Letters
Publisher
Lawrence Amaturo
Editor-in-Chief
Jason Walsh
Letters to the Editor That headline is a crime Mr. Walsh, The recent story on retail crime [“Retail Crime Has Been Trending Down for Years,” February] conflicted with my own observations, and I’m guessing many of your readers in retail. The quoted Council on Criminal Justice report that “shoplifting incidents in major cities have fallen 7% since 2019” (excluding New York and LA) led you to write a misleading headline. I don’t want to sling data arguments—but want to provide some important context to help you and your readers understand that’s a misleading headline. I just read the COCJ report and looked especially at data for our city home before moving in 2023 to Sonoma County. The report showed a 20% drop in “reported incidents.” I can say from personal contact with major retailers, the key word is “reported.” Shoplifters demonstrated amazing math skills to take merchandise totaling just below the $950 felony threshold. Retailers tell employees to avoid confronting shoplifters for fear of injury, and security attempts to stop—let alone prosecute—$900 thefts are severely restricted. I’m told shoplifters often return to
Associate Editor
Rosie Padilla
Work/Life/ Retail Retail crime has been trending down for years
Contributing Editor
Bill Meagher
By Rosie Padilla
H ave the countless headlines in recent months fomenting alarm about a retail crime wave sweeping the U.S. been, er… lifted from bad data? That’s the case regarding at least one influential report from the National Retail Foundation (NRF), which claimed in its April 2023 survey that around $45 billion in merchandise had been lost to U.S. retailers the prior year due to organized retail crime
What merchandise is most-frequently targeted by retail thieves? According to data from NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, these are shoplifting’s Fab Four: Alcohol 37% Retail theft greatest hits
Design Director
Anne Schenk
Clothing/footwear 22% Food and beverages 15% Perfume/cosmetics 12%
(ORC). But in November, trade publication Retail Drive called out the data as faulty—and on Dec. 1 the NRF revised its report, conceding the data was inaccurate. The problem? It’s more likely that $45 billion amount reflected the overall inventory loss, or “shrink”—not necessarily all of it from theft. Shrink is often used interchangeably with the term theft, but the NRF says shrink more directly refers to all lost inventory for retailers— including administrative errors such as inaccurate inventory costs, accounting errors, incorrect pricing, paperwork mismanagement, E-commerce fraud and inventory damage. The NRF’s mistake could be chalked up to something along the lines of the old game of Telephone—their report possibly stemmed from 2021 testimony before U.S. Congress, when retail analyst Ben Dugan mischaracterized the $45 billion as retail loss from theft; and he may have gotten his info from a 2016 retail trade group survey which reported that amount more accurately as overall shrink. The good news: While there remain pressing issues about organized retail crime—a kind of professional shoplifting run by crime rings, including smash-and-grab, truckjacking and cargo theft—overall shoplifting incidents in major cities have fallen 7% since 2019, according to the Council on Criminal Justice, with notable exceptions in New York City and Los Angeles. Closer to home, the San Francisco Police Department was recently awarded a $15.3 million grant to crack down on organized retail theft and the SF District Attorney’s Office received a $2 million grant to help prosecute ORT.
Administrative Assistant
Jodi Pasquini
Note: While swiping any and all booze is popular among thieves, particular favorites are bourbon, whiskey and vodka, according to the NSW
Marketing Consultant
Lori Rooney
Writers Bo Kearns Janis Mara Jason Walsh Jessica Zimmer
February 2024
NorthBaybiz 15
the same store to steal again after selling their lifted goods for cash nearby. The result is a rash of $900 thefts that go “unreported” and uncontrolled— fostering a new culture in today’s downtown retail. And store closures. The COCJ report actually points out that changes in reporting practices pose a risk for analyzing its data—but it’s a small note amidst a lot of sentences of “reported” incidents. — Jack Byrne, Sonoma County
Emily Weber Rosie Padilla
Columnists Adam Lee Alexandra Russell Bill Meagher Christina Julian Jason Walsh John Ash Michael E. Duffy Robert Eyler
Photographers Duncan Garrett
For more recent NorthBay biz issues, check out northbaybiz.com. Email comments, complaints and witty observations to jwalsh@northbaybiz.com. Please include name, address and phone number. Letters will be edited for length and clarity.
Helping grow your business isn’t just something we do .... it’s all we do!
/northbaybiz
/northbaybiz
@northbaybiz
8 NorthBaybiz
April 2024
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker