Important Takeaways:
- Shoplifting up 73% in Dallas as retailers rush to put merchandise out of reach
- Shopping experience in Dallas is starting to change as retail theft increased 73% through the first six months of this year, according to a report released Tuesday.
- Dallas and Los Angeles, where shoplifting increased 109%, experienced the highest reported retail theft in the first half of this year, according to an analysis of 24 major cities by the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice
- At a Walmart in northeast Dallas flashing lights frame a camera above an aisle of locked cases holding men’s underwear, socks and wallets. It comes with a warning: “Security camera in use.” Electric toothbrushes are also behind locked cases. The electric razors are behind lock and key at a nearby Target.
- Kroger has added security gates to some Dallas stores to prevent quick exits of full shopping carts of consumables such as laundry detergent. Tide and Oxi are behind new locked cases at a Kroger on Mockingbird Lane. A box asks shoppers to press the button if they need help. Armed guards in uniform are more visible in Dallas stores and malls.
- Gary Huddleston, grocery industry consultant at the Texas Retailers Association, said it’s more than shoplifting. Texas is seeing an increase in “organized retail crime,” or the coordinated theft and reselling of merchandise for profit by criminal groups.
- Based on national estimates, the annual loss to Texas retailers has reached more than $2.5 billion, Huddleston said. The National Retail Federation estimated total shrinkage — or loss from employee theft, shoplifting, errors, vendor fraud and damage — was over $112.1 billion last year in the U.S., up from $93.9 billion in 2021.
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Important Takeaways:
- Dollar Tree taking ‘very defensive approach’ to shoplifting, CEO says
- Other companies such as Walmart and Target have raised the alarm on shoplifting and organized retail crime in recent weeks.
- The 2022 edition of the annual retail security survey from the National Retail Federation found that total losses from shrink increased roughly 4% in 2021, coming in at $94.5 billion. The survey, which came out in mid-September, linked the losses “primarily” to external theft like organized retail crime.
- Dollar Tree CEO says stores will discontinue carrying items they can’t keep on shelves due to theft
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Mathew 24:12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
Important Takeaways:
- 50 Cent suggests Los Angeles is doomed after city reinstates no-bail policy: ‘Watch how bad it gets’
- Curtis James Jackson III, better known as 50 Cent, denounced Los Angeles’ recent decision to reinstate its zero-bail policy, noting the city will be adversely impacted.
- The affluent musician and self-described “born-again Christian” shared a KTTV-TV report to Instagram Thursday, which detailed the immediate consequences of the May reinstatement of the zero-bail policy.
- Los Angeles County Deputy DA John McKinney can be heard in the shared report noting that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will no longer “detain people for crimes such as theft, shoplifting, drug use, vandalism, battery, and a whole host of other non-serious, nonviolent crimes that affect the quality of life for people here in Los Angeles.”
- Additionally, McKinney indicated many suspected criminals would be released without posting bail.
- 50 Cent captioned the post, “LA is finished,” adding, “Watch how bad it gets out there.”
- A study published earlier this year comparing California repeat offenders who posted bail with those kicked loose without posting bail indicated that those in the latter camp reoffended more often, reoffended sooner after release, and committed 200 times more violent crimes, reported Fox News Digital.
- Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig, whose office published the study, concluded that “zero bail is a completely failed policy. … It’s just going to make everything more dangerous.”
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Revelations 18:23:’For the merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.’
Important Takeaways:
- Shoplifting Climbs as In-Store Shopping Returns
- Retailers lock up goods, use facial recognition software to track repeat offenders
- Retailers say theft is rising as more people shop in stores, cutting into profits that were already under pressure.
- “We definitely had an uptick since last year,” Macy’s Chief Executive Jeff Gennette told analysts earlier this month. “It’s an industrywide trend.”
- “Theft is growing at a faster rate than sales,” said Dean Rosenblum, a senior U.S. retail analyst at Bernstein Research.
- A jump in organized retail crime in certain areas of the country is also a factor. “These are crime levels we haven’t seen before,” Mr. Gennette said. 50% increase from 2015, it said.
- Retailers are combating the problem by adding security guards and cameras to stores, locking up goods and making use of facial recognition software to help identify repeat offenders.
- A month ago, New York City police asked shoppers to take off their face masks before entering stores, a measure intended to help them better identify criminals. The plea came after four unidentified men stole roughly $1.1 million of goods from a Queens jewelry store.
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