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Another Organization Calls on Congress to Pass ORC Legislation
Small Retailers Report Increases in Retail Theft, Raise Prices to Offset Loses
Over half (56%) of small businesses in the retail sector say they have been victims of shoplifting in the past year, according to a new survey released today by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Fifty percent of small retailers say the issue has gotten worse over the past year, and 46% of them have been forced to increase their prices over the past year as a result of shoplifting.

“Retail theft is not a victimless crime, and its increasing prevalence means greater danger for store employees and higher costs for law-abiding Americans. Store owners are not only confronted with traditional shoplifting, but increasingly with highly organized criminal gangs who seek to profit by taking advantage of gaps in the law. To better protect businesses, employees, and customers from falling victim to organized retail theft, it is incumbent upon lawmakers to make changes, including passing legislation to stop the sale of stolen goods on online marketplaces, updating the definition of organized retail crime, and increasing criminal penalties, and prosecuting these criminals for their actions,” said Neil Bradley, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Organized retail theft rates have spiked significantly in the past year, affecting communities across the nation. This theft is perpetrated by organized criminal rings that steal large amounts of goods with the intent to resell them, particularly online. These groups are taking advantage of state laws regarding the levels of theft that will be prosecuted, which in many cases allow their members to avoid any prosecution altogether. These laws allow criminal rings to operate with impunity across county and state lines, hitting store after store and accumulating massive quantities of stolen goods.

To combat rising retail theft, the Chamber has urged Congress to pass legislation to provide more transparency in online marketplaces by requiring sellers of large quantities of goods to provide basic, “know your seller” information. The Chamber has also urged state and local governments to prosecute these theft rings and enact policy changes that would help law enforcement and prosecutors arrest and prosecute these criminals. uschamber.com

Dems Look To Shake the "Defund the Police" Label
House passes four policing bills despite Democratic division
The House on Thursday moved four policing and public safety bills over the finish line after last-minute opposition from the “Squad” almost tanked the package, capping off months of negotiations between progressive and moderate Democrats.

A broad bipartisan majority voted, 360 to 64, in favor of the centerpiece of the four-bill package, called the Invest to Protect Act, which would give $60,000,000 a year for five years to local police departments. The funds could be used for purchasing body cameras and conducting de-escalation training, as well as other activities.

The votes, all of which were bipartisan, came after members of the progressive “Squad” threatened to bring down a procedural vote to advance the legislation over concerns of a lack of accountability measures in the legislation, and opposition to the fast-track process used to consider two of the four bills.

The bills now head to the Senate, though they are not high on the priority list. Even if they were brought up for consideration in the upper chamber, it is unlikely 10 Republicans would come on board to break a filibuster.

One, sponsored by Gottheimer, would provide federal grants to small local law enforcement agencies with fewer than 200 officers.

Another proposal, sponsored by Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), provides grants aimed at reining in community violence.

A third bill, sponsored by Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), promotes the use of mental health workers, in lieu of law enforcement officers, in responding to incidents involving people with special behavioral needs.

The fourth, sponsored by Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), provides funding to promote technology in helping local investigators crack unsolved cases, particularly those involving gun violence. thehill.com  nytimes.com  wsj.com

What Happens After a Few Mental Health Workers Get Killed Responding
Across the country we're starting to see mental health workers responding to incidents in lieu of police and obviously the benefits and value, especially for the citizen, are a great first step in hopefully redefining the response model. But long term, it may be fraught with challenges in itself.

First, the obvious: what happens after a few mental health workers are killed? Let's hope not. But reality is the odds speak for themselves. How do the cities and politicians respond? And let's hope it doesn't happen in a store response of some sort.

Then there's the costs involved. From training to travel expenses and staffing issues. So while this effort may be successful in a large percentage of cases, it's not a quick fix and once the reality of what LE deals with on a daily basis and if a few get killed, it may not be a long term solution. Just my thoughts. Hope I'm wrong. -Gus Downing

'Property Crimes Particularly Are Rising' - Topping the List
Murders are declining, but other crimes are still disrupting American life.

A shift in crime

For the last two years, murders and shootings increased in the U.S., while many other types of crime remained flat or fell. So far in 2022, the trends have reversed.

It’s a confusing combination. The worst forms of crime have been moving in a different direction from other forms of crime. Both developments have big implications for everyday life: The decline in murder is saving lives, but the rise of street crime has created widespread anxiety and problems in many parts of the U.S.

First, the good news: Murders in major cities have fallen by 4 percent so far in 2022, compared with the same period in 2021. Shootings nationwide have fallen 2 percent. The decreases are not enough to undo the large increases in 2020 and 2021; the murder rate is still 30 percent above its 2019 level.

But there’s also bad news in the recent trends: Many other types of crime, particularly property offenses, are rising. Thefts and robberies in major cities increased by around 20% in the first half of 2022, after falling or plateauing the previous two years, the Council on Criminal Justice found.

How can inflation lead to more crime? For one, there is a direct link: People might try to get around higher prices by stealing. But a bigger dynamic is also at play, Rosenfeld said: Higher prices can push people to seek cheaper — and potentially stolen — goods at gray markets, such as pawn shops. These purchases effectively boost demand for stolen goods, enticing more thieves and robbers.

All of this can eventually lead to more serious crimes, too. Robberies sometimes escalate into murders. Disputes at markets for stolen goods can turn violent. Social discord likely fueled the recent spike in shootings. nytimes.com

Criminal Reoffending Surged After Bail Reform
Yes, New York’s Bail Reform Has Increased Crime
On Wednesday, the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) quietly dropped a bombshell. For months, the state has avoided releasing much-needed data on individuals who were arraigned in New York before lawmakers passed bail reform. But newly available data confirm what critics have long argued: bail reform was followed by a significant increase in criminal reoffending.

The new supplemental data contain arraignments going back to the beginning of 2019—an additional 200,000 cases—with reliable rearrest information through September 2021. The data are imperfect: most notably, superior courts enter the data set slowly. But they provide the first comprehensive picture of bail reform’s effects.

What the data shows is that in the post-bail-reform period, judges were less likely to set bail, and more likely either to release offenders on their own recognizance (ROR in the chart), or release them under restrictions.

There’s a lot to the data, but the basic takeaway is that rearrest rose after bail reform. Using the constant window, the increase is on the order of 3 to 5 percentage points. But that window necessarily undercounts rearrests.

Perhaps the most suggestive comparison is “ever” rearrest rates in 2020 versus 2019, as graphed below, with the 2020 rates more than 7 percentage points higher than the 2019 rates (with a one-year-less time to reoffend) overall. In other words, offenders arraigned in 2020 were significantly more likely to get rearrested than those arraigned in 2019, even given that more time has elapsed since the 2019 arraignments. It is quite probable, given the much shorter time since most 2021 arraignments, that the “ever” figures will rise to the 2020 level in time.

This effect is driven by a rise in reoffending outside of New York City, particularly upstate. Again, the 2020 versus 2019 “ever rearrested” comparison is instructive. If we assume that 2021 rates will converge to 2020 rates in time, then we can expect a durable increase of between 5 and 9 percentage points in reoffending within regions. Even using the 180-day figures, offending has risen 4 percentage points upstate and spiked significantly upstate and in the suburbs. city-journal.org

Safety is the TOP Priority in Minneapolis
Shootings, carjackings & violent crimes are up

Mayor, law enforcement partner on new initiative to curb violent crime in Minneapolis
Calling public safety "the paramount issue" in Minneapolis now, Mayor Frey outlined a plan "Operation Endeavor" that will use data to more efficiently deploy the city's depleted resources into high-crime areas as part of a partnership of police, prosecutors and violence interrupters.

Although he offered few specifics, Frey said the strategy will focus on greater day-to-day partnerships among disparate city, county, state and federal agencies that will allow a more nimble approach with police staffing down. He said the multi-jurisdictional strategy will begin downtown and ripple throughout the city and nearby communities and that he will present progress reports and regular updates.

Trained violence interrupters will also be deployed to de-escalate and canvass in these areas, and other city staff will work with victims, said Jen White, community and interagency engagement manager for the city.

The Minneapolis Police Department is down more than 300 officers from two years ago and the city is rolling out a $1.2 million campaign to recruit officers.

Earlier this year, Minnesota U.S. Attorney Luger announced he'd instructed all criminal prosecutors in his office to help crack down on violent crime, with an emphasis on indicting traffickers of illegal guns, gang members and car thieves. startribune.com

Is National Trend Impacting the Increasing Violence in Retailers?
Gunplay: Number of teenage shooters, victims in NYC triples in disturbing trend
New three-page data analysis prepared by the New York Police Department shows the share of teenagers injured or killed in shootings has also exploded over the five-year period.

The increase outpaces the overall rise in gun violence, which has nearly doubled in 2022 when compared to 2017. The average age children first pick up an illegal gun has dropped from an average of 16 or 17 to just 12 or 13 years old. The NYPD report also found that recidivism among teenagers has dramatically increased over the five-year period.

“We need to get ahead of it. It is a national trend but that doesn’t mitigate it. It is crystal clear we are failing our kids,” said Richard Aborn, president of the Citizens Crime Commission. nypost.com

Researchers Say Curfews Might Have Opposite Effect
Debate Over Enforced Curfew for Teens Spreads Nationwide
In response to a spike in violent crime among teenagers, authorities around the country have been imposing curfews, with places like Chicago actually expanding youth curfew laws and increasing police enforcement of them.

Researchers say that there is no evidence that curfews reduce crime, while community leaders worry that increasing police contact with teens from disadvantaged communities, especially Black teens, could lead to further criminalization, more arrests, and worse prison sentences for minor offenses.

According to Philadelphia’s crime stats, in July 2022, when the updated curfew was in effect, most violent crimes did not decrease. In fact, robberies with a gun went up 72 percent, other types of robberies increased by 40 percent, and auto thefts went up 29 percent.

A 2015 study by professors at the University of Virginia and Purdue University found the effect on public safety was “ambiguous,” and even suggested that curfews could increase the levels of violence. thecrimereport.org

Police in North Carolina tourist town reveal worsening violent crime stats

US: 97.7M Cases - 1M Dead - 94.3M Recovered
Worldwide: 619.3M Cases - 6.5M Dead - 599.2M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 362  
Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 798

Retailers Bounce Back from COVID Woes
Report: Retail sector powers past the pandemic, with gains in several areas
The second quarter update report notes several interesting nuggets that bode well for the sector, including a rise in new leases. A little more than 250 million square feet of nationwide retail space has been signed for in the last 12 months, the report shows, and current estimates put the final second-quarter 2022 leasing number at 78 million square feet. That tally would be the highest since the fourth quarter of 2017, the report states.

But new store counts could be the most interesting find: so far this year, U.S. retailers have announced approximately 4,432 store openings, compared with 1,954 closings. That’s a net gain of 2,478 stores year-to-date, a solid rate coming off 2021, when Covid crushed the retail industry. Discount stores top the list of announced openings, the report states, with 1,910 new locations planned. Restaurants were No. 2, with a combined total of 838 and apparel stores were No. 3, with announced openings of 348. businessobserverfl.com

Pandemic Remote Work Analysis
The number of people working remotely tripled during COVID
The number of people primarily working from home tripled between 2019 and 2021, per survey results released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

By the numbers: 17.9% of people primarily worked from home in 2021, compared with 5.7% in 2019, per the survey results. Nearly half, 48.3%, of workers in Washington, D.C., worked from home in 2021, the highest percentage of remote workers in the country, per the Census Bureau.

The states with the highest percentage of residents working from home were Washington, Maryland and Colorado, all around 24%. The newly released survey results provide one of the most reliable indications yet of the pandemic's impact on Americans' work-from-home habits.

What they're saying: "Work and commuting are central to American life, so the widespread adoption of working from home is a defining feature of the COVID-19 pandemic," Michael Burrows, a statistician in the Census Bureau’s Journey-to-Work and Migration Statistics Branch, said in a statement. axios.com

New COVID Booster Rolls Out Ahead of Potential Fall & Winter Surge
CDC director weighs in on whether pandemic is over, says bivalent COVID shot is 'critically important'
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky became the latest American to receive the new bivalent COVID-19 booster shot on Thursday, telling ABC News that, thus far, "millions" of Americans have now gotten an updated vaccine.

"All the data from this new bivalent vaccine have demonstrated that it will protect you against — more likely protect you — against the strains that we have circulating right now, those Omicron BA.5 strains, as well as keep you well protected, because we've seen that some of that protection can wane over time. So, we are really encouraging everybody to roll up their sleeves and get this updated bivalent vaccine," she said. abcnews.go.com

$1k bonus for getting COVID-19 booster? That’s the proposed deal
Under a tentative deal Washington state employees would get $1,000 bonuses for receiving a COVID-19 booster shot.

WHO warns ability to identify new Covid variants is diminishing as testing declines

Lawmakers Grapple with Facial Recognition Tech
Days of facial recognition discussions uncover a tricky future for policymakers
The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, created to provide in-depth reports on innovations and challenges for society, is preparing a report on face biometrics’ capabilities, prospects and governance. In this case, academies members want what insiders feel that decisionmakers need to know before they legislate, mandate or regulate.

As part of their process, members are holding live online seminars to better understand face biometrics themselves. The meetings were included in this year’s FedID, the Federal Identity Forum and Expo; more will occur Sept. 27.

Of two information-gathering completed by the academies, only one was accessible online on deadline, and it peeled the onion a bit on the accuracy of face recognition algorithms and their potential impacts on the transgender community.

Later, Karl Ricanek, a professor at University of North Carolina Wilmington, spoke about democratizing face-based technology for the transgender community, which will be a challenge for algorithms as well as policymakers.

Even hormone therapy, it turns out, can alter a face significantly. Skin density, vascular structure and other factors can change the face enough to fool AI, says Ricanek. biometricupdate.com

"No Concerns Returns" at Walmart
Retailer announces easier, “no concerns” returns options including extended return window, curbside returns & Walmart+ return pickup from home

New and expanded “no concerns” returns options

Walmart is making the returns experience easier and more convenient with three new and expanded options. Starting in October, Walmart customers and Walmart+ members can take advantage of seamless new returns options, including:

Holiday Guarantee: Now Walmart guarantees they won’t have to worry about short return windows with the newly extended holiday return policy for purchases. Oct 1 to Jan 31, 2023

Curbside returns - Return Pickup from Home for Walmart+ members in select markets. walmart.com

Solution to the Labor Crunch?
The robots are here. And they are making you fries.

Meet Flippy, Sippy and Chippy, the newest technology stepping in to address a protracted labor crunch in food service

Restaurants have toyed with robotics for years, but now — with restaurants facing a protracted labor shortage and robotic technology becoming both better and cheaper — restaurant brands are doing new math. How long before an initial technology investment pays off? How long will it take to train human employees to work alongside robot co-workers? And, ultimately, how many restaurant jobs will be permanently commandeered by robots? washingtonpost.com

Target’s and Walmart’s holiday plans? Discount early and discount often.
The retail giants will begin rolling out deals the first week in October in a bid to draw in more cautious and cash-strapped consumers

Nordstrom lays off over 200 workers at supply chain facility

Kroger and These Other Grocery Chains Are Closing Locations, Starting Oct. 7

Bed Bath & Beyond facing holiday seas that's crucial for its survival


Quarterly Results

Costco Q4 comp's up 13.7%, E-comm. up 7.1%, sales up 15.2%, FY comp's up 14.4%, E-comm. up 10.1%, sales up 16%

Darden Restaurants Q1 comp's up 4.2%, sales up 6.1%