Drug Cartels & Chinese Partners Fueling ORC?
Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa officials examine retail theft's role in drug trade

The illegal fentanyl trade runs through China, Mexico - and, unwittingly, Home Depot.

Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley sat down Thursday with national retail leaders and local, state and federal law enforcement officials in Cedar Rapids for a roundtable discussion about how retail theft is fueling the illicit drug trade.

Grassley was promoting his bipartisan bill working to tackle a sudden rise in Organized Crime Thefts in the U.S. He says it's clear that a growing transnational crime ring is behind the thefts and using stolen goods to funnel money to deadly drug cartel efforts.

Grassley called the shady financial ties and "disturbing link" between organized retail theft and Mexican drug cartels fueling drug overdose deaths in the United States a "rude awakening."

International money launderers are increasingly using stolen products from retail crime rings to move proceeds from U.S.-based drug sales back to cartels in Mexico to fund additional violent criminal activity - such as human trafficking, gun smuggling and narcotics - in Iowa and elsewhere, said Steve Cagen, assistant director of U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.

It sounds like a dramatic international thriller, but the plot is very real. One executive from Home Depot brought video evidence of the kinds of thefts they are now seeing in their stores. People, often armed, rushing in and grabbing high-value items before rushing out of the store and attacking anyone that gets in their way. "Our law enforcement partners often find these crimes linked to other activities such as drug, gun and even human trafficking," said Scott, VP of Asset Protection with Home Depot.

Glenn and other panelists urged support for legislation to broaden statutes dealing with organized retail theft and give more resources to law enforcement. Glenn said he also would like to see stiffer penalties and a reduction in felony thresholds for retail theft.

Senator Grassley says the thefts themselves are organized by Mexican drug cartels and groups in China using the internet to organize thefts, sell stolen items and launder the money in order to continue their operations. thegazette.com cbs2iowa.com


New Mexico Creates New Crime of 'Organized Retail Crime'
New Mexico Adds Special Penalties for Organized Retail Crime

New Mexico's governor has signed anti-crime bills that aim to curtail coordinated theft at retail stores and block the sale of stolen catalytic converters

New Mexico's governor signed anti-crime bills Thursday that aim to curtail coordinated theft at retail stores and block the sale of stolen catalytic converters that can be sawed out of unattended cars and pickups.

State and local business associations lobbied legislators to create a new category of "organized retail crime" and stiffen penalties for organized theft of store merchandize as retailers struggle to contain losses from coordinated pilfering.

In a statement, Democratic House Speaker Javier Martínez of Albuquerque praised the new legislation and said that organized retail crime also affects the safety retail workers and families as they shop.

House Bill 234 creates the crime of organized retail crime, allowing for the aggregation of multiple retail theft crimes over a period of time to target repeat offenders.

"Retail crime poses a serious threat not just to the livelihood of local business owners, but to the safety of the everyday New Mexicans working behind the counter or shopping for their families," said HB 234 sponsor House Speaker Javier Martínez. "House Bill 234 will be another tool in the toolbox to protect our communities."

"By revamping our shoplifting laws with increased penalties and additional crimes for repeat and violent offenders, we are holding the thieves who endanger the lives of retail shoppers and employees accountable," said HB 234 sponsor Rep. Marian Matthews. This bill becoming law sends the clear message that New Mexico will not tolerate these dangerous crimes." usnews.com  governor.state.nm.us


Cracking Down on Internet Marketplaces Fueling Theft
Anonymity now tougher for shoplifting rings to sell stolen goods online
Organized retail crime is costing American stores a staggering sum of money. In 2021, $94 billion was lost due to shoplifting, according to a national retail security survey.

"Here in Colorado, we think it's approaching a billion dollars. So we have some retail stores that are losing tens of millions of dollars a year," Chris Howes, president of the Colorado Retail Council, said.

Howes is a big supporter of House Bill 22-1099, passed in Colorado, and a similar measure at the federal level, to go after organized crime theft.

"It tries to get at the problem of anonymous sales of stolen goods on the internet," Howes said.

The new measure forces online marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace to track people who make 200 transactions in a year that net at least $5,000.

Online sellers have to give their bank account number, government-issued photo identification and tax identification number, along with a working email and phone number.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser created a statewide task force to combat organized retail theft and to curb online sales of stolen goods when the new law went into effect on Jan. 1 this year.

The owner of the Sports Fan in Denver said he hopes the new measure makes a difference.

"This new law will allow people to really go through a process of now I'm being held accountable on Facebook Marketplace or whatever. And so this isn't a venue for me to steal and then resell. And so instead, my hope is that they just go get a regular job. Also, we're hiring," Friedman said. kdvr.com


Retail Crime Closures Continue
'Rampant drug use and growing crime' lead to latest store closure in SF

San Francisco Whole Foods closes a year after opening due to crime: report
A recently opened Whole Foods Market in San Francisco closed its doors on Monday over growing crime in the downtown area, according to a report. The popular grocery store chain shuttered its SF flagship location a little more than a year after it opened, citing worker safety concerns, the San Francisco Standard reported.

"We are closing our Trinity location only for the time being," a Whole Foods spokesperson told the local outlet in a statement. "If we feel we can ensure the safety of our team members in the store, we will evaluate a reopening of our Trinity location."

The company said rampant drug use and growing crime led to its decision, a city hall source told the Standard. The Whole Foods store had already reduced its hours in October last year after experiencing "high theft" and hostile patrons, a store manager said.

A month later, store managers restricted the use of its bathrooms to customers only after syringes and pipes were found in the restrooms, the publication reported. The city has also been plagued by a lack of foot traffic as many residents are no longer going into offices in the downtown area and are instead working from home.

Countless small businesses have shuttered. San Francisco's District 6 supervisor Matt Dorsey said he was "incredibly disappointed but sadly unsurprised" by the Whole Foods closure.

"Our neighborhood waited a long time for this supermarket, but we're also well aware of problems they've experienced with drug-related retail theft, adjacent drug markets, and the many safety issues related to them," Dorsey said in a statement. nypost.com


America's Gun Violence Epidemic on Display Over Holiday Weekend

146 Mass Shootings in 100 Days of 2023
100 days into 2023, Louisville attack marks nation's 146th mass shooting and 15th mass killing
One hundred days into 2023, there have been 15 mass killings - shootings in which four or more people were killed, not including the shooter - in the U.S., according to a USA TODAY/Associated Press/Northeastern University database tracking the killings.

Louisville, Kentucky, shooting marks 4th public mass killing of 2023

Of the 15 mass killings, four were public shootings, and most of the others were family-related incidents, said James Alan Fox, a professor at Northeastern University in Boston who oversees the USA TODAY database, which goes back to 2006. The killings have left at least 79 people dead and 20 injured, not including the shooters.

146 mass shootings in which four victims injured

The nonprofit Gun Violence Archive tracks all mass shootings, defined as a shooting in which at least four victims are hit by gunfire. There have been 146 mass shootings this year - up 10% over the previous record year of 2021, said Mark Bryant, executive director.

Thousands more killed, injured in gun violence in 2023

Nearly 5,000 people have died from gunfire so far in 2023, and nearly 9,000 have been injured, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Hundreds of children under age 11 have been killed or injured, along with more than a thousand teens, the database shows.

The archive estimates thousands of people have also died by suicide, as about half of all gun violence deaths in the U.S. each year are deaths by suicide.

That data includes gang-related shootings, domestic violence, shootings at sports games, accidents and more. There have been more than 100 such incidents on school grounds this year, the database shows. usatoday.com


Mass Shooting Deaths Reach Decade-Long High
Over 200 Killed In U.S. Mass Shootings So Far This Year
More than 200 people have been killed in mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, following the deadly attack Monday morning at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky-the most mass shootings and mass shooting deaths at this time in the year in at least a decade.

Monday morning's shooting in Kentucky, which left five people dead including the suspected assailant, brought the number of shooting victims in 2023 mass shootings to 209, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which started tracking gun violence data in 2013 and documents shootings in which at least four people were killed or injured, not including the shooter.

There have so far been 146 mass shootings nationwide this year, surpassing the 130 shootings by this point in 2022 that killed 145 people, as well as the 136 mass shootings resulting in 165 deaths at this time in 2021, according to the GVA.

The shooting in Louisville Monday morning was the deadliest in the U.S. since the killing of six people, including three children, at an elementary school in Nashville late last month, according to the Gun Violence Archive. forbes.com


March marks one of Dallas' deadliest months in years

Police recorded 34 murders, a single-month toll not seen since October 2020.

The city's overall murder count in 2023 is 79 victims, up 23.4% from the same period in 2022, according to police statistics through Saturday. Overall violent crime - which includes murders, robberies and aggravated assaults - is down about 3.6% this year.

Police officials say an uptick in calls for service and staffing shortages have placed more demands on officers. The department has about 3,060 officers, down from around 3,500 to 3,600 officers in 2014, before hundreds left during a pension crisis in 2016-17. dallasnews.com


A list of recent high-profile shootings in the US

Louisville mass shooting: Dem claims shootings 'uniquely American epidemic'

Dollar General Safety Violations Continue to Pile Up
180+ Investigations Have Resulted in More Than $15M in Fines

Blocked Emergency Exits and 'Dangerous' Fire Hazards: Dollar General again found in violation of federal workplace safety standards

The inspection is one of more than 180 investigations where OSHA has found Dollar General to be jeopardizing worker safety, the DOL said.

Dollar General has again been found in violation of federal workplace safety regulations for "willfully exposing" staff to fire hazards at a Pennsylvania store, the Department of Labor said Friday.

Investigators found "dangerous safety hazards," including blocked emergency exit routes and electrical panels, at a Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, store during a November inspection that was sparked by a complaint made to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The hazards were similar to violations found at other stores operated by the discounter throughout the U.S., and the inspection is one of more than 180 investigations in which OSHA has found Dollar General to be jeopardizing worker safety, the DOL said.

The company, which operates roughly 18,000 stores across the country and employs more than 150,000 workers, has been fined $15 million for safety violations since 2017 and "continues to defy federal workplace safety requirements" despite repeated penalties, the agency said.

"Exposing employees to these hazards can be dangerous, especially in an emergency," OSHA Area Director Mary Reynolds said in a statement. "Dollar General Corp. has a substantial history of the same violations and hazards found at stores all around the U.S. They must end their repeated failures to correct these violations before an emergency turns tragic."

Just last week, OSHA said Dollar General was in settlement talks with federal regulators after the retailer was labeled a "severe violator" of workplace safety rules. Dollar General was the first company to be added to the "severe violators" list last fall after OSHA expanded the reach of one of its longstanding safety enforcement programs. cnbc.com  retaildive.com


RFID's Retail Expansion Continues
The tech is becoming a top priority for retailers in 2023 and 2024

Uniqlo's Parent Company Bets Big on Tiny RFID Chips

Next-generation self-checkout machines are part of a broader effort to improve the supply chain with radio technology, Fast Retailing CIO Takahiro Tambara says

At Uniqlo's Fifth Avenue store in New York, shoppers can checkout simply by placing their goods in gleaming bins of automated stations. Unlike the self-checkout process at many stores, customers of the casual apparel retailer don't need to scan individual items or look up prices on a screen-they can simply drop their items in a bin and pay.

This next-generation process is powered by radio frequency identification readers inside the checkout machines, which automatically read hidden RFID chips embedded in price tags.

Mr. Tambara said the self-checkout machines are part of a broader effort to improve Uniqlo's supply chain with RFID. All Fast Retailing brands, including Theory and Helmut Lang, began embedding RFID chips into their price tags in 2017-allowing the retailer to track individual items from its factories to warehouses and inside stores. That data is critical for Uniqlo in improving the accuracy of inventory in stores, adjusting production based on demand, and getting more visibility into its supply chain, the company said.

Newer and cheaper RFID chips, reader hardware, and software are enabling retailers such as Uniqlo to implement the technology at lower cost and with more precision, said Praveen Adhi, a senior partner at McKinsey & Co. who leads the consulting firm's retail-operations practice in the Americas. The cost of RFID tags has fallen from as high as 60 cents a tag a few decades ago to about 4 cents a tag, and reader hardware has improved in range and accuracy, he said.

Uniqlo said that RFID has resulted in "significant reduction in out-of-stock" items on the sales floor, and that it has contributed to "reducing lost opportunities and improving customer satisfaction."

While the most common use case for RFID is improving inventory management, the use of RFID at self-checkout machines is gaining traction as more apparel retailers explore ways to apply the technology once their merchandise has been tagged. For the majority of apparel brands, implementing RFID "will be on their 2023 or 2024 agenda," Mr. Adhi said.  wsj.com


'Stop the Merger': Kroger-Albertsons Merger Protests
Workers nationwide protest proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger

Employees at dozens of stores run by the retailers participated last week in a nationwide effort to call on regulators to block the planned deal.

Local unions under the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) hosted protests last week across the U.S. against the proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger under a coordinated effort led by Stop the Merger, a group of more than 100 organizations opposing the merger.

Last Monday, Stop the Merger said grocery store workers from seven UFCW unions, which represent over 100,000 Kroger and Albertsons workers in 12 states and Washington, D.C., would hold actions in front of stores during the week.

Workers at 34 stores under the Kroger and Albertsons banners across Washington, West Virginia, California, Virginia and Washington, D.C. participated in the protests, per Stop the Merger's website. Stop the Merger said in an email it gave away 5,000 "Stop the Merger" reusable grocery bags to shoppers in front of 65 King Soopers and Safeway stores in the Denver metro area on Friday.

The Stop the Merger group, which is calling on the Federal Trade Commission to block the deal from moving forward, claims that the merger would create a monopoly in many areas across the country, including Colorado and Wyoming, job loss for grocery workers, higher food prices and financial hardship for farmers and suppliers. grocerydive.com


'Fair Chance Act' Would Ban Most Employer Background Checks
California bill would ban most criminal background checks

Fair chance laws seek to reduce the barriers that formerly incarcerated individuals encounter trying to get a job.

A California bill under consideration in the state senate would ban most private employers from seeking a background check into a job candidate's conviction history.

If enacted, the Fair Chance Act of 2023 (SB 809) would allow employers to seek a job applicant's conviction history report only in three circumstances: federal or state law or federal regulation requires an employer to obtain the information; federal or state law prohibits an individual with a particular conviction history from holding the position sought, regardless of whether the conviction has been expunged, sealed or dismissed; or federal or state law prohibits an applicant with that particular conviction from being hired. In addition, SB 809 would prohibit employers from rejecting an applicant because of their conviction history without first conducting an individualized assessment as to whether their conviction history has a "direct and adverse" relationship to the job.

The bill would also expand the number of employment practices deemed unlawful, including ending an interview, rejecting an application or otherwise terminating the application process based on conviction history information the applicant provides or the employer learns from another source. SB 809's proposed changes "would more or less upend the ordinary hiring process for just about every employer in California," Littler attorneys Alice Wang and Rod M. Fliegel wrote in a March 27 post. hrdive.com


McDonald's to lay off hundreds as burger giant restructures company, source says

McDonald's is closing its field offices in the U.S. as it moves to a national model

Shoe City files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy


Quarterly Results

Albertson's Q4 identical sales up 5.6%, digital up 16%, FY identical sales up 6.9%, digital up 28%

Car Max Q4 net revenue down 25.6%, Retail used units down 12.6%, FY net revenue down 6.9%
 

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Director, Data Security job posted for RingCentral in Belmont, CA
As part of the RingCentral CISO team, you will work across the organization to ensure data security is built into our products and business using modern practices and disciplines. This role can be located at any of our US-based corporate offices (Belmont CA, Denver CO, Dallas TX, Charlotte NC.) As the Director, Data Security you will be responsible for the identification, classification, protection and recovery of our most critical data assets. ringcentral.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com