By Jose Nino
Over the last few years, certain parts of the United States (above all, Democratic-controlled cities), have witnessed a spike in shoplifting at large retail stores. In fact, Walmart employees at select stores nationwide have started wearing body cameras as part of a pilot program to confront shoplifters.
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According to a report by CNBC, witnesses and images spread across social media networks showed signs at store entrances to locations warning shoppers that the stores now have employees equipped with “body-worn cameras.”
“While we don’t talk about the specifics of our security measures, we are always looking at new and innovative technology used across the retail industry,” a Walmart spokesperson revealed. “This is a pilot [program] we are testing in one market, and we will evaluate the results before making any longer-term decisions.”
The principal goal of these programs is to curtail incidents of shoplifting, which have been dramatically rising. However, according to a source in contact with CNBC, Walmart has deployed this new pilot program to protect their employees, as well.
Walmart is not the only major retailer to have employees use body cameras at American locations. TJX Companies, the parent company of TJ Maxx, Homegoods and Marshalls, allows some of its employees to use body cameras in response to growing problems with shoplifting, which was revealed in an earnings call back in June 2024. The 2023 National Retail Federation Survey reported that over one-third of retail companies announced plans to have workers use body cameras.
Such measures to secure stores are a reaction to growing criminality that has been tolerated by liberal elites in big cities nationwide. Retired NYPD Sgt. Joseph Giacalone—who is currently an adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice —believes that the recent surge in shoplifting is the result of political negligence. He told the New York Post:
Our politicians have told us, “shoplifting is not a problem,” and then, all of a sudden, we start seeing all these issues that are happening because many of these crimes have been downgraded by the politicians themselves. … Eventually you gotta pay the piper.
A study by the Council of Criminal Justice (CCJ) discovered that incidents of retail theft spiked across the United States in the first half of 2024. Per the study, incidents of reported shoplifting increased by 24% across 23 cities when compared to the first half of 2023.
Similarly, New York City has had roughly 22,000 confirmed shoplifting incidents from January to May 2024, per a report by the New York Post. This represents a 5% increase from the same timeframe in 2023.
In the case of Chicago, shoplifting cases increased by 46% from January to October 2024 when compared with the same time frame in 2023. Los Angeles has experienced a frightening 87% increase in shoplifting from 2019 to 2023, Stateline magazine reported.
Unsurprisingly, retailers have grown concerned about the alarming degree of shoplifting taking place in the last four years. In a 2023 report published by the National Retail Federation, “external theft” made up 36% of the $112.1 billion in lost goods for all of 2022.
In Democratic-controlled cities, the spike in shoplifting has prompted some retail stores to shut their doors. Target announced it would shutter nine of its stores toward the end of 2023 due to retail theft and threats to workers and customers.
Target declared in September 2023, when it announced the closure of a location in Harlem, in addition to several other locations across the country:
We cannot continue operating these stores because theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests, and contributing to unsustainable business performance.
Back in January 2024, two Target stores and a Walmart in California’s Bay Area even started to lock up socks, undergarments, toys and even detergents to stop shoplifters.
Politicians have been slow to respond to this crime epidemic. On Sept. 12, 2024, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) signed a bill that would restore tougher penalties against organized shoplifting schemes and smash-and-grab robberies that have afflicted the state. In 2024, states such as Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, New York, and Vermont passed 14 legislative items with the aim of curbing retail theft, per the National Conference of State Legislatures.
On Nov. 6, 2024, California voters finally came to their senses when they resoundingly voted in favor of Proposition 36, a statewide ballot measure that would strengthen penalties for various drug and theft crimes. Voters passed this measure by a 70% to 30% margin.
Rachel Michelin, the president and CEO of the California Retailers Association, remarked about the passage of tougher laws on criminality:
With these changes in the law, really it comes down to making sure that law enforcement is showing up to our stores in a timely manner, and that the prosecutors and the [district attorneys] are prosecuting. That’s the only way we’re going to deter retail theft in our communities.
Americans have grown fed up with the wanton criminality soft-on-crime policies have facilitated in America’s once illustrious urban centers. They finally spoke with clarity at the ballot box in 2024, demanding a restoration of order in the streets.
Will the political class finally get the memo?
José Niño is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. You can contact him via Facebook and Twitter. Get his e-book, The 10 Myths of Gun Control at josealberto nino.gumroad.com. Subscribe to his “Substack” newsletter by visiting “Jose Nino Unfiltered” on Substack.com.
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