Grab-and-run thieves getting more brazen
Shopping this holiday season? Keep your eyes on the doors for robbers
Experts worry about retail customers’ safety as robbers get more aggressive
“There is a new level of
aggressiveness, which a
quarter of our members
say has increased in the
past year.” Robert Moraca, vice president of loss prevention for the National Retail Federation
SAN FRANCISCO – All the thefts were brazen, quick and lucrative. And – so far – not deadly. ❚ Typically operating in groups of five or six, the hooded individuals burst into the Apple Stores, cut cables tethering iPhones and iPads, and within seconds were gone netting tens of thousands in hot tech merchandise. ❚ Although this recent rash of thefts across California may slow – state attorney general Xavier Becerra announced in September the arrest of 17 individuals connected to $1 million in Apple store robberies across 19 counties – they’re indicative of a growing problem facing national retailers as the holiday shopping season nears. ❚ Experts in the field known as loss prevention say a combination of factors has given rise to a new level of threat to merchandise, employees and, alarmingly, customers, as organized gangs display more aggression during robberies than in years past.
While to date none of these Apple robberies has resulted in significant injuries or deaths, with store workers and shoppers largely relegated to being stunned bystanders, the potential for an altercation gone bad looms large.
In 2017, there were 424 violent deaths in retail locations, according to The D&D Daily, a retail publication that monitors loss prevention. In the first quarter of 2018, there has been a 12 percent increase over the same time last year in violent deaths, half of them customers.
Most of those are at convenience stores and pharmacies, but “big box retails from Walmart on down are making what they’re calling ‘store safeness’ a priority,” says Gus Downing, publisher of The D&D Daily. “But no one has enough money to guarantee total security.”
The prospect of a customer being hurt is “a retailer’s worst nightmare,” says Robert Moraca, vice president of loss prevention for the National Retail Federation. “There is a new level of aggressiveness, which a
quarter of our members say has increased in the past year.”
Retailers report witnessing thieves yelling at customers to get on the ground, punching store employees and occasionally using mace. Two security guards at different Walmart stores were killed by thieves recently, says Moraca, who attributes this escalation to “a lot of cultural factors.”
Among them: the ease with which one can unload stolen goods through online platforms or by sending them overseas; jail overcrowding resulting in a loosening of criminal penalties for those stealing less than
$1,000 in goods; police department financial strains cutting into officer ranks; and even the opioid crisis fueling desperation among cash-poor addicts.
Also at issue is the pressure brick-and-mortar retailers feel to create open-air floor plans to entice consumers – a style exemplified by Apple’s sleek stores where goods are readily on display – who have the option of shopping safely online.
Considering that retailers are expected to earn $1.1 trillion in holiday sales this year, according to Deloitte, a 5 percent increase over last year. Given that potential haul, it is unlikely stores will consider measures that could deter impulse-shopping buyers.
“If you put up too much friction by securing your items, your sales plummet,” says Walter E. Palmer, practice leader at Epic Integrated Risk Solutions, the loss prevention advisory arm of Epic Insurance.
“It all adds up to a bad recipe for stores,” he says, noting that his clients are eager to find ways to keep the shopping experience safe without driving consumers away with heavyhanded security practices. “(Retailers) are not cavalier about this issue by any means, but it’s a difficult situation.”
According to a 2017 National Retail Federation survey of 63 retailers of varying sizes, 95 percent reported suffering from organized retail crime. Beyond electronics, top items include designer clothing, razors and blades, designer handbags and various over the counter drugs.
Retailers largely see such losses as part of the cost of doing business. For every $1 billion in sales, retailers lose
$726,000. With U.S. retail sales at $5 trillion last year, that’s around $36 billion lost to crime and other fraud.
Top cities for retail crime typically have large ports where such goods arrive, and can also easily exit. They in- clude top-seeded Los Angeles, followed by New York, Houston and Miami, the survey says.
❚ Opioids a factor: Richard Hollinger, a professor emeritus at the University of Florida, says grab-and-run crimes have been around forever. But the growth of gangs and surge in opioid use means that today’s criminals have the potential to be far more dangerous.
“Retailers are loathe to send staff after criminals, and in fact the attitude mostly is if they’ve hit the door, let them go, because they could be high or have a weapon,” says Hollinger.
Walmart, CVS and many other big retailers declined to comment for this story, citing security reasons. Some offered variations of Lululemon’s statement: “We take crime very seriously and are following our protocol for responding to these incidents and cooperating with local authorities.”
Those authorities are busy. USA TODAY reached out to about two dozen police departments across California, where nearly a quarter of Apple’s 200 stores are located. More than half the Apple stores made at least one call about a theft or robbery in the past year.
Between October 2017 and
2018, the Los Angeles Police Department received 532 calls for service about theft from the six Apple stores it covers, according to records. Of those calls, 40 were classified as grand thefts, meaning 7.5 percent resulted in losses of $950 or more. To stem theft, Apple is paying police to be stationed outside its stores. (A company spokesman declined comment, citing “matters of security.”)
In one typical arrangement, officers sign up for Apple shifts at the station house and are paid by the police department, and Apple then reimburses the department, says Margo Rohrbacher, public information offi- cer with the Central Marin Police Department.
The area’s local Apple store in Corte Madera has been hit twice in recent months, most recently in August when five hoodie-wearing youths were caught on camera grabbing small electronics from display tables. In seconds they stole $24,000 worth of goods and disappeared into waiting cars.
“We hear that people come up to the officers and say they’re happy to see them there, it makes them feel more comfortable,” Rohrbacher says.
Adding such security comes at a price. For example, Apple has collectively paid the Roseville and Fresno police departments, which both have ongoing contracts, about $160,732 from March to October, USA TODAY calculated based on supplemental law enforcement services rates listed online, records and interviews.
❚ What to do? Loss prevention experts say retailers are experimenting with options. These include video surveillance systems that flag security of behavior that’s deemed suspicious and training programs aimed at helping employees de-escalate situations.
In the end, it’s less about the physical losses and more about avoiding an image calamity.
“You don’t want your stores to be just display areas where goods are locked down,” says Hollinger, an adviser to members of the National Retail Federation. “But if something happens to someone (during a robbery), it can become a really bad public relations issue for you, and quickly.”