Homicides Dropping in Big Cities Nationwide
Chicago’s murder drop ‘mirrors a lot of big cities,’ leading crime data analyst says

In the year’s first quarter, Chicago had 96 murders, 15% fewer than the first three months of last year. Jeff Asher points to a national trend.

Chicago finished the year’s first quarter this week with 96 murders, a drop of more than 15% from the first three months of last year. New Orleans-based data analyst Jeff Asher closely follows crime numbers in Chicago and other U.S. cities and spoke with WBEZ. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

The first quarter had the fewest Chicago murders since early 2019. The city’s annual murder count has been dropping since 2021. How do these numbers compare to national trends?

So far, especially in 2025, we’re seeing a dramatic decline in murder. Philadelphia during this year’s first quarter had its fewest murders since the mid-1960s. Baltimore has had its fewest murders in decades. New Orleans has had similar drops. Chicago very much mirrors what we’re seeing in a lot of big cities.

When we zoom out and look at all violent crime — batteries, robberies and so on — those numbers are falling too. What explains public perceptions that violent crime is increasing?

I think the biggest factor is that we generally don’t have a lot of really good crime data. Only recently have we been in a position to measure hundreds of cities and build a national sample to tell what the trends are. So, it leads to people basically relying on anecdotes: ‘Have I seen more robberies in the news than I saw last year?’ And you’re always going to have a recency bias: ‘How can crime possibly be down if, three weeks ago, my cousin’s barber was robbed?’ And it has become politically advantageous, especially for the current president, to say that crime is up, no matter what. ‘Crime is up, crime is up, crime is up.’ I think that explains why public perceptions are so divorced from reality.   wbez.org


Retail Crime Plagues Chicago, Pushes Consumers Online
As retail theft crime surges, more Chicago consumers turn to online shopping
Illinois Retail Merchants Association CEO Rob Karr isn’t surprised by the findings of a new study that concludes that local consumers now overwhelmingly prefer online shopping as a way of steering clear of the still rising retail theft crime scene.

With data showing shoplifting crimes across Chicago jumped by nearly 50% over a recent nine-month period, the new Flock Safety and Zencity survey finds consumers by a better than 2-1 margin now prefer shopping online. In addition, at 49%, researchers found more residents now also view retail crime as a serious issue, compared to the national average of 30%.

“We warned this was coming,” Karr told The Center Square. “I think the bright side is that we have a new state’s attorney in [Cook County State’s Attorney] Eileen Burke. She’s made important changes, but it’s going to take a while to undo the damage of the last eight years. We have to see how this tide turns, given her efforts, her focus of that office, but I’m not surprised by those results at the moment.”

With reported instances of shoplifting up by 27% over the last five years, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul recently joined lawmakers in pushing a national organized retail crime bill that would provide more state and federal resources to combat the problem. In 2021, Raoul established the Organized Retail Crime Task Force, which has recovered millions in stolen goods.

Karr said it’s clear what consumers want to see when they venture out.

“It has to be an engaging safe environment and if that safety isn’t there they don’t have the incentive to come, particularly downtown to the former like hotspots that we’re used to seeing them prior to the pandemic and then prior to the changes in enforcement,” he said. “The result is they go elsewhere. They’re not captive to a brick and mortar. So, you have to make sure that you’re creating an environment that encourages brick and mortar as well as online.”  cities929.com


Industry Responds to New ORC Bill in New Jersey
New Jersey Food Council applauds Murphy for signing organized retail crime bill
The New Jersey Food Council is praising Gov. Phil Murphy and Attorney General Matthew Platkin following the signing of a sweeping bill aimed at cracking down on organized retail crime and protecting retail workers.

Murphy signed the measure, A-4755/S-3587, during an event Tuesday at the North Brunswick municipal building. The legislation targets criminal enterprises that have increasingly threatened grocery stores and other retailers with theft and violence.

The New Jersey Food Council (NJFC), which represents more than 1,200 food retailers and related businesses across the state, worked closely with lawmakers and a coalition of business groups to advocate for the legislation.

“We are pleased to join in this effort to protect businesses, store employees and shoppers who depend on affordable, quality products that can be purchased safely and confidently,” said NJFC President and CEO Linda Doherty. “Under the leadership of Governor Murphy and Attorney General Platkin, we will drastically reduce the amount of organized retail theft that has become an epidemic in New Jersey.”

The new law:

• Creates the crime of aggravated assault of a retail worker.

• Allows prosecutors to seek enhanced sentencing for repeat offenders.

• Permits aggregation of stolen goods’ value over time to determine the severity of charges.

• Increases penalties for tax evasion by leaders of theft rings.

• Establishes new offenses for reselling stolen property and gift card fraud.

• It also authorizes the Attorney General to create a dedicated retail theft task force or other unit within the Department of Law and Public Safety. roi-nj.com

   RELATED: Law Aims to Protect NJ Businesses from Retail Theft Rings


Organized Crime Taking Over Arizona & California
Opinion: Before Trump invades Mexico, he should stop organized crime in Arizona
There has been much talk this year about the new Trump administration locking and loading and taking the fight to the drug cartels in Mexico. Before we do that, we might want to first wipe out the organized crime by Mexican nationals in our own country.

A recent series of arrests in Arizona and subsequent court filings show that organized crime is active and preying on freight rail in Arizona and California. On Jan. 13 in the remote desert northwest of Williams, Ariz., an organized ring of thieves cut the air brake on a BNSF freight train and stole 1,985 pairs of exclusive Nike sneakers worth some $440,000.

Federal agents arrested 11 people on suspicion of theft. Nine of those were Mexican nationals, The Arizona Republic reports. While many are listed as residents of Sinaloa, the filing does not provide evidence connecting them to the cartels.

“Over the past 15 years, several Transnational Criminal Theft Organizations have been burglarizing BNSF Railway and Union Pacific trains throughout the Southwest of the United States to include Arizona.

“These organizations consist primarily of Mexican citizens from the Mexican State of Sinaloa who operate out of Arizona and California, with extensive connections through California, Arizona and New Mexico. The train burglaries have increased in frequency over the past two years.”  azcentral.com


Violent crime up in Palm Springs in 2024; property crime down

Canada: Property crime in Windsor falls in March

Risk Analysis of Mass Shootings Committed by Immigrants and Native-Born Americans
 

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AI vs. Retail Cyberattacks
How Retailers Can Use AI to Defend Against Cyberattacks

By the D&D Daily staff

Retailers today face a rising wave of cyber threats—from ransomware to data breaches to online fraud. With massive amounts of customer data and digital transactions on the line, the stakes couldn’t be higher. That’s where artificial intelligence (AI) comes in, offering a powerful way to detect, prevent, and respond to cyberattacks.

Real-Time Threat Detection

AI systems can analyze huge volumes of data to identify suspicious behavior—like unusual login patterns or spikes in failed access attempts—faster than any human could. That real-time analysis helps retailers stop attacks before they do damage.

Predictive Risk Analysis

AI doesn’t just react—it predicts. By scanning for vulnerabilities and unusual activity, AI helps retailers proactively strengthen weak spots in their systems before hackers find them.

Fraud Prevention

Retailers can use AI to detect and flag fraudulent transactions by spotting unusual purchase behavior. Over time, AI gets better at identifying fraud without slowing down legitimate sales.

Faster Incident Response

When an attack hits, every second counts. AI can help automate the response—isolating affected systems, alerting teams, and recommending next steps almost instantly.

Supply Chain Monitoring

Retailers rely on third-party vendors, which opens new doors for cyber threats. AI can monitor these connections and flag potential risks coming from outside the organization.

Bottom Line:

AI is giving retailers a much-needed edge in the cybersecurity fight. While it’s not a silver bullet, it offers faster detection, smarter prevention, and a stronger defense against evolving threats. In today’s high-stakes retail world, that kind of intelligence is invaluable.


Security Firm Hit By Hacker
Check Point Software confirms security incident, pushes back on threat actor claims

Malicious hacker recently offered to sell security firm’s customer information.

Check Point Software confirmed it was targeted in a recent hacking attempt after a threat actor offered to sell sensitive customer information on a dark web forum. The security firm however, pushed back against the significance of the claims, saying the incident was old and limited to a few customers.

A threat actor, identified as Coreinjection, offered to sell information in the dark web that included source code, internal network maps and user credentials, according to a LinkedIn post from Alon Gal, co-founder and CTO at Hudson Rock.

The threat actor posted screenshots from what appeared to be an admin account that had access to a Check Point portal, according to Gal’s post. The threat actor demanded $420,000 in bitcoin.

Check Point officials, however, downplayed the significance of the incident, saying it was limited to a few customers in a December incident and had been long resolved. cybersecuritydive.com


Google is making sending end-to-end encrypted emails easy
Sending end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) emails from Gmail enterprise accounts is about to become much easier than it is now, Google has announced on Tuesday.

The company will first make available this simplified capability to users who want to send E2EE emails to other Gmail users in their own organization, and will extend it in the coming weeks to include E2EE emails to external enterprise or personal Gmail inboxes.

Finally, later this year, they will be able to send E2EE emails to users who don’t use Gmail. helpnetsecurity.com


How to map and manage your cyber attack surface with EASM

FTC chief flags data privacy concerns in 23andMe bankruptcy

Hayward, CA: Professional burglary crew hit dozens of East Bay stores
Police here have linked at least 40 burglaries around the Bay Area to a single crew of professional burglars, whose members include an alleged Norteño gang member, court records show. The crew has been linked to 32 burglaries in southern Alameda County and another eight in San Pablo. Investigators say the crew distinguished itself by going to various shopping centers and hitting virtually every store there in one fell swoop. Thus far, two suspects have been identified and charged in multiple felony cases, but police are still working to identify several others connected to the group. One of the two young men charged is an alleged member of a gang called the Hayward Original Grip Gettas, or HOGGs, a violent gang whose members have been linked to high-profile killings, including the double homicide of two boys, aged 11 and 14, at an elementary school on a weekend in November 2019. The burglaries include eight that occurred in one day in March 2024 on the same block in San Pablo. Authorities said the burglars used the same stolen Jeep that was also linked to similar break-ins elsewhere in the East Bay. In some, the takings were modest — one ice cream parlor was hit for a single tub of strawberry ice cream worth about $50, though the burglars damaged $500 worth of property to get it. Others included ATM heists, a $7,500 break-in at a hardware store that included the theft of key programmers that can be used to steal cars and the burglary of a Hayward forklift store where $160,000 in cash and jewelry was stolen from a safe, authorities said.  eastbaytimes.com


Pittsburgh, PA: Allegheny County gun store owners sleeping in their store amid break-ins: "Ain't nobody going to take it from me."
Following a series of break-ins at local gun stores, one couple is worried their small store could be the next target and said they would be ruined if someone were able to get in and steal their guns. They also don't plan to let it happen. "I have put too much into it to lose it," said Brian Stroup, co-owner of Target to Field Precision. "Ain't nobody going to take it from me or I'm going to go out with them." The Stroups said they would be destroyed because they can't afford the high insurance, and they've been sleeping inside their store since January. While they've never been hit before, they don't want to be doing this and feel like they have no choice. They also said they're prepared to do what they have to do if someone tries. "I'll go as far as it takes," Brian said. "I'm completely prepared, I have things around, I won't hesitate. I will do what I have to do to defend my business."  cbsnews.com


Castro Valley, CA: Deputies follow the LEGO brick road to arrest suspect in Castro Valley comic shop burglary
It’s a little early for would-be Grinches to steal toys, but deputies from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office still had to arrest a man who allegedly broke into two stores recently to steal toys and comic books. At 3 a.m. March 22, video surveillance showed two men entering Crush Comics, at 2869 Castro Valley Blvd. In Castro Valley, and stealing merchandise. Deputies developed probable cause and obtained an arrest warrant for one of the suspects, which they served Thursday in Livermore. Deputies arrested 29-year-old Noorullah Amiri after allegedly finding stolen merchandise at the home, including nearly 200 boxes of LEGO sets, comic books and action figures. Some of the toys were connected to the robbery of $10,000 worth of LEGO sets from another Bay Area store Wednesday.  localnewsmatters.org


San Francisco, CA: Prolific shoplifter used son, 12, to steal from Saks, Walgreens, DA says
A man suspected in a string of shoplifting incidents is said to have enlisted his 12-year-old son to help steal more than $6,500 worth of merchandise from three San Francisco stores, according to prosecutors. Harry Wong, 44, is facing charges of grand theft, second-degree burglary, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in connection with thefts between May and October 2024 at Saks 5th Avenue in Union Square and two Walgreens stores. Court records obtained by The Standard allege that juveniles, including Wong’s son, were not only accomplices but perpetrators. San Francisco Police Department officers arrested Wong on March 17. In a motion to detain Wong pending trial, the San Francisco district attorney’s office argued that releasing him from custody could put not only the public but his son at risk.  sfstandard.com


Suffolk, VA: Man arrested for stealing merchandise worth over $6,000 from Lowe's stores