City-Funded Store Security Coming to Seattle?
Socialist mayor’s new answer to rampant retail crime ignites fury: ‘Bandage on a bullet wound’
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is rolling out city-funded security for grocery stores facing theft, break-ins and vandalism, fueling criticism that Seattle is spending taxpayer money to protect businesses from crime instead of doing enough to stop it in the first place.

The socialist mayor announced the rollout of the security funding as part of a $1.7 million grocery-support initiative included in the city's 2026 budget earlier this week.

"Keeping our neighborhood grocery stores safe and supported is essential to making sure every Seattleite has a reliable, affordable grocery store near them," Wilson said on social media Monday.

The plan will help 10 independent grocery stores pay for improvements and get a year of business support, while stores hit hard by retail theft can get one-time funding for security upgrades and repairs.

The security funding is already drawing criticism from conservatives who argue the city is spending public money to help businesses absorb the consequences of crime rather than focusing enough resources on preventing it.

"The best way to support grocery store — and all businesses — is to actually enforce the law with a fully staffed and funded police department. Giving money or resources to fix businesses that are broken by crime is a bandage on a bullet wound," Seattle Red host and conservative commentator Jason Rantz told Fox News Digital.

"We don't need to think outside the box here. Just enforce the law and put criminals in jail. That works like a charm and will save everyone money and headaches," Rantz added.

"Is there no single human in Seattle willing to identify the criminals and end the crime instead," asked an X user.

The city will also work with the Independent Grocers Alliance to study eight neighborhoods for potential new grocery stores, according to the plan. Wilson floated the idea of exploring a "public option" for grocery stores during her 2025 mayoral campaign, including models that could involve publicly supported or city-run grocery stores.   yahoo.com


Thieves Becoming More Aggressive
UK: Supermarket staff threatened by thieves
Retail workers are fearful of confronting shoplifters, according to a supermarket manager who says staff are facing high levels of abuse and intimidation.

Harry Delves, who manages Tuffins supermarket in Craven Arms, Shropshire, said employees have been threatened and verbally abused by thieves, leaving retailers wary of asking staff to intervene. "It would have have to take an incident of quite a serious nature to get them interested," he said of police responses to reports of shoplifting.

Like many retailers, Tuffins has invested in measures to tackle theft, including a security guard, CCTV covering every aisle and a link to a national database of known shoplifters. The system, known as Facewatch, has helped reduce the number of thefts at the store, Delves said.

Despite those measures, he believed cost-of-living pressures were contributing to the problem. "It's pushing people to commit crime in order to make their way," he said. Delves said theft was affecting retailers' finances at a time when many businesses were already under pressure.

"Retailers are struggling to make enough money to employ enough people, so it's only having an impact on the economy," he said. Known offenders identified entering the store were politely asked to leave, he said, but dealing with more determined thieves could be much harder.

"Unfortunately, when you have people who are aggressive and have come into the store for specific reasons and are going to take something irrespective of someone telling them what to do, it's very hard to address that," he said.

While none of his employees have been physically attacked, he said staff had experienced threats and verbal abuse. "A lot of people have got a certain amount of anger over all sorts of issues and they take it out on people in shops sometimes," he said.  bbc.com


Retail Workers Face More Abuse As Holiday Season Approaches
Shop workers facing increased risk of abuse in run-up to Christmas

Shop workers are at increasing risk of customer abuse, including being filmed, a charity has warned, with this only likely to get worse as the retail sector gears up for the busy Christmas season.

The Retail Trust reported that, in 2025, 30% of retail workers said they or a colleague had been recorded without permission. Moreover, 65% of managers said customer abuse was affecting their teams’ wellbeing, while 71% of staff said their mental health had also deteriorated this year.

“There’s cameras on phones, in glasses and on watches now and they’re being used a lot more. If you’re dealing with a disruptive customer and ask them to leave, they can suddenly start filming you to try and catch you out,” a security guard told the Retail Trust.

Even after a situation or confrontation had ended, workers often went home thinking they “didn’t do anything to deserve that”, the guard added. To help protect retail staff against abuse and improve wellbeing as Christmas nears, the charity has published a range of new support measures.

In its living well in retail handbook, employers and staff can learn ways of managing customer abuse, alongside other guidance to better protect workers from stress, uncertainty and money worries. In addition, safety videos shared by the trust offer advice on how to deal with incidents like being filmed without consent.

The campaign was backed by more than 300 retail businesses last year, with Marks & Spencer, Foot Anstey and Maze among the big retail names supporting this year’s campaign.

“The stress and uncertainty retail [workers] face often worsen in the run up to Christmas when shops are busier and finances become even more stretched, and we’ve created new videos and a wellbeing handbook to help more people through challenges like these. personneltoday.com


NYC Murders Fall 24%
Record lows in shootings, spike in assaults: NYPD details latest crime data trends

Murders are down 24% year to date, and through August, shootings were down more than 9% from 2025 — reaching the lowest number of shootings since the early 1990s. But stats also show an uptick in felony assaults for the year, peaking in August

For 2026, murders are down 24% year to date. Through the end of August, shootings were down more than 9% from 2025 — reaching the lowest number of shootings since the early 1990s, according to police.

"Put the cops where the crime is, when the crime is occurring," said NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Legal Matters Michael Gerber.

But it's not all good news. Stats also show an uptick in felony assaults for the year, peaking in August. More than half of those allegedly involved domestic violence or assaults against police or other public workers. nbcnewyork.com


Flock cameras watch SC. But do they actually help solve crime? What USC study says

Unveiling The 2025 Crime Capital Of America - Sort Of

Greenville’s crime rates dropped 16.6 percent, city says