But that report didn’t find that organized retail thieves stole $68.9 billion per year at all - it estimated that all retail crime combined, including employee theft, regular shoplifting and fraud, added up to that number.Īn industry advocate made a similar error in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in early November. Leaving aside some of those assumptions, how did they come up with that $70-billion number? The staffer pointed to a report from the Retail Industry Leaders Assn. Prices for wine, beer and spirits are up compared with a year ago because of supply chain problems, material shortages and higher costs.
Your holiday alcohol run is just the beginning The staffer said the estimate was based on a back-of-the-napkin calculation: If organized retail thieves steal $70 billion annually, and California accounts for 10% of the U.S., California’s losses add up to $7 billion, meaning the Bay Area “is likely in the billions itself.”īusiness Brace yourself for booze-flation. The country’s largest retail industry group, the National Retail Federation, estimated in its latest report that losses from organized retail theft average $700,000 per $1 billion in sales - or 0.07% of total sales - an amount roughly 330 times lower than the CRA’s estimate.Īsked how the organization arrived at that figure, a CRA staffer said that “there’s no way of knowing exactly” how much organized retail crime affects the bottom line of businesses. That would mean retail gangs steal nearly 25% of total sales in San Francisco and Oakland combined, which amounted to around $15.5 billion in 2019, according to the state agency that tracks sales tax. Rachel Michelin, president of the California Retailers Assn., told the San Jose Mercury News that in San Francisco and Oakland alone, businesses lose $3.6 billion to organized retail crime each year. It’s easy to get attention for sensational claims, however, particularly when they come from official sources. The best estimates available put losses at around 7 cents per $100 of sales on average. Police and prosecutors say criminal justice reforms need to be rolled back to deter smash-and-grabs.Īlthough some retail and law enforcement lobbyists cite eye-popping figures, there is reason to doubt the problem is anywhere near as large or widespread as they say. Rob Bonta met with retailers, online marketplace companies and law enforcement Tuesday to develop strategies to fight organized retail crime.
Gavin Newsom said he would increase the budget of the California Highway Patrol next year to beef up its Organized Retail Theft task force. With industry groups sounding the alarm, politicians have declared the issue a priority.
#Smashing four calculator tv#
Organized retail crime is haunting the nation this holiday season.Ĭaptured on smartphones and closed-circuit cameras, thefts involving groups of people smashing windows or individuals wheeling loaded shopping carts past security guards and out the door have been looping on social media and TV news, raising the specter that crime rings reselling boosted merchandise present a major threat to retailers.
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