Murder Rates Surge 37% in America's Big Cities
Cities with the Highest Increase in Homicide Rates During Covid

In determining our sample, we included 50 of the most populated U.S. cities that had locally published homicide data available for our specific time period.

The homicide rate is increasing rapidly in the U.S., so much so that President Joe Biden has made tackling the problem a priority. Alarmingly, homicide rates have risen by an average of 37% in 50 of the most populated U.S. cities between Q4 2019 and Q4 2021, and are still rising.

In order to determine which cities have the biggest homicide problems, WalletHub compared 50 of the largest U.S. cities based on per capita homicides in Q4 2021, as well as per capita homicides in Q4 2021 vs. Q4 2020 and Q4 2019.

See the full breakdown in the graphic below or here: wallethub.com

California's Prop 47 Debate Heats Up
Sacramento DA Candidates Address Their Position on Prop 47
Prop. 47 is a critical issue once again facing California. Passed in 2014 by the voters, it made non-violent drug and property crimes misdemeanors. However, by raising the felony threshold from $450 to $950 for petty theft, some have argued that it has created a rise in theft crimes.

There is now at least one legislative effort to rescind a portion of Prop. 47. The Sacramento DA candidates last week were asked their position on Prop. 47. Here are their responses.

Thien Ho: Number one, I would like to see that domestic violence, for example, be categorized as a violent offense. It’s not, under the law. Also, in addition, we want to make sure that we want to target those individuals that are engaging in, theft rings, organized theft rings. There are committing offense says over and over. You see them in the smashing grabs. You see them in those situations. There has to be a level of accountability where if you’re not stealing for food, if you’re not stealing for your necessity, but you’re committing thefts over and over again, there has to be a level of accountability.

Alana Mathews: I think Prop. 47 was a very strong step in the right direction to repair a lot of the harm that has been disproportionately impacted on communities of color. What I will say is that it’s been the topic they use for a lot of, and blame for a lot of things that are going on.

It is unacceptable to have these smashing grabs that we are seeing on television and certainly people need to be held accountable, but what’s happening is we are not looking at it the whole way. So what I want be as a DA is have a crime strategies unit. So we are being more strategic because what’s happening is the, the people of color, the low level they’re being paid money to go and do these smashing grabs. But what happens with all that inventory, it gets sold.

That’s why you have organized retail theft, and we are not being strategic in analyzing the data and going after the individuals who are actually taking that merchandise and selling it, whether they’re selling it online or they’re selling it at a Denio’s or a flea market. And so I’m happy to see that there’s legislation right now that is, being responsive to that crime and to that instances of how that is happening. So we’re not going to spend time looking back and blaming policy season of the past, but we’re going to be moving forward. davisvanguard.org

Shoplifting is Booming in NYC - And It May Get Even Worse
Op-Ed: Progressives give NYC a shoplifting boom that harms the whole city
Retail theft has soared, with nearly 44,000 reports of it last year — a 36% increase over 2020. The Post filmed another thief in the act at a Rite Aid at 8th Avenue and 50th Street in Manhattan last week, with the perp so cavalier that he spoke openly about it to our reporter, admitting he’s been hitting stores for months without getting arrested.

Last year, The Post reported that 22-year-old Isaac Rodriguez had been nabbed for shoplifting 46 times in the first 10 months of 2021 alone; 77 others with 20 or more retail-theft charges are out on the streets.

Fact is, these “petty” thieves rarely get arrested, and when they are, they’re generally freed within hours and prosecutors often drop the case. Which leaves drugstores, which offer many small necessities, ripe for the picking.

Now retailers must brace for even more theft, especially in Manhattan, where District Attorney Alvin Bragg has vowed to keep such bandits from ever seeing the inside of a jail cell.

Yet retail thievery takes a toll: Our reporters found empty shelves at a dozen CVS, Duane Reade/Walgreens and Rite Aid stores around the city. Workers where Rapaport filmed say crooks target the place daily. That has outlets boarding: Midtown’s Rite Aid at 50th and 8th, where sources report more than $200,000 in stolen merchandise over the past two months alone, is set to close by next month.

Progressives like Bragg think they’re preventing injustice, when in fact they’re inflicting it on innocent merchants and honest would-be shoppers — the public that they’re sworn to protect. nypost.com

Tougher Penalties for 'Flash Mob' Thefts
DA, police chief weigh in on proposed legislation that would enact stiffer penalties for "flash mob" thefts
A Republican-led bill that passed through the state Assembly last week and is headed to the state Senate is targeted at a disturbing trend when it comes to shoplifters and the damage they do to retail outlets.

But locally, where the Pleasant Prairie Premium Outlets has been a target of “flash mobs,” nothing much will change in how those cases are prosecuted moving forward.

The bill, which passed the Assembly 59-33 without a debate, will allow prosecutors to determine the severity of penalties based on the total value of all the stolen items. Penalties under the current law vary from a misdemeanor to a felony depending on the total value.

Legislators here drafted the proposal in response to reports last year of gangs of shoplifters running rampant through high-end department stores in California, according to earlier published media reports. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law in July that re-established the crime of organized crime theft.

“This is a problem in Kenosha County,” District Attorney Michael Graveley said. “We’ve had multiple incidents per year of individuals coming from other locations and going to our outlet mall. I haven’t seen it at other places other than the outlet mall, but that has been a problem (in Pleasant Prairie).

Pleasant Prairie Police Chief David Smetana said legislation that targets retail theft specifically is a good start, but other things must occur, too. While the Assembly bill doesn’t specifically use language spelling out retail theft, the intent of the proposed legislation targets organized criminal theft.

“If we’re specifically talking about retail theft, fantastic, but we all need to be on board,” Smetana said. “The retailers need to follow through and file charges and prosecute. That’s one of the problems you’re seeing nationwide now, just people walking out, authorities not being called. And, all that does is it feeds on itself. It makes the problem bigger because groups of thieves or organized groups of thieves know who is going to prosecute and who isn’t; who they’re going to be able to walk out on with (goods) and who they’re not.”

Smetana said oftentimes businesses don’t take the next step en route to prosecution. kenoshanews.com

Illinois Lawmakers Debate Retail Crime Legislation
Harmon on retail theft proposals, items from a recent budget poll, pandemic laws and the state of American democracy

Brian Mackey interviewed Senate President Don Harmon on retail crime

Brian Mackey: House Republican Leader Jim Durkin is pushing for a new crime of organized retail theft punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Would you support something like that? Do you support moving back into the realm of enhancing penalties, as they say?

Senate President Don Harmon: I don’t think that penalty enhancements work. I think the real motivator is the swiftness and certainty that there will be some punishment. I know Leader Durkin went to the press room and made a big to-do about his proposal. Meanwhile, we Democrats have been working with the Illinois Retail Merchants Association that represents most of the businesses that are directly affected, and are working on putting together a plan that is sensible, that doesn’t revolve around penalty enhancements, but addresses the problem in a direct and honest way. I think you’ll see a significant proposal coming out of the Democratic caucuses in both the House and the Senate on that topic.

Mackey: Can you say more about what what that will look like if not increasing penalty enhancements, and how that will work?

Harmon: Part of it is trying to make sure we devote the resources to this to make sure that police departments have the personnel to tackle this particular problem. Part of it is trying to shut off the aftermarket. If people can’t sell these things they’ve stolen, easily, they will have much less of an incentive to steal them in the first place. And part of it is looking at how these organized crime rings are actually organized, and seeing if we can’t chip away at their ability to put these conspiracies into place. capitolfax.com

Just 2% of Americans Think Rising Crime is #1 Issue
Why rising crime isn't breaking through as a national issue
It's tough to turn on the news these days without seeing stories about rising violent crime rates. Violent crime (whether it be homicide or even carjackings) does seem to have climbed significantly during the coronavirus pandemic.

This has changed perceptions of crime, as an average of Gallup polling over the last two years shows more Americans think crime has risen nationally than at any point since the early 1990s. But a closer look at the data reveals that crime, for the most part, remains a back-burner national issue for Americans, unlike in the 1990s. Crime does, however, have the ability to shape local and state politics.

Just 2% of Americans right now say crime or violence is the most important problem. Last month, it was the same 2%. More than 10 issues rank higher than crime and violence. Some, such as the coronavirus (20%) or economic problems (22%), rank well above it.

These polls are no outliers. A Quinnipiac University poll from November showed a mere 1% put crime or violence as the top problem.

Beyond crime not being seen as a top problem in the country, it's not an issue that most Americans think the federal government should be working on. Just 10% said it's something the government should do something about in a December AP-NORC poll. There were more than 10 other problems that Americans listed higher than crime or violence that the government should address. cnn.com

'This is just getting worse:' Kirkland, Wash. store goes cashless after robbery
"It's hitting everywhere. I've heard this story a thousand times and until it hits you, you don't really quite understand it." To hopefully deter further crime, most of his stores are going cashless.

More businesses are leaving Seattle over growing crime concerns

US: 75.5M Cases - 907.1K Dead - 45.9M Recovered
Worldwide: 375.8M Cases - 5.6M Dead - 296.8M Recovered

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

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 344  
Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 624
*Red indicates change in total deaths

COVID Cases, Hospitalizations & Deaths

Another Variant Sweeping the Nation
The latest Covid variant is 1.5 times more contagious than omicron and already circulating in almost half of U.S. states

Nearly half of U.S. states have confirmed the presence of BA.2 with at least 127 known cases nationwide as of Friday.

There are already dozens of cases across almost half of the U.S. of a new Covid subvariant that’s even more contagious than the already highly transmissible omicron variant.

Nearly half of U.S. states have confirmed the presence of BA.2 with at least 127 known cases nationwide as of Friday, according to a global data base that tracks Covid variants. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a statement Friday, said although BA.2 has increased in proportion to the original omicron strain in some countries, it is currently circulating at a low level in the U.S.

The subvariant is 1.5 times more transmissible than the original omicron strain, referred to by scientists as BA.1, according to Statens Serum Institut, which conducts infectious disease surveillance for Denmark.

The new sublineage doesn’t appear to further reduce the effectiveness of vaccines against symptomatic infection, according to the U.K. Health Security Agency. cnbc.com

Protecting Security Guards From COVID
Security officers still lack PPE, some infected by Covid19 several times
Carlos Melendez and Charlie Grimes both work for one of the largest private security contractors in the world and they both tell the same story. Neither one has ever received anything other than an occasional face mask during the initial few months when the pandemic began and neither one got vaccinated until they both caught Covid19 for the second time.

Both said that although they work around hundreds of people every day at a large Amazon distribution center, there has never been any urgency shown by their employer or Amazon officials to provide the proper guidance about health safety or to issue the proper PPE regularly.

Kevin Hartwell, a former G4S supervisor has also spoken out about the lack of concern for the frontline security officers who have been working amidst the ongoing virus since it was first discovered in early 2020.

The Transportation Security Administration recently announced that they have lost 34 security personnel to the Coronavirus and have had more than 16,000 employees test positive for the virus though the report did not indicate if some of the employees have contracted the virus more than once.

While Private Officer International, a private security and law enforcement association has spent many manhours tracking national security officer Covid19 related deaths and confirming more than 500 of them, it has been difficult to accurately gather the information because of the lack of reporting by local media and health departments. According to The Officer Down Memorial Page, more than 600 police officers have died from the virus since 2020.

Michael Jon Thomas has worked in the security field for more than thirty years and now owns a small security firm in Colorado and he says that he has witnessed firsthand the lack of concern by both clients and the general public who often act like that Covid is a myth or that it is no longer a medical concern. His security officers have been assaulted, yelled at, and threatened in grocery stores and convenience stores as they tried to enforce the mask rules.  privateofficerbreakingnews.blogspot.com

DOJ-Retail Vaccine Settlement
Justice Department Secures Agreement to Make Online COVID-19 Vaccine Registration Accessible for People with Disabilities at Kroger Grocery Chain
The Justice Department today announced that it has secured a settlement agreement with The Kroger Co. (Kroger) under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that will eliminate barriers preventing people with certain disabilities from getting information about COVID-19 vaccinations and booking their vaccination appointments online. Kroger is an Ohio-based retailer with approximately 2,800 retail grocery stores under the Kroger name and other brands, with a presence in 35 states and the District of Columbia. Today’s resolution is the department’s third agreement on the critical issue of COVID-19 vaccination website accessibility, following settlement announcements in November 2021 (Rite Aid Corporation) and December 2021 (Hy-Vee Inc.).

The COVID-19 vaccine registration portal for Kroger-branded stores, currently located at https://www.kroger.com/health/pharmacy/covid-care, was not accessible to people with certain disabilities, including those who use screen reader software. For instance, critical medical screening questions about current COVID-related symptoms, allergies and reactions to previous vaccines were not read to screen reader users. Further, when a screen reader user selected an available appointment time, the website told them that the available appointment was “unavailable,” instead of “selected.”

Under today’s settlement, Kroger will conform web content about the COVID-19 vaccine, including the forms for scheduling an appointment to get the vaccine, to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), Version 2.1, Level AA. WCAG is a set of voluntary industry guidelines for making information on a website accessible to users with disabilities. Kroger also must regularly test the pages of its website that include vaccine scheduling and information about the COVID-19 vaccine, and quickly fix any problems that keep people with disabilities from being able to use these pages. justice.gov

$1.5M Fake COVID Vaccine Card Selling Scheme
Two New York nurses charged with forging Covid vaccine cards to earn more than $1.5 million

Two nurses on New York’s Long Island are being charged with forging Covid-19 vaccination cards and entering the fake jabs in the state’s database.

Two nurses on New York’s Long Island are being charged with forging Covid-19 vaccination cards and entering the fake jabs in the state’s database, a scam that allegedly raked in more than $1.5 million.

From November 2021 to January 2022, the pair allegedly forged vaccination cards, charging adults $220 apiece and $85 per child for a fake record that would land in the New York State Immunization Information System database. Prosecutors said that on one or more occasions, DeVuono and Urrano allegedly created records to indicate a vaccine was given to an undercover detective despite never administering the vaccine.

DeVuono’s husband Derin DeVuono, who is a New York Police Department officer, is being investigated by the department’s Internal Affairs Bureau in terms of his possible involvement in his wife’s alleged scheme, sources told the New York Daily News.

Just a month ago, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law criminalizing fake Covid-19 vaccination cards. cnbc.com

How COVID is reshaping downtown Detroit's retail, restaurant landscape

TSA officer said employees worked sick to earn attendance bonus

Lack of Downtown Office Workers Crushes Big City Retail Foot Traffic
Walgreens 'superstore' on Philly’s Broad Street will shutter in February

Store once heralded as a game changer is latest downtown retail casualty; observers point to decline in office workers

A three-story Walgreens on Broad Street in Philadelphia, once pitched as a flagship for the pharmacy chain’s pivot into American urban centers, will shutter in February.

The 26,000-square-foot store, at Broad and Chestnut Streets, opened in 2013 in a space left vacant by the closure of a Borders bookstore. Part of a national push that saw similar larger-format stores open in eight other cities, the “superstore” featured more fresh and prepared food than a typical Walgreens, as the chain sought to fill a niche typically occupied by neighborhood grocery stores.

The announcement this week comes after several other high-profile Center City retail closures, including a flagship Wawa convenience store at Broad and Walnut, and others at 13th and Chestnut as well as Ninth and South Streets.

Paul Levy, head of the downtown economic development agency Center City District, said numerous factors were driving closures of stores, like the Walgreens location, that were already battered by the pandemic and experienced looting in the wake of mass unrest in 2020, following the murder of George Floyd.

He acknowledged a “concerning” rise in retail thefts –– which increased nearly 20% citywide over the last year, according to police data –– but said the primary driver was overall downtown foot traffic that is still 38% lower than before the pandemic. He attributed the latter to the economically bruising loss of many office workers, tens of thousands of whom were placed on remote work or relocated during the pandemic. inquirer.com

Young Workers Driving the Union Push
A ‘Gen U’ of young Starbucks baristas is powering a growing push to unionize

To date, more than 30 stores have petitioned the NLRB to organize. The push is being led by younger baristas hoping to have a direct line into management.

From coast to coast, young Starbucks baristas are pushing to unionize their cafes, flexing their collective power against the coffee giant in a fight that could change the broader restaurant industry and its workforce.

After notching a first win late last year, two Starbucks company-owned stores have formally organized after a December vote and hearing before the National Labor Relations Board. To date, more than 30 company-owned stores from Massachusetts to Tennessee and Arizona have filed for union elections at Starbucks, according to a CNBC analysis of NLRB filings. An industry-wide labor crunch and the high-profile union push from Starbucks workers could mean more chains see their employees follow suit.

The petitions to organize have come faster than even those involved first believed possible, according to Richard Bensinger, union organizer with Starbucks Workers United and a former organizing director of the AFL-CIO. But with the group organizing via single-store units, some say the push could take years before reaching critical mass for the coffee giant.

Bensinger said he thinks Starbucks corporate was “caught off guard” by the speed. Hundreds of partners a week are contacting the organizers to learn more about how to petition to unionize, he said. cnbc.com

Businesses Fight 'The Great Resignation'
Restaurant workers are quitting in droves. This is how they are being lured back.

Life insurance, college tuition, and talk about job satisfaction are served up in big portions

The Great Resignation is upgrading restaurant industry benefits and perks. Restaurant owners are offering shorter workweeks, life insurance, mental health services, college tuition and more paths to career advancement. They are giving out free Spotify subscriptions, adding nursing stations for lactating employees, and promising signing bonuses and free food to anyone off the street who fills out an application.

While there has always been high turnover in the industry, restaurants in particular have been ravaged by some of the largest numbers of employees quitting in the Great Resignation sweeping the labor force in recent months.

In response, 84 percent of restaurants reported raising wages, according to the National Restaurant Association, with hospitality industry workers now earning an average of $19.57 per hour, a 13 percent increase from a year ago, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Still, restaurant workers are restive, switching jobs, leaving the industry, and demanding compensation and perks that would have been inconceivable two years ago. washingtonpost.com

24% Drop in Consumer Confidence - Past 9 Months
Consumer sentiment plunges on Omicron, inflation

Concerns over rising prices and the Omicron variant weighed heavily on consumers’ minds regarding the economy throughout January.

Consumer sentiment in January fell 4.8%, sinking to the lowest level since November 2011, according to The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey. The slump was due to two sharp declines separated by a brief interlude of rising optimism.

The initial steep decline occurred in just two months, a 28.9% plunge in optimism from February to April 2020 due to the shutdown in the economy. Confidence recorded an equally strong recovery beginning in late 2020, and rising 23.0% by April 2021. But the upturn was reversed during the past nine months, with the Sentiment Index falling by 23.9%.

While consumers’ primary concern is rising inflation and falling real incomes, they may misinterpret the Fed's policy moves to slow the economy as part of the problem rather than part of the solution, warned Richard Curtain, chief economist, Surveys of Consumers, University of Michigan. “The danger is that consumers may overreact to these tiny nudges, especially given the uncertainties about the coronavirus and other heightened geopolitical risks,” he said. chainstoreage.com

Adidas to hire more than 2,800 employees in 2022

Bed Bath & Beyond Decluttered Its Stores and Ended Up Frustrating Shoppers

First Coast Security has laid off nearly 300 employees in Florida

Italy's Dolce & Gabbana to ditch fur


Last week's #1 article --

NYC's Shoplifting Explosion - Most Since 1995
NYPD Reports Shoplifting Levels Not Seen In Nearly 30 Years As Organized Retail Crime Ramps Up Nationwide
There's been a spike in shoplifting in New York City. The NYPD says it hasn't seen levels like this since 1995, and elsewhere around the country, organized retail crime is ramping up.

"Seeing a sharp uptick in shoplifts that then turn into robberies," said Michael Lipetri, chief of NYPD crime patrol strategies.

From Jan. 1 through Sept. 12, 2021, the NYPD says there were more than 26,000 complaints for shoplifting compared to the same time period in 2020, which was over 20,000. Lipetri tells CBS2's Alice Gainer the pandemic helped fuel the increase. It's why many products are now locked up at local drug stores.

Then there's organized retail crime, a growing concern around the country. Connecticut just created a task force to deal with it. So have other states like California and Illinois. newyork.cbslocal.com