2020, conducted by The Marshall Project, determined that minority communities were the hardest hit, with 85 percent of the homicide increase located in communities of color.

The "solution" to this surge? Well, Alvin Bragg’s progressive prosecutor colleagues in Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco feel they have the answers. And yet, "defund the police," bail reform, and de-policing efforts haven’t been wildly successful in cities where politicians imposed them. We’re about to witness the natural course-correction of dangerous overreach in New York City. It began just days after Bragg’s memo was made public.

This "soft on crime" approach has been attempted before. Just ask any New York City resident old enough to recall the criminal heyday during the 1970s and 1980s. It can be argued that New York was simply broke and lacked the necessary resources to police throughout those decades. However, it took a tougher application of policing during the ensuing 1990s and 2000s to engineer the City’s complete turnaround. Yes, policies matter. Sound policies contribute mightily to deterrence and act as a societal insurance policy, ensuring public safety for all. foxnews.com

MD Governor Pushes for Major Crime Legislation
Gov. Hogan calling on city leaders for support of crime plan, despite silence
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan is calling on Baltimore City and state leaders to do more to stop the violence, as he reintroduces major crime legislation. But despite that call to action from the governor, we're hearing silence pretty much from City Hall.

The renewed call from Hogan came as the full Baltimore city council met for the first time this year. But not a single item on Monday's agenda had to do with the city's violence. The city has already recorded 12 non-fatal shootings and 6 homicides since the beginning of the year. One of the first victims murdered was 17-year-old Bernard "Mooshka" Thomas III. foxbaltimore.com

‘Crime tourists’: An international spree targets D.C. area’s wealthy Asian residents
A string of burglaries in the suburbs revealed a crime trend with worldwide reach

US: 63.3M Cases - 863.8K Dead - 42.6M Recovered
Worldwide: 314.4M Cases - 5.5M Dead - 261.8M Recovered

Former Senior Loss Prevention Executive
Know of any fallen LP exec? Let's remember & recognize.

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 341  
Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 600
*Red indicates change in total deaths

Omicron 'Spreading Like Wildfire'
The highly contagious Omicron variant will 'find just about everybody,' Fauci says, but vaccinated people will still fare better
As the Omicron variant spreads like wildfire across the United States, it's likely just about everybody will be exposed to the strain, but vaccinated people will still fare better, the nation's leading infectious disease expert said Tuesday.

"Omicron, with its extraordinary, unprecedented degree of efficiency of transmissibility, will ultimately find just about everybody," Dr. Anthony Fauci told J. Stephen Morrison, senior vice president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Those who have been vaccinated ... and boosted would get exposed. Some, maybe a lot of them, will get infected but will very likely, with some exceptions, do reasonably well in the sense of not having hospitalization and death."

In contrast, those who are not vaccinated are "going to get the brunt of the severe aspect of this," he added. Across the United States, at least one in five eligible Americans -- roughly 65 million people-- are not vaccinated against Covid-19. More than 62% of the country has been fully vaccinated, but only 23% are fully vaccinated and boosted, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. cnn.com

More Retail Trade Shows Derailed by Omicron
Omicron surge disrupts retail industry events

FMI puts Midwinter Executive Conference ‘on pause,’ PLMA to launch new virtual trade show

FMI-The Food Industry Association announced late Monday that it will “pause” its upcoming Midwinter Executive Conference, scheduled for Jan. 21-24 in Orlando, in the face of growing concerns about COVID-19 and the surging Omicron variant.

The news comes on the same day that the Private Label Manufacturers Association, which previously canceled its January event, will be launching a new online trade show at the end of March.

Since the emergence of COVID in 2020, retail industry trade groups have struggled with the cancellations of in-person live events and the challenges of pivoting to virtual trade shows. By mid-2021, many groups were optimistic that the introduction of the COVID vaccine would signify a return to a more normal business and travel environment, but the current surge of Omicron has derailed event plans that were planned and organized over the past year.

“As much as we would like to host our first in-person industry gathering in nearly two years later this month in Orlando, it does not appear to be in the best interest of the industry to do so,” said FMI president and CEO Leslie G. Sarasin in a statement. “I respect the business and personal challenges our industry continues to face, especially when it comes to their collective health, as well as their operations. I also recognize the tremendous pressures our industry continues to experience regarding the supply chain, which are exacerbated by absenteeism associated with the pandemic. Therefore, we will pause our plans to host the 2022 FMI Midwinter event, at least for the time being.”

PLMA pivots online

PLMA, which had already canceled its January trade show in Chicago — previously rescheduled from November – will now launch PLMA Global, a newly imagined, online private label trade show that will combine the exhibitors and buyers from the organization’s in-person Chicago and Amsterdam events. PLMA Global will take place March 28 to 31, 2022. supermarketnews.com

Omicron Pushes Retailers to Cut Hours
Nike, Lululemon, and Starbucks join Macy's and Walmart in reducing store hours as Omicron spreads, causing staffing shortages

Nike, Lululemon, and Starbucks are the latest retailers to cut back on store opening hours.

Nike, Lululemon, and Starbucks are among major retailers reducing store opening hours at certain locations because of staffing shortages caused by the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.

These retailers join Macy's, Althelta, Walmart, and Apple who have already cut back on store hours or temporarily closed some locations because of the surge in COVID-19 cases in the US.

Though studies suggest that the Omicron variant may be milder than other strains of COVID-19, its rapid transmission rate means that large numbers of people are getting infected and are, therefore, unable to show up to work.

This has wreaked havoc on industries that require in-person attendance, from airlines to manufacturing and retail. The staffing challenges also come amid an ongoing and crippling labor shortage in the US, which is making it harder for some businesses in customer service industries to hire and retain workers. businessinsider.com

Omicron Surge Leading to Empty Store Shelves
Photos show many grocery store shelves are bare, and it's not just winter weather wiping them out

Supply-chain issues were further aggravated this week by the Omicron variant and winter storms.

Shoppers across the country are posting photos of bare shelves at grocery stores including Walmart, Trader Joe's, Target, and Giant Food.

Giant Food, a supermarket chain in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, told Insider that retailers are facing "several challenges" impacting inventory and staffing. These include the Omicron variant and last week's winter storms, both of which caused additional strain to the supply chain, a spokesperson said.

As the highly infection variant spreads across the nation, many retailers face staffing challenges. Around 200 out of 2,500 Stew Leonard's employees are out sick across the tri-state area, The Washington Post reported.

The shortage of workers across the supply chain means it might take longer for stores to restock shelves and replenish fresh inventory. businessinsider.com

Penalizing Unvaccinated Retail Workers
Ikea Reduces Covid Sick Pay for Unvaccinated British Workers
Ikea has imposed a financial penalty on U.K. employees who don’t get Covid-19 shots and miss work because they have to self-isolate.

The furniture retailer is cutting sick pay for staff who can’t work because of close contact with an infected person to 96.35 pounds ($131) a week for the required 10-day isolation period -- less than a fourth of average weekly wage before taxes, The Guardian newspaper reported on Monday. Ikea said it couldn’t immediately comment.

The furniture retailer, which has 10,000 workers in the U.K., is following in the footsteps of other major retailers such as Walmart Inc. in the U.S. and British grocer Wm Morrison Supermarkets Ltd. in putting pressure on staff who refuse to get vaccinated without a valid reason.

The punitive policies mark a change in approach. Until recently, most businesses focused on encouraging staff, such as offering paid time-off for employees to get a Covid shot.

The rapid spread of the omicron variant is prodding retailers to react as a rise in absenteeism adds to the woes of a sector already battling tangled supply chains, rising freight costs and raw material shortages. bnnbloomberg.ca

Governor to Businesses: Don't Comply with Vax Mandate
This governor tells businesses in his state not to comply with the vaccine mandate
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson tells Jake Tapper that businesses should wait until the Supreme Court rules on the federal Covid-19 vaccine mandate, before complying.

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Vaccine mandates. Boosters. Exemptions. Testing protocol. Just a handful of public health questions that human resources departments now have to answer.

China Covid-19 Lockdowns Hit Factories, Ports in Latest Knock to Supply Chains

Hundreds press Maine lawmakers to ban COVID-19 vaccine mandates

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Some Agencies Report 100% Vax Mandate Compliance as Others Begin Suspensions