Retail theft has risen 93% since before the COVID-19 pandemic

Average number Shoplifting incidents They jumped 93% in 2023 compared to pre-pandemic times and retailers’ financial losses rose 90%, according to the country’s largest retail trade group.

“with her”Impact of Retail Theft and Violence 2024” Study, the National Retail Federation (NRF) highlights the seriousness of this problem. For example, despite the ongoing efforts of retailers to combat such crimes and the growing number of states that have updated their laws to prosecute organized retail crimes as felonies, The number of retail theft incidents continues to rise.

According to data in the report, which was conducted in partnership with the Loss Prevention Research Council, incidents jumped 26% in 2023 compared to the previous year.

“This is not what we’re used to. This isn’t the shoplifting I was arresting 30 years ago,” David Johnston, NRF’s vice president of asset protection and retail operations, told FOX Business. “These are the people who shoplift because they know when they have an outlet to sell these goods to.”

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Johnston points to organized retail crime groups, which resell stolen goods.

“Not all shoplifters go out there and sell their stolen goods online or at a flea market. They sell it in bulk to these local, regional or transnational organizations that help feed the system,” Johnston said.

The data showed that last year, there was an average of 177 shoplifting incidents per day, but in some retail sectors, this number reached more than 1,000 incidents.

“Retailers weren’t crying wolf,” he said.

Not only have the number of incidents increased, but retailers said they have become more violent as well. About 73% of those surveyed reported that shoplifters showed more violence and aggression than they did a year ago. About 91% reported that these criminals are more violent and aggressive compared to 2019.

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Stores, at the request of their parent companies, have continually enhanced protections for workers and customers. Some measures such as locking items have succeeded in deterring crime, although they have been frustrating for both stores and customers alike, Johnston said.

“We’ve seen some of these locations, depending on where they are in the country, become vending machines,” Johnston added.

Aside from measures such as product closures, about 71% of retailers increased their budgets to support employee training regarding workplace violence compared to the last financial year.

Other stores, such as TJ Maxx and Walmartare testing the use of body-worn cameras in an effort to keep employees safe.

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Johnston said that while states are working to intensify their laws to eliminate such crimes Legislation is needed To really move the needle.

Johnston said 48 states have now established organized retail crime associations that bring together law enforcement and retailers on a regular basis to help share information and support investigations.

“We need coordination between state, local and federal law enforcement to go after organized retail crime groups, because when you break up one of those groups, you eliminate all the opportunity or basic need for their supplies, which is the theft that happens in stores,” he said. As he put it.

NRF is calling for the passage of the Organized Retail Crime Control Act, a bill that would increase federal coordination with state and local law enforcement to combat retail crime.

Johnston said the bill would specifically create a coordination center at the Department of Homeland Security for Homeland Security investigations.

It collects all Federal agencies He said it could work and support this type of crime, alongside state and local resources, while also engaging the private sector.