Relating to shoplifting and retail theft, the general public has each proper to be confused.
Is it going up or down? Is it a criminal offense wave, or an city fantasy made up by struggling retailers to justify poor gross sales or shoddy administration practices? Are extra police wanted or fewer?
Like every thing else, shoplifting statistics have been politicized to show one level or one other. Domestically, activists who wish to defund the police say retail crime issues are overblown.
The reality is, retail theft is clearly an issue, and coordinated efforts by companies, police and prosecutors are paying off.
Earlier this month, this newspaper and others across the nation carried information that the Nationwide Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail commerce group, got it wrong when it beforehand claimed organized retail crime accounted for practically half of general business shrink, which measures general loss in stock, together with theft. That added as much as about $45 billion yearly.
“It was an inaccurate inference,” David Johnston, the nationwide retail group’s vp of asset safety and retail operations, advised The Related Press in an interview. “We missed it.”
It’s unclear how a lot cash retailers are dropping as a consequence of organized retail crime.
Individually, the Council on Legal Justice, a coverage suppose tank, released a report final month on shoplifting knowledge in cities throughout the nation. It confirmed shoplifting in Seattle dropped by 31% within the first half of 2023 in comparison with the identical interval final yr.
Based on researchers, after a giant spike in Seattle shoplifting in 2022, the numbers settled again barely decrease than the years 2018-2020.
The council notes that its knowledge has limitations. Particularly, efforts made to thwart thieves have reduce down on theft. “Retailers taking motion to fight shoplifting (e.g., eradicating items from the ground, locking objects in cupboards) have undoubtedly prevented some crimes,” its report said.
What number of retail crimes go unreported is unknown, however contacting police takes time and insurance coverage claims can drive up enterprise prices.
Round right here, legislation enforcement has ramped up on the state, county and municipal degree.
Final month, Legal professional Basic Bob Ferguson announced the first criminal prosecution by his new Organized Retail Crime Unit.
The Legal professional Basic’s Workplace charged Shawn Nanez, a 33-year-old from Bremerton, in King County Superior Court docket with felony first-degree organized retail theft. The legal costs stem from 11 thefts totaling greater than $50,000 in merchandise from Goal shops in King and Kitsap counties.
Domestically, the Seattle Metropolis Legal professional’s Workplace and King County Prosecuting Legal professional’s Workplace collaborate on retail crimes.
“Anecdotally from what we see and listen to coming in, it does seem that that is nonetheless very a lot an issue,” mentioned Patrick Hinds, chief deputy of the Financial Crimes & Wage Theft Division on the King County Prosecutor’s Workplace.
In King County, felony retail crime case filings spiked from 52 in 2021 to 157 final yr. As of Dec. 1, the workplace has filed 92 instances. That signifies an annual lower.
Nonetheless, retail crime tendencies — instances resolved by responsible pleas or taken to court docket — elevated from 89 instances in 2022 to 102 to date this yr.
When Goal introduced the closing of two Seattle shops in September out of safety issues, some advocates and others alleged that shoplifting was a smoke display screen to cover different motives.
“It is a lie. When a retailer blames retailer closures on theft, they’re all the time mendacity,” posted DivestSPD on social media on the time.
Mark Johnson, senior vp of coverage and authorities affairs on the Washington Retail Affiliation, mentioned that simply doesn’t make sense. For one, there is no such thing as a have to make up issues about theft. Retailers shutter underperforming shops on a regular basis. Buyers sometimes take into account {that a} good factor if the closures enhance the underside line.
“Tens of millions and tens of millions of {dollars} in Washington are spent on hiring safety, placing in bollards to guard folks from driving via the entrance of their retailer with a stolen automobile,” mentioned Johnson. “This wasn’t the case 5 years in the past. However these retailers are taking drastic measures, locking up their merchandise, hiring off-duty police and safety personnel, armed and unarmed, to guard their prospects, to guard their employees and to guard their product.”
Is shoplifting and retail theft a reliable drawback? We will ponder that query whereas ready for a clerk to open the show case so we are able to full our buy of razor blades or hair care merchandise.
If we miss the politics, the reply is clear.
