Pandemic Led to Increase in Retail Security Threats, According to NRF Study

WASHINGTON, August 18, 2021 – Organized retail crime and numerous other security concerns evolved in 2020, and most retailers attribute the increase in criminal activity to the pandemic, according to the 2021 Retail Security Survey released today by the National Retail Federation.

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the risk environment for retailers on several fronts. While more than two-thirds (69 percent) said the pandemic resulted in an increase in overall risk for their organization, respondents specifically mentioned the impact on workplace violence (61 percent) and organized retail crime (57 percent).

Mandated store shutdowns and other shopping restrictions that occurred throughout 2020 had an impact on where fraudulent activity occurred. More than one-third (39 percent) of respondents said they saw the greatest increase in fraud in multichannel sales channels such as buy online pick up in store, up from 19 percent the year before. In contrast, just 28 percent said the greatest increase in fraud came from in-store-only sales, down from 49 percent the year before. The percent of those who pointed to online-only sales fraud remained flat.

Apprehensions and prosecutions of dishonest employees are down compared with last year and with the five-year average. However, the cost per dishonest employee case is increasing. Half (50 percent) of respondents reported an average dollar loss of at least $1,000 compared with 29 percent in 2019.

Perhaps more concerning is the fact that a majority of retailers (65 percent) agree that ORC gangs are exhibiting higher levels of aggression and violence than they did the year before. Retailers cited COVID-19, policing and changes to sentencing guidelines, and the growth of online marketplaces as top reasons behind the increase in ORC activity.

The top five cities for ORC in the past year in order were Los Angeles, San Francisco/ Oakland, Chicago, New York and Miami.

With the size and scope of these threats continuing to grow, it is clear retailers need support from additional external resources, including lawmakers and law enforcement. A large majority of respondents (78 percent) believe a federal ORC law is needed to effectively combat these issues. Otherwise, retailers are left to address crimes that are often entangled between a patchwork of local jurisdictions.

The 2021 Retail Security Survey was conducted online among retail industry LP and AP professionals. The study was sponsored by Appriss Retail. Click here to view the report.

Rising Crime is Becoming Top Issue Nationwide

Violent Crime Beats COVID as the #1 Fear in Chicago
Concern over violence rising, Chicago residents unhappy with Lightfoot, Foxx
With crime remaining the dominant issue facing Chicago today, residents are growing unhappy with Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s performance in office, according to a new WGN-TV/Emerson College poll.

Also under water with Chicago residents, but by a much wider margin, is Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. Just 34.7% of Chicagoans polled approve of the job the county’s top prosecutor is doing overall, 47.7% disapprove and 15.9% are unsure or have no opinion.

Shootings across the city continued rise throughout the summer, and Chicago residents are taking notice. Sixty-two percent respondents say there is more crime now in Chicago than there was a year ago, while 24% feel that crime has stayed the same. Just 14% of residents think there is less crime since last year.

The surge in gun violence continues to dominate headlines. This past weekend 56 people were shot, seven of them fatally. The youngest victim was a 7-year-old girl killed in a shooting Sunday that also wounded her 6-year-old sister.

By an overwhelming number, Chicagoans still think crime is the number one issue facing the city. Of those asked, 44.2% said their top concern was crime — that’s more than three times for any other issue. The city’s handling of the deadly COVID-19 virus came in second at 12%, followed by education/schools at 7.8%, health care at 7.3% and police reform at 7.2%. wgntv.com

Rising Crime is a Top Issue in Calif.
Californians and their views on crime

Nearly all Californians say crime is an important issue, including more than two in three who consider it very important.

Californians were offered a range of potential policy prescriptions for what they'd like to see done to help prevent violent crime. (Ideas were not mutually exclusive so they could pick as many or as few as they wanted.)

Among the top-rated answers were increased economic opportunity and jobs. Closely following this was having more mental health services available. Large majorities would like to see these.

Almost half of Californians chose making fewer guns available as something that they think could help (49%) — and they pick that at three times the rate as those who thought making more guns available would help (14%). They selected the idea of more funding for police at a higher rate (48%) than the idea of less funding for police (13%), but many don't think either would help. A third of Californians thought having more racial diversity in neighborhoods would help. cbsnews.com


Calls to 'Defund the Police' Go Silent as Crime Surges

'Defund the Police' Movement is Fizzling Amid Crime Spikes
As murders surge, city leaders find a new message: Fund the police
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and many other Democratic city leaders are scrambling to boost police budgets and hire more officers amid the deadliest crime wave in two decades. Local and national Democrats are distancing themselves from “defund” politics and policies, a reflection of how deeply unpopular the concept has become among most voters – and how effective a weapon it can be for Republican candidates.

The crime wave has laid bare tensions between progressive Democrats, who still aim to overhaul U.S. policing, and mainstream Democrats now pushing traditional enforcement to combat crime.

The division has chilled efforts to reshape police departments and hold officers more accountable for excessive force. In New York, Atlanta and Seattle, Democratic city politicians have abandoned or scaled back police budget-cutting efforts and other proposals they touted amid the uproar over the 2020 death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by police in Minneapolis. In Congress, a policing bill named after Floyd – sponsored by Vice President Kamala Harris when she was still a senator – remains stalled more than a year later.

New York pivoted from slashing almost $1 billion in police funds last year to adding $200 million this year. Oakland, California, boosted its police budget in June by $38 million after last year setting a goal to cut it by $150 million. Austin, a liberal bastion in conservative Texas, this year passed its largest-ever police budget under pressure from state Republicans over rising crime. Last year, Austin had diverted $150 million in police funds to other priorities.

In Washington, Bowser asked the city council last month for $11 million to hire 170 new police officers after a series of shootings. The council agreed to fund 40 officers. wtvbam.com

More States & Cities Look to Boost Police Funding
Amid Michigan rise in violent crime, little appetite for defunding police
Just over a year after demands to defund the police, departments across Michigan are up against a different reality: A spike in violent crime amid a rising shortage of officers.

The combination has fueled efforts to increase police budgets and thrust public safety into the political arena, as candidates offer solutions ahead of what could be a volatile 2022 election cycle, most notably involving the race for Michigan governor.

In Flint, the mayor declared a state of emergency in July to combat rising gun violence, as homicides climbed by about a third compared to the same period in 2020. Detroit recorded its 186th homicide in late July, 16 more than at that time in 2020, when the city had 327 homicides, up 19 percent in 2019.

Grand Rapids recorded 38 homicides in 2020, an all-time high. For the first six months this year, assaults with guns climbed 72 percent compared to the same period in 2020. Kalamazoo had 15 homicides in 2020, the most in at least a quarter century.

For the moment at least, these urgent public safety concerns appear to have muted proposals for deep cuts to police departments, sentiments sparked by the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin. Indeed, contrary to any radical makeover, many large Michigan cities are hiking their police budget. bridgemi.com

Mother of son killed in NYC deli blames 'defund police' movement for murder

Can Democrats defuse ‘Defund the Police’?


Massive Data Loss Forces Police to Set Criminals Free
Dallas PD Loses 8 Terabytes of Crime Data, Throwing Court Cases Into Chaos
The Dallas Police Department has announced that a city employee accidentally deleted eight terabytes of its data—an incident that has now endangered an unknown amount of court cases that relied upon the data as evidence.

The lost files, which included “images, video, audio, case notes or other items collected by DPD personnel in the course of their routine daily duties,” have now thrown numerous court cases into jeopardy.

According to the DPD, the data was lost during a routine data migration that occurred in early April. The city IT employee tasked with handling the process “failed to follow proper, established procedures,” which resulted “in the deletion of the data files,” the agency said, in a statement shared with Gizmodo.

DA Creuzot has further stated that his office is still assessing how much damage the incident has caused: “At this time, it is too soon to estimate how many cases will be affected and what the impact will be on those individual cases."

The Associated Press reports that a Texas man, Jonathan Pitts, was supposed to be on trial for murder this week but has now been ordered released on bond because authorities are worried that evidence germane to his case may have been in the trove of expunged data. Pitts, who is accused of shooting another man to death in 2019, will be released while prosecutors work with the police department to determine whether any data related to his case has been lost, the outlet reports. gizmodo.com

Hate Crime Spree Targeting Chinese-Owned Shops in SF
SF man charged with hate crimes allegedly shattered Chinese shop windows with slingshot, DA says
The San Francisco District Attorney's Office has announced hate crime charges for a man who allegedly targeted shops he believed were Chinese-owned.

Derik Barreto is being charged with 27 counts of vandalism, four counts of second-degree robbery and counts of possession of burglary tools and concealed weapons. Thirty-one of these counts were enhanced with hate crime charges.

Barreto allegedly shattered the windows of 20 businesses throughout San Francisco, riding a scooter through the city streets and using a slingshot, hammer or other weapon to smash windows of businesses he believed were Chinese-owned, the District Attorney's Office said. These businesses were along Ocean Avenue, in Chinatown and in the Mission.

Hon's Wun-Tun House and Bow Hon Restaurant were among the restaurants affected by vandalism, KTVU reported. Barreto also took cash and other items from the shops he broke into, the District Attorney's Office said.

He allegedly told police during detainment that he was "motivated by the perceived race and nationality of the victims," according to a statement issued by District Attorney Chesa Boudin's office. sfgate.com

Crime causes closure of branch of Niagara Falls' iconic DiCamillo Bakery
 

Afraid to Work Near Unvaccinated Customers & Colleagues
Retail Workers are Concerned About Returning to Work with Unvaccinated Co-Workers and Customers
With case counts rising across the country and with the more transmissible and deadlier Delta variant, retailers can no longer dodge the issue of vaccination standards.

Retail is eager to open fully. Retail workers are eager to get back to work except 68% of them are worried about returning to work with unvaccinated co-workers and customers. It’s such a big issue many are delaying making themselves available for rehire and retailers are in a near panic to find staff. It really isn’t the availability of CERB type funding and a laziness to work. The core issue is fear. The longer this pandemic goes on, the more resistant people are to accept front-line jobs.

How Do Employers Cope with This New Reality?

The law says employers have to provide a safe environment in every way, but it has stopped short of demanding vaccination proof. As more and more jurisdictions globally are implementing mandatory proof of vaccination for public facing jobs, Canada is stuck in limbo with a fear of igniting political strife over the issue. We have New York City jumping right in: no vaccination = no entry to restaurants, clubs, theatres, or any other public arena.

We have Alberta tossing open the doors with its ‘let’s see what happens’ policies. We have British Columbia only slightly more restricted while we have Quebec leading the charge with vaccination passports. What’s missing is leadership at the Federal and Provincial level that is consistent across the country about vaccination status.

How Does This Translate Overall?

Nearly every poll from every source indicates that the Canadian public wants protection from COVID-19. They want to know they are safe inside stores. They want vaccinated staff. The public wants it even more than the workers want it. The weak job gain in July of only 94,000 positions isn’t no jobs. It is people refusing to return to work.

Retail cannot avoid the policy issue any longer. The law will say you can’t force people to get vaccinated. Fine. However, what are the rules on terminating people who are unvaccinated? It’s a tough call. The obvious solution is to implement a policy of 100% vaccinated for all new hires and give existing staff a window to comply as well.

Could a business get sued? Possibly. Is it likely? Not really. COVID is changing so rapidly by the time a wrongful termination case gets to court, we may well have mandatory vaccination rules in place. retail-insider.com

4th Wave Could Be a Death Blow for Some Canadian Retailers
Pandemic ‘Fourth Wave’ Would be Devastating to Retailers and Businesses in Canada Trying to Come Back from a Year and a Half of Restrictions
A potential ‘fourth wave’ of the COVID-19 pandemic would be devastating and lead to many business closures across the country, particularly for businesses that have been hanging by a thread through the economic turmoil of the past year and a half.

According to a recent survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, more than 80 per cent of small businesses have not fully recovered from the pandemic with that share rising above 90 per cent for hard hit sectors like arts and recreation (95 per cent) and hospitality (96 per cent). And businesses that have not recovered say it will take them an average of 23 months to get back to normal.

Corinne Pohlmann, Senior Vice-President, National Affairs and Partnerships for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said another shutdown in the country would be “pretty devastating.”

"A fourth wave is not welcome at all. We’re trying to pressure governments to think about how do we stay open even if things start getting worse again. What can we do? We have more tools in our toolbox that we can work with whether it’s rapid testing, vaccinations, other tools, we know about mask wearing, and other things that can be done in order to sort of minimize the need to actually go into full lockdown because that would probably kill even more companies because of just not having been able to make revenues. They need to be able to be sustainable for more than just two or three months at a time. They need to be able to stay open a lot longer than that.” retail-insider.com

Retail Growth Depends on Latest COVID Wave
Economists Optimistic for a Better Second Half of 2021 for Retailers in Canada Pending Severity of Pandemic’s Fourth Wave
“We’re fairly optimistic about retail over the coming months,” he says. “And optimism around retail performance continues to grow. The second half of the year is going to look a lot better for the economy than the first half. Right now, there’s really only one major headwind to growth, and it’s comprised of virus spread and containment measures."

He contnued, "But, if impacts of the fourth wave of the virus can be minimized, we’ve perhaps seen the worst of the pandemic and associated lockdowns. And if we take away that headwind completely, it seems that there are opportunities for the industry to bounce back. Government supports have been larger than normal for households that have lost work, and spending options have been severely limited. As a result, households have accumulated a lot of savings. The spending power is already there. The only question is when households will feel comfortable going out and spending again.” retail-insider.com

False COVID Documents
2 travelers to Canada who gave false COVID-19 vaccination information each fined almost $20K

COVID-related restrictions to enter Canada could last for years

Canada plans to require air travelers, cruise passengers to have COVID vaccine
 

Howard County, MD: Police charge four men after theft from Lowe's; one man was shot by police after hitting police car while fleeing
Tuesday, Howard County police charged four men in connection with a theft from a Lowe's store in Elkridge and an altercation that ended with one of them shot by police. Online court records show three of the men — Donte Bernard Shaw, Taquan Neal and Percy Brown — had been charged in a string of recent thefts in Carroll, Charles and Frederick counties. Neal, for instance, was charged in an Aug. 1 theft from a Charles County Homes Depot, according to a spokesman for the county police department. In that case, he fled in a car with other individuals and had a polymer handgun in the vehicle, the spokesperson said.

After the alleged theft in Elkridge, around 3 p.m. Monday, police say the four men fled in two cars to a storage facility in Jessup, where police officers confronted them. Police said one of the drivers, Shaw, 31, of Washington, D.C., was attempting to flee the area in a vehicle and struck a police car. A police officer shot and injured Shaw, who has been charged with two counts each of first-degree assault and second-degree assault against a law enforcement officer. No other shots were fired at the scene. Shaw, who was taken to Shock Trauma, is now being held without bond at the Howard County Detention Center. Two officers sustained minor injuries in Monday's incident, including Police Officer First Class Brian Meekins, who shot Shaw.

The incident began when police learned a group of suspects, some with arrest warrants, had stolen a large quantity of power tools and other merchandise from the Lowe's store. Police followed the suspects to the Life Storage in the 8200 block of Washington Blvd., and saw them with the stolen goods. news.yahoo.com

Pharmacist arrested for allegedly selling Covid-19 vaccination cards on eBay
A licensed pharmacist was arrested in Chicago on Tuesday for allegedly selling dozens of authentic Covid-19 vaccination cards on eBay, the Justice Department said in a news release. Tangtang Zhao, 34, allegedly sold 125 Covid-19 vaccination cards from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to 11 different buyers for about $10 a card in March and April, the department said.

Zhao, who worked as a pharmacist during that time, was indicted on 12 counts of theft of government property, the release added. A Covid-19 vaccine record card is seen here at the Florida Memorial University Vaccination Site in Miami Gardens, Florida in April 2021 "Knowingly selling COVID vaccination cards to unvaccinated individuals puts millions of Americans at risk of serious injury or death," Special Agent in Charge Emmerson Buie Jr., with the FBI's Chicago Field Office, said in a statement. "To put such a small price on the safety of our nation is not only an insult to those who are doing their part in the fight to stop COVID-19, but a federal crime with serious consequences." Zhao's defense attorney, Gal Pissetzky, entered a not guilty plea on his client's behalf during a Tuesday arraignment. Zhao's biggest sale was $176.70 on April 2 to a buyer who paid for 17 cards, according to the indictment. In total, Zhao made more than $1,200 between March and April, the indictment shows. cnn.com

Columbus, OH: 4 shoplifting suspects in custody after stolen vehicle crashes during pursuit
Authorities say four suspects are in custody after a stolen car crashed in north Columbus Monday night following a police pursuit. Tracy Whited with the Delaware County Sheriff's Office says the pursuit started at the Tanger Outlets around 8 p.m. A Delaware County sheriff's deputy ran a license plate on a suspicious vehicle. A check of the license plate showed that the vehicle was stolen, according to Whited. When the deputy went to approach the vehicle, it rammed into the deputy's cruiser and took off. The deputy was not hurt. The vehicle traveled south into Franklin County, where it crashed into multiple vehicles at a gas station in the area of Sancus Boulevard and Lazelle Road. Police say speeds reached up to 120 mph during the pursuit. Stolen merchandise was found inside the vehicle, according to police. Columbus police believe that all of the suspects involved in the incident were juveniles. 10tv.com

UK: 'Brazen and prolific': Professional shoplifter carried out thefts at Boots, B&M, Co-op, Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury's stores in Leeds to fund her £100-a-day drug addiction
Claire Kirk was caught on camera on multiple occasions as she stripped shelves of products during the year-long spree of offending. The 39-year-old mum managed to steal more than $4,100 worth of items on a single occasion from a Boots store. Kirk, of Ramshead Grove, Seacroft, appeared before Leeds Crown Court where she pleaded guilty to 14 offences of theft and four offences of possession of a class C drug. The offences, carried out between March 2020 and June 2021, were outlined at Leeds Crown Court by the prosecutor, James Houlding. Kirk was arrested at her home where police found large quantities of medicines and healthcare products in the property. When interviewed she said she stole to fund her £100-a-day addiction to heroin and crack cocaine. The total value of the offending was worth $10,000. Mr Holding said Boots staff had described Kirk's offending as "a big problem, due to her brazen and prolific approach to shoplifting." yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk

Glen Rock, NJ: Duo Identified, Charged In $3,000 Liquor Store Thefts

Gloucester, VA: Woman stole over $700 worth of merchandise from Walmart