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9/18/26

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Sloth Lock & Fixture Security Additions Help Retailers Protect
High-Risk Merchandise

Meet the Sloth Lock

The Sloth Lock is simple, yet highly effective. It slows down unauthorized product removal from retail displays by locking onto the rack and tethering the item. The rack lock is engineered as part of the alarm top, which is used with several styles of the CIS alarming tethers.

The Sloth Lock advantages:

Discourages opportunistic theft attempts.

Creates a visible deterrent effect.

Gives associates more opportunities to engage customers.

Supports open merchandising without requiring products to be locked away.

Click here to learn more

The U.S. Crime Surge
The Retail Impact

Retail Violence Risk
Retail Violence Isn't Just a Shoplifting Problem
Retail violence is frequently discussed alongside shoplifting, and for understandable reasons. A theft incident can escalate rapidly when an offender is confronted. But focusing exclusively on theft-related violence risks overlooking a much broader store-safety problem.

NRF's 2026 theft and violence research found retailers reporting increasing frequency of guest-related violence and homelessness-related disruptions, while other categories of violence remained at elevated levels of concern.

That matters because the appropriate prevention strategy depends on the event.

A violent confrontation connected to merchandise theft may require different policies than an aggressive customer, a domestic dispute spilling into a workplace or an individual experiencing a behavioral crisis.

Treating all of those situations as extensions of shoplifting can leave employees without the guidance they need. Modern workplace violence programs increasingly require clear reporting procedures, escalation protocols and training that recognizes different types of threats.

Retailers appear to be investing accordingly. NRF found 72% of respondents investing in management training for workplace violence prevention, 65% in employee training and 61% in risk-intelligence technologies.

Those numbers also demonstrate why violence prevention extends beyond asset protection.

Store operations, human resources, legal, safety and senior leadership can all have roles because violence affects far more than inventory. For frontline employees, perhaps the most important element is clarity.

Workers should know when to disengage, whom to contact and what the company expects when safety conflicts with customer service or loss prevention.

Retailers have spent years refining policies that discourage employees from taking unnecessary risks to recover merchandise. The same principle applies more broadly.

A successful violence-prevention program isn't measured solely by whether an incident involved theft. It's measured by whether employees were prepared to recognize escalating risk and respond in a way that protects themselves, coworkers and customers.

A store's most valuable assets aren't the products on its shelves. A successful violence-prevention program starts by making sure employees understand that. nrf.com

National Retail Crime Blitz leads to 1,900 arrests

The National Retail Federation, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, the Cook County Regional Organized Crime Task Force, and the Los Angeles Organized Retail Crime Association announced the results of the second National Organized Retail Crime Blitz today. This coordinated enforcement initiative took place across 32 states from August 1 to 9 and brought together law enforcement agencies and retail partners to combat organized retail crime through intelligence sharing, collaboration and targeted investigations.

“Organized retail crime continues to pose a significant threat to retailers and communities. Initiatives like the National Organized Retail Crime Blitz demonstrate what is possible when retailers and law enforcement come together toward a common goal,” NRF Vice President of Asset Protection and Retail Operations David Johnston said. “We commend the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office for its leadership in coordinating this nationwide effort, and for creating the partnerships necessary to disrupt sophisticated criminal networks and hold offenders accountable.”

During the nine-day event, 84 law enforcement agencies from 32 states participated in the coordinated effort. The operation brought together 40 retail brands and resulted in more than 1,900 apprehensions and arrests, as well as the recovery or prevention of more than $2 million in retail theft losses. massmarketretailers.com

Unmasking the gangs 'stealing millions' from UK shops.

The BBC has been given special access to a police unit that says it has been disrupting organized crime gangs responsible for stealing millions of pounds worth of goods from shops across the UK.

The organized retail crime (ORC) team within Opal, a national police intelligence unit, was set up two years ago and works with retailers and local police forces to target criminals responsible for raids across multiple stores around Britain.

It was launched after a surge in shop theft that peaked in 2025 with more than half a million offences recorded in a year.

The Home Office said shoplifting offences fell last year and the charge rate rose.

Opal bosses say tens of thousands of pounds worth of stolen goods have been recovered.

They also say those convicted have been jailed for sentences totaling 118 years and 22 migrant criminals were deported as a result of their offences.

More than 250 arrests have been made and 84 operations have been carried out since the ORCs launch in 2024. bbc.com

Target reshapes its store operations.

As Target continues to work through its comprehensive turnaround strategy, the customer experience is one area that has seen significant investment. The company said this week that its retraining and technology push across more than 2,000 stores and 350,000 associates is already paying off, with customer satisfaction scores hitting a three-year high in the first quarter of 2026.

Central to Target’s effort was giving frontline workers more time and better tools while making stores feel more consistent from location to location. Every store team member completed additional training this year built around three benchmarks – “Easy, Inspiring and Friendly” – covering everything from keeping shelves stocked to how employees greet and thank shoppers.

One big thing employees will notice is an update to the dress code. Under new “Team Colors” guidelines, employees now wear a sleeved red top or vest paired with blue denim or khaki bottoms, with minimal non-Target branding allowed. To ease the transition, Target is offering workers a 20% discount on adult apparel and accessories from its owned brands, a free red shirt and a one-time coupon for 50% off owned-brand denim.

Target also said it added hundreds of millions of dollars in payroll this year specifically to improve store coverage and customer-facing service, distributing hours more deliberately rather than spreading them evenly across every location. The company is also piloting different staffing levels in departments shoppers interact with most often, including food and beverage, apparel and accessories and its Target Beauty Studio counters. drugstorenews.com

Toys R Us accelerates store openings in time for the holidays.

Toys R Us announced a major expansion in the U.S., with 120 new stand-alone stores opening this holiday season, the company said in a press release.

Some stores will feature Creator Studios, a dedicated space where influencers and toy brands can create content. Select stores will also feature candy shops and cafes. retaildive.com

Meta is nearly doubling its Meta Lab stores for Ray-Ban AI glasses

Beyond Shrink
Loss Prevention Is Looking Beyond the Shrink Number
Shrink remains one of retail's most recognizable measures of loss. But it has never told the entire story.

The National Retail Federation describes shrink as a calculation comparing book inventory with physical inventory on hand. That number can encompass external and internal theft alongside administrative errors, damages, expired goods, spoilage and other losses.

Other losses may not appear in shrink at all.

Supply chain theft can be recorded elsewhere in a retailer's financial statements. Payment and gift card fraud can produce chargebacks or other financial losses. Safety incidents can create workers' compensation costs, property damage and business disruption.

That complexity is helping push asset protection toward a broader view of retail loss.

The shift was evident at NRF PROTECT 2026, where one session on the "new AP/LP paradigm" specifically focused on retail risk expanding beyond the singular metric of shrink and the growing role of AP in corporate risk and enterprise security.

That doesn't make shrink less important. Instead, it means the number is more useful when retailers understand what is actually driving it — and what significant losses aren't captured by it.

A location with improving shrink could still have serious safety or fraud problems. Another could experience elevated shrink because of preventable operational failures rather than an increase in theft.

For LP leaders, the opportunity is to move from reporting a number to explaining the business conditions behind it.

That can mean examining inventory accuracy, operational compliance, fraud, safety, incident trends and other indicators alongside traditional shrink results.

The profession isn't abandoning its responsibility to protect merchandise. It's gaining a more complete understanding of what protecting the business actually means.

Shrink remains an important score. Increasingly, it isn't the entire scoreboard. nrf.com

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Strengthen Retail Security and Enhance Workplace Safety with Off-Duty Law Enforcement

Discover how off-duty law enforcement enhances safety and deters crime while protecting employees and assets.

Retailers are under more pressure than ever to prevent theft, ensure employee safety and maintain business continuity across stores. Criminal activities are on the rise, and they can severely disrupt operations, leading to financial losses and a tarnished reputation. Workplace security not only safeguards assets and sensitive information but also protects employees and visitors, fostering a safe and productive environment.

Hiring off-duty law enforcement is a proven way to level up your retail security strategy. Off-duty personnel are uniquely positioned to deter criminal activities, respond swiftly in emergencies and provide an added layer of protection. By integrating off-duty law enforcement into your security strategy, you can create a safer, more secure workplace environment.

Protos Security's workplace security blog explores ways that off-duty law enforcement can benefit retailers and increase workplace safety by:

Creating Safer Store Environments: Law enforcement provides a strong visual deterrent and offers peace of mind to both employees and shoppers.
Deterring Theft and Workplace Threats: Regular patrols, surveillance and expert situational awareness reduce the risk of crime before it starts.
Responding Swiftly to Emergencies: Off-duty law enforcement react quickly to high-stress situations, minimizing harm and restoring order with calm precision.

When you need trained law enforcement, Protos Security offers second- to-none coverage through the nation’s largest off-duty law enforcement network. With 60,000 off-duty personnel and more than 1,400 agencies, we provide expertise when and where you need it.

Want to reduce shrink, strengthen operations and keep your workplace secure?

Learn More Here

Cyber Business Disruption
A Retail Data Breach Is Becoming an Operations Crisis
A data breach sounds like an information-security problem. For modern retailers, it can quickly become something much larger.

Verizon's retail findings from its 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report show the number of confirmed retail breaches nearly doubled in the latest dataset. External actors were responsible for 99% of retail breaches, with financial motives present in 85%.

That is increasingly the defining characteristic of retail cyber risk. Technology is embedded almost everywhere.

Stores depend on connected systems to process transactions and manage inventory. Distribution centers rely on technology to move products. E-commerce systems take orders continuously. Corporate applications manage employees, vendors and finances.

When critical technology becomes unavailable, the cybersecurity team's incident can become everybody's incident.

Ransomware demonstrates the risk particularly well. Verizon found ransomware somewhere in the attack chain in 48% of breaches overall, while its separate Breach Impact Study found business interruption accounted for a significant portion of losses associated with ransomware insurance claims.

That's why cyber resilience increasingly resembles traditional business continuity.

Retailers need to understand which systems are critical, what happens when those systems are unavailable and how essential operations can continue while technology teams investigate and restore the environment.

That planning can't happen effectively during an attack. Exercises involving IT, operations, communications, legal, AP and senior leadership can expose gaps before a real incident forces the organization to find them under pressure.

The changing nature of stolen information matters as well.

Internal corporate data was compromised in 84% of retail breaches examined by Verizon, reinforcing that attackers aren't focused solely on consumer payment information.

Cybersecurity will always involve protecting data. But the most consequential question following the next major retail breach may not be what information was taken? It may be can we still run the business? verizon.com

Amazon boosts minimum hourly starting wage to $20.

Amazon is raising pay by $1 per hour for eligible employees, making its core operations full-time employee minimum starting wage $20 per hour, the e-commerce giant announced Wednesday.

The company also introduced a banking benefit called Day 1 Financial for employees, which is a membership in First Tech Federal Credit Union. The lifetime service includes zero overdraft or monthly maintenance fees, and no account minimums on standard checking and savings accounts.

Additionally, all Amazon employees in the U.S. will have access to new grocery benefits starting in October. That includes an uncapped 10% off eligible grocery and everyday essentials on Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market online, plus 20% off in Whole Foods stores. retaildive.com

Unified Fraud Data
Retailers Need One View of the Customer — and the Fraudster
A retailer may know a tremendous amount about a transaction without knowing enough about the person behind it. One system sees an online purchase. Another sees the return. A third contains loyalty activity. Another monitors payments.

Store asset protection may have information about previous incidents that never reaches the e-commerce fraud team. Fraudsters benefit when those pieces remain disconnected.

NRF's 2026 Retail Fraud Taxonomy underscores the increasingly cross-channel nature of retail fraud. Fraud actors operate across digital and physical environments, use automation and anonymity tools, share information and can specialize in different stages of larger fraud operations.

That means seemingly unrelated activity can become meaningful when combined. A new account isn't necessarily suspicious. Neither is a return, promotional redemption or gift card transaction.

But a particular combination of account creation, purchases, refunds and other behaviors occurring repeatedly may tell a different story. Connecting that information is easier conceptually than technically.

Retail organizations often accumulated systems over decades. E-commerce platforms may have developed separately from store systems. Fraud, cybersecurity, asset protection and payments teams may use different tools and terminology.

NRF's effort to establish a common retail fraud taxonomy is therefore noteworthy not merely because it categorizes schemes.

The framework is explicitly designed to improve communication and coordination across teams and support intelligence sharing at scale. Version 2.0 expands that framework with new schemes, techniques, mitigations and detection sources.

That's ultimately the larger opportunity. A retailer doesn't necessarily need every department looking at exactly the same dashboard. But the organization needs a way to connect activity when separate systems begin describing the same threat.

The industry's transition to omnichannel retail was primarily designed around giving legitimate customers flexibility.

Fraud prevention now has to catch up. A customer shouldn't become invisible to risk systems simply because they move from an app to a store. Neither should a fraudster. nrf.com

Cherokee County, GA: Metro Atlanta Walmart theft scheme uncovers $362K retail crime spree across 11 states.

A theft at a Cherokee County Walmart led investigators to uncover what prosecutors say was a sophisticated retail crime operation that stretched across 11 states and resulted in the theft of more than $360,000 worth of merchandise. The Office of the District Attorney for the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit announced Thursday that Anthony Lamar Belser, 56, and George Frank Mayo, 52, have been convicted on charges related to the scheme. According to prosecutors, Belser and Mayo stole $362,844 worth of merchandise from Walmart stores in Georgia, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia over 10 months beginning in August 2022. Officials say the case began on Dec. 3, 2022, when Canton police responded to a theft of nearly $15,000 worth of electronics from the Walmart on Riverstone Parkway. Security footage showed two men removing items from secured display cases around 7:30 a.m., authorities said. Later that day, suspects matching their descriptions and driving the same rental vehicle were connected to another theft at a Walmart in East Ellijay. Mayo was arrested in East Ellijay, while Belser escaped, according to authorities. Working with Walmart Asset Protection, authorities reviewed surveillance video, credit card transactions, bank records and rental car contracts. Authorities ultimately linked the pair to 51 felony shoplifting incidents between August 2022 and June 2023, including the Canton and East Ellijay cases. wsbtv.com

Yulee, FL: ‘Lego bandit’ busted in Florida with drugs, $20K of merchandise in U-Haul van.

A Northeast Florida retail theft ring targeting high-dollar LEGO sets was dismantled, according to the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators charged Ronald Lorne Tipton after he allegedly rammed a police vehicle with a U-Haul during a high-speed pursuit in Fernandina Beach. Authorities recovered stolen merchandise valued at over $20,000 alongside suspected methamphetamine, crack cocaine and fentanyl following the multi-county investigation. fox13news.com

Plano Police operation cracks down on retail theft.

Plano police and retail loss prevention officers are teaming up to catch suspected shoplifters in the act as part of a coordinated crackdown on retail crime across North Texas. The operation put officers near major Plano retailers, including Walmart, Home Depot, Sephora and H-E-B., where investigators watched for suspicious activity and worked with store loss prevention teams. Officer Jerry Minton with the Plano Police Department said retail crime ultimately affects more than the businesses losing merchandise. "Everybody pays for it. It's not just the retailers, it's everybody. It affects the prices, it affects security," Minton said. nbcdfw.com

Orland Park, IL: $23,000 Stash Of Stolen Dyson Hair Tools Discovered At Orland Park Warehouse

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Shootings & Deaths

Charlotte, NC: Suspect arrested in Gaston County for deadly shooting near Charlotte grocery store.

Police have arrested a 21-year-old man in connection with a deadly shooting near a grocery store in University City. Joseph Lewis Sings Jr. was arrested Wednesday in Gaston County and charged with first-degree murder in the death of 22-year-old Jacori Mitchell. The shooting happened early Sunday, Sept. 13, near an Aldi grocery store on N. Tryon Street. Officers responding to a call around 3:20 a.m. found Mitchell lying unresponsive on the sidewalk between the grocery store and a Cook Out restaurant with a gunshot wound to his back. First responders performed life-saving measures, but Mitchell was pronounced dead at 3:30 a.m. wsoctv.com

Dauphin County, PA: 1 injured in shooting outside Dauphin County Petco.

Police are investigating a reported shooting outside of a Petco in Dauphin County. The shooting was reported around 12:12 p.m. in the 4600 block of High Pointe Boulevard, according to Swatara Township police. Police confirmed one man was transported to a local hospital for a gunshot wound. He is in stable condition, police said. One person was detained by police at the scene. Information about that individual is unavailable at this time. Police said this is believed to be an isolated incident and there does not appear to be any danger to the public. local21news.com

Baton Rouge, LA: Pursuit ends with driver found shot at Baton Rouge corner store.

More than a dozen Louisiana State Police (LSP) units responded to a corner store between North Ardenwood and Renoir on Wednesday, Sept. 16, after a vehicle pursuit ended there. Troopers started pursuing the driver around 6 p.m. and got out of their vehicles to approach the driver after the pursuit ended at the store, according to LSP. “They noticed that the suspect was unresponsive with an apparent gunshot wound to the head,” said Shelby Mayfield with Louisiana State Police Troop A. Troopers began life-saving measures until paramedics arrived and transported the driver to a nearby hospital, according to LSP. wafb.com

Robberies, Incidents & Thefts

Detective Hit By Car During Pacifica Retail Theft Spree: Police.

A Pacifica police detective was struck by a car while trying to stop two suspects during a retail theft spree that involved two Safeway stores and a Walgreens, police announced last week. Lia Kaulave, 21, of San Francisco was arrested on a warrant for felony organized retail theft and grand theft. She was also booked for violating San Mateo County probation stemming from a prior theft case. Karakia Williams, 21, of Antioch, remains wanted. Police said she has an active warrant for assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon, organized retail theft, grand theft, two counts of theft with prior theft convictions and resisting a peace officer. Officers were called to a theft in progress at the Safeway on Hickey Boulevard at about 4:44 p.m. on July 9. Witnesses provided a description of the suspects and the vehicle’s license plate as it left the parking lot. Minutes later, a license plate reader spotted the vehicle near West Manor Drive and Palmetto Avenue. A detective arriving at a second Safeway found the two suspects running from the store after another reported theft. When the detective tried to detain one of them, police said she struck the detective with her car and fled. The second suspect then ran to the vehicle and also escaped. The detective suffered non-life-threatening injuries. patch.com

Los Angeles, CA: Arson suspected after San Fernando Valley strip mall fire damages 6 units.

A fire that tore through the roof of a San Fernando Valley strip mall early Thursday morning, damaging six units, is believed to have been intentionally set. Nearly 100 firefighters responded to the blaze, which erupted around 12:45 a.m. at a one-story, 10-unit commercial building in the 13700 block of Foothill Boulevard in Sylmar, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. ktla.com

Montgomery, AL: Alabama set to execute man for pawn shop killings months after his nitrogen gas execution blocked

Seattle, WA: Seattle man who recruited and armed juveniles for a string of marijuana dispensary robberies sentenced to 17-years in prison

Topeka, KS: FBI Doubles Down With $5,000 Reward in Topeka KFC Pistol-Whipping Robbery

Adult – San Diego, CA – Burglary

C-Store – Albany, GA – Armed Robbery

C-Store – Charleston, SC – Armed Robbery

C-Store – Brooklyn, NY – Armed Robbery

C-Store – Brooklyn, NY – Armed Robbery

C-Store – Athens, AL – Armed Robbery

C-Store – Las Vegas, NV – Armed Robbery

Clothing – Harrisburg, PA – Robbery

Collectables – Yulee, FL - Burglary

Grocery - Kennewick, WA – Armed Robbery

Grocery – Warrington, Pa – Robbery

Guns – Atlanta, GA – Robbery

Hardware – Providence, RI – Robbery

Jewelry – Edison, NJ – Robbery

Jewelry – Kennesaw, GA – Robbery

Restaurant – Chicago, IL – Burglary

Restaurant – Portland, OR – Burglary

Restaurant – Mableton, GA – Burglary

Walmart - Cherokee County, GA – Robbery

Daily Totals:
• 14 robberies
• 5 burglaries
• 0 shootings
• 0 killed

Click map to enlarge

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