Retailers Continue to Deploy Body Cams to Fight Crime
Loblaw expanding body-worn camera pilot to Ontario
A pilot that will see some employees at retail stores owned by Loblaw Cos. Ltd using body-worn cameras is expanding to Ontario. The grocery giant confirmed in an email to CTV News Toronto that the pilot, which began in Alberta and Saskatchewan last year, will now extend to markets in Ontario, British Columbia, and Manitoba.

The pilot is aimed at reducing “violent incidents” at retail stores.

“Early results from our pilot suggest body-worn cameras may help reduce violent incidents, but a broader, longer-term evaluation across more stores and banners is needed to assess their full impact,” a spokesperson said in an email.

It’s not clear exactly which stores are involved in the pilot and if the cameras will be worn by employees at Loblaws grocery stores or Shoppers Drug Mart locations. In a follow-up email, the spokesperson said that the cameras will be will be used at “select stores, but not across all banners.”

Loblaw said the goal of the pilot is to evaluate how the presence of body cameras impacts de-escalation in “potentially violent situations.”

In terms of how the program will work, Loblaw said the cameras will only be worn by trained asset protection representatives, third-part security, store management, and additional team members “where applicable.”

The cameras will only be activated when colleagues are faced with a situation where there is a risk of escalation and fear for one’s safety and/or the safety of others, Loblaw said. Employees will be trained to inform those around them when they turn on the camera.

“The safety of our customers, colleagues, and stores remains our priority. Our expansion of this pilot highlights our ongoing commitment to creating a safer shopping environment for all,” the Loblaw spokesperson said. cp24.com


New Law to Fight Shopping Cart Theft?
OPINION: Stealing is already a crime. But Oklahoma Republicans want a whole new law for shopping cart theft
Lawmakers are discussing the merits of criminalizing the theft of those baskets on wheels that we all rely upon when going grocery shopping. Phrases like “cartels running shopping cart rings” were heard on the House Floor.

In case you were wondering, it is already a crime to steal shopping carts — and any other property that one doesn’t own — but some Republican lawmakers have decided shopping carts are so valuable that they need their own special carve out to specifically protect them from bounders.

House Bill 1689 seeks to make it a misdemeanor crime punishable by up to a year in jail, a fine of up to $1,000 or both to either temporarily or permanently remove a shopping cart from a retail establishment.

The measure’s author, Rande Worthen, R-Lawton, said a local Walmart has as many as 1,200 carts go missing each year. At a replacement cost of up to $250 per cart, he said the store spends about $250,000 a year to replace them. He hopes the legislation will lead to cleaner and safer communities that don’t have shopping carts strewn about.

Critics of the measure rightfully suspect this legislation is targeted at our state’s homeless populations who utilize shopping carts to help transport their meager belongings. After all, if someone is using a shopping cart to tote around their belongings, they’re obviously unhoused or on the brink of it.

Now, I have some sympathy for businesses that can’t manage to keep track of their carts. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has entered a grocery store only to discover with a sense of panic that there are no carts left, or one has only three working wheels or makes an unbearable squeaking noise whenever it’s moved.

But Oklahoma’s apparent problem with shopping cart theft isn’t because we don’t have laws governing the issue, it’s because those laws are apparently not being enforced. oklahomavoice.com


'Tidal Wave of Theft'
Denver grocery stores lock up laundry detergent as shoplifting surges

A tidal wave of theft is leading Denver grocery stores to put laundry detergent under lock and key.

Why it matters: Retailers nationwide are losing profits, closing stores and pushing consumers to shop online as organized theft rings wreak havoc.

Driving the news: More Denver grocery stores — including some King Soopers and Safeway locations — are encasing detergent in locked shelves. A staffer at Safeway on 560 Corona St. told us a recent surge in shoplifting is to blame.

What they're saying: Many shoppers are fed up with the hassle of having to wait for an employee to unlock common items such as laundry products. "I pushed the button several times and no one showed up. I had to ask around to several employees before I could get assistance. Wasted at least 20-30 mins," one Reddit user wrote in a recent Denver thread with over 650 comments.

Zoom in: Laundry soap thefts in Denver are up at least 29% this year, with nine cases reported between Jan. 1 and March 20 — up from seven in the same period last year, per Denver police data. While not a formally tracked crime category, police identified these cases through a keyword search for "laundry detergent" in theft reports, verifying each manually.

The big picture: Organized retail crime is plaguing cities across the country, with stolen goods increasingly resold on platforms such as Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. Laundry detergent is a top target for thieves, according to the National Retail Federation's 2024 National Retail Security Survey. axios.com


'Brazen, Violent, Organized'
Aussie retailers record 66 per cent jump in crimes involving weapons
Australian retailers are calling for urgent intervention after recording a 66 per cent year-on-year increase in crimes involving a weapon, most predominantly knives and blades, last year.

New data from Auror, a retail crime intelligence platform, found that one in four of all retail crimes involved violence with the top 10 per cent of offenders making up for 60 per cent of total harm and loss across Australia.

Victoria, which earlier this month announced a ban on machetes, saw the largest jump in threatening events at 52 per cent last year.

It was followed by Western Australia at 48 per cent, New South Wales at 33 per cent, South Australia at 31 per cent and Queensland at 25 per cent.

Auror also found that incidents involving a knife or blade were up 40 per cent in 2024 compared to the previous year with edged weapons the top weapons used in retail crime across all states and territories.

Auror senior director of trust and safety Nick McDonnell said the data shows that retail crime is becoming "more brazen, more violent and more organised".  9news.com.au


Oregon's 'Failed' Public Defense System
District attorneys: A framework to put public defense back on track (Opinion)
Oregon’s public defense system is in crisis, but not for the reasons many may assume. While there has been much talk about a lack of funding, insufficient attorneys and overwhelming caseloads, the truth is that the state has more than enough resources. Yet the emergency persists. This is a crisis of mismanagement, failed accountability and inaction.

For the last three years, Oregon’s public defense system has failed to fulfill its most essential duty: ensuring criminal defendants who cannot afford an attorney receive lawyers to represent them. The consequences are staggering. Over 30,000 defendants have gone without attorneys for weeks or months, leading to dismissed cases, stalled prosecutions and defendants released from jail. Some now face new charges for crimes – including robbery, attempted rape and even murder – allegedly committed while waiting for legal representation.

Why is Oregon incapable of providing this essential service when other states, and Oregon itself until recently, manage to do so?   oregonlive.com


Tennessee: Bill targets organized retail crime

New Orleans PD Announces Preliminary Crime Statistics
 

Hacks Prompt Investigation Into China-Linked Companies
FCC investigating China-linked companies over evasion of U.S. national security measures

The agency is cracking down on the use of prohibited technologies following a series of hacks into U.S. telecommunications firms.

The Federal Communications Commission on Friday said it is investigating whether companies aligned with the People’s Republic of China are still selling banned equipment or services in the U.S.

The FCC sent letters of inquiry and at least one subpoena to several companies that were deemed potential security risks. The agency is now gathering information to determine what additional actions it may need to take.

Even after being placed on the agency’s “covered list”, some of these companies may still be operating in the U.S. and selling equipment that poses an unacceptable risk to national security, according to the FCC.

“We have reason to believe that, despite those actions, some or all of these Covered List entities are trying to make an end run around those FCC prohibitions by continuing to do business in America on a private or ‘unregulated’ basis,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a statement. “We are not going to look the other way.”

The probe was announced a week after the FCC launched a Council on National Security, which is focused on the growing threat of state-linked cyber espionage and other national security threats targeting the U.S.  cybersecuritydive.com
 

Privacy Concerns & Data Breach
23andMe Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Privacy Experts Call for Users To Close Accounts
As TechCrunch outlined, 23andMe had already been leveraging the sale of users’ genetic data as part of its larger valuation. In addition to the privacy concerns brought forth by this notion, the company also suffered a massive data breach that saw user data related to 7 million individuals stolen by hackers throughout the course of 2023.

That breach resulted in a $30 million settlement in September of last year.

User data is also part of the sale package 23andMe is putting out there, as the outlet noted, with one caveat being that the company has strenuously resisted sharing information — at least on an involuntary basis from the affected users — with insurance companies or law enforcement agencies.

Despite this, California Attorney General Rob Bonta reiterated that residents of that state had legal options to pursue the protection (and deletion) of their data.

“California has robust privacy laws that allow consumers to take control and request that a company delete their genetic data,” said Attorney General Bonta in a statement. “Given 23andMe’s reported financial distress, I remind Californians to consider invoking their rights and directing 23andMe to delete their data and destroy any samples of genetic material held by the company.” retailwire.com


Oracle Cloud says it's not true someone broke into its login servers and stole data
Oracle has straight up denied claims by a miscreant that its public cloud offering has been compromised and information stolen.

A crook late last week advertised on an online cyber-crime forum what was alleged to be Oracle Cloud customer security keys and other sensitive data swiped from the IT giant. This material was said to have been obtained by the miscreant from at least one of the cloud provider's single-sign-on (SSO) login servers by exploiting a security vulnerability.

Oracle says that's not true. "There has been no breach of Oracle Cloud," a spokesperson told The Register on Friday. theregister.com

 
Pay, fight, or stall? The dilemma of ransomware negotiations

Lehigh County, PA: Pennsylvania man allegedly used stolen credit cards to buy $100k from Lowe’s
A Lehigh County man has been charged after he allegedly used multiple stolen credit cards to make nearly $100,000 in purchases. Alex Jose Rulan, 33, of Allentown has been charged with numerous crimes after using other people’s credit cards to make purchases at Lowe’s across the state, according to Attorney General Dave Sunday. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. reported that Rulan has been using stolen store credit cards to purchase items, such as flooring, air conditioning units, vacuums, and other items, according to the report. In some cases, he allegedly used fraudulent identification to pose as the person who owned the credit card. Rulan is accused of making fraudulent purchases at over 20 different stores across dozens of counties. Between June 2023 and Dec. 2023, he allegedly bought approximately $96,000 in goods.  wtaj.com


Springfield, OH: Police release surveillance video of teens breaking into gun store
Two teenagers were taken into custody after ramming into a gun store in Springfield, Virginia, and stealing firearms, according to Fairfax County police. On Monday afternoon, officials held a press conference and shared a surveillance video that showed the moments a group of teenagers broke into Dominion Defense at around 1:20 a.m. The video showed a car crashing into the gun store and the teenagers allegedly involved rushing into the store with empty bags. Early Monday morning, officials responded to the store on Fullerton Road for reports of a burglary. When officers arrived, they discovered that multiple suspects had broken into the store and stolen multiple firearms before fleeing the scene in a Toyota Tundra and going into Maryland. A short time later, around 2:12 a.m. officers from the Montgomery County Police and Gaithersburg police responded to Summit Hall Road in Gaithersburg to assist a FCPD helicopter in locating a stolen vehicle and two suspects, according to MCPD.  wjla.com


Westchester County, NY: Accused NY Golf Club Bandit Involved In CT Thefts
A Bronx, N.Y. resident who was recently charged with breaking into several golf pro shops and stealing golf equipment is now accused of doing so in more New York communities and in Connecticut, police said. Matthew S. Berman, 41, was charged earlier this month for thefts in Orangetown, New York. On Friday, the Westchester County Police Department announced on Facebook that Berman is now accused of more than a dozen similar burglaries in New York and Connecticut. Investigators in mid-February discovered a pattern involving overnight pro-shop burglaries at golf courses in Westchester and Rockland counties in New York and in Connecticut, and thefts from a sporting goods store in Yonkers, police said. “Tens of thousands of dollars of high-end golf clubs and other pricey equipment had been stolen,” police said, in the announcement. A task force was created to investigate, with contributions from multiple law enforcement agencies, including municipal departments, state police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  patch.com


Tulsa, OK: woman arrested, accused of stealing thousands from Target store
A woman was arrested and accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of items from a Target in Tulsa on Sunday, police say. Tulsa Police said officers were called to the store along South Yale Avenue after the employees engaged with known larceny suspect Courtney Bryant. Investigators said Bryant left behind a cart with nearly $900 worth of merchandise after being confronted by security. Police saw Bryant attempting to leave the building and brought her inside to investigate, where security reviewed previous theft allegations. Detectives said Bryant stole more than $2,000 worth of items in the past six months alone, and in total it's believed she's taken more than $16,000 worth of merchandise. Bryant was booked at David L. Moss on Grand Larceny charges.  newson6.com


Montgomery County, NY: Employees accused of stealing nearly $6K in Apple products from Target warehouse
Two employees are accused of stealing at least $5,900 Apple products from the Target Distribution Center in Montgomery County. Joshua E. Khan, 25, of Amsterdam, and Gajendra Muthusami, 25, of Schenectady, allegedly took the electronics from packages that were supposed to be loaded onto tractor-trailers to be distributed to stores, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. The store’s internal theft department determined the pair was working together, investigators said. They allegedly stole at least $5,900 worth of Apple products. The pair was arrested on Friday and charged with grand larceny and conspiracy. They were arraigned in Amsterdam Town Court and released on their own recognizance.  wnyt.com