According to the Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan research group, the rate of shoplifting in America’s three largest cities—New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago—still exceed what they were pre-pandemic. There has been a noticeable increase in these crimes since 2020, when footage of bold, smash-and-grab thefts started circulating on social media during the COVID-19 crisis. This has led to a heightened fear among the populace, believing the crime rates are spiraling out of control.
While recent polls suggest there has been some improvement in these perceptions, the majority of Americans still hold the belief that crime rates are more severe now than they have been in the past. This lingering fear stems from an emboldened attitude perceived among thieves, who appear to be operating under a newfound boldness, brazenly walking into stores to steal merchandise.
The aftermath of such crimes has a damaging impact on not only the store owners but the consumers as well, due to increased prices and security measures. Providing a stark only-in-today’s-world observation, one remark notes, ‘it’s just the world we live in’. A crucial part of the solution is encouraging and reminding people about the importance of abiding by the law.
In response to the escalating crime rate, around eight states—including Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, New York, and Vermont—passed a cumulative total of 14 bills in 2024, with aims to combat retail theft. This information was provided by the National Conference of State Legislatures. The proposals outlined in these bills vary, from redefining retail crimes and revisiting penalties, to enabling cross-county aggregation of theft charges, to retail workers protection.
In March, the Iowa Legislature House passed House File 2594 unanimously, creating a new state crime, namely ‘organized retail theft’. This crime is described as a collective effort, with individuals collaborating to successfully steal retail merchandise with an intention either to sell, advertise, or attempt to return them for refunds.
The severity of such crimes would correlate with the worth of the stolen goods, with the offences ranging from serious misdemeanors, to Class C felonies. The latter comes with a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and the requisite of a fine somewhere between $1,000 and $10,000. This legislation was deemed necessary due to the observed increase in retail thefts occurring within Iowa.
In Cedar Rapids, for instance, statistics revealed a worrying 24 percent surge in shoplifting cases in 2024 compared to the previous year. Having documented 1,238 cases in 2023, the figure jumped to 1,532 cases the following year. Retailers are therefore urged to guard higher value items and install visible cameras as deterrence, which can also facilitate ensuing police investigations.
David Dostal, the Chief Police Officer in Cedar Rapids, offered some insight into these figures. He claimed that the rise in shoplifting cases could be an indication that more people are choosing to report these crimes. Some retailers also began recommending their employees avoid confronting shoplifters directly. Instead, they prefer focusing on capturing the culprits on the store’s surveillance, which can then be handed over to the police.
In response to the rising shoplifting crisis since 2020, major retailers have implemented a number of security measures, including locking merchandise, an unpopular move among customers, upgrading CCTV technology, contracting private security firms, and in extreme cases, closing stores altogether. Some chains specializing in home-improvement products have additionally resorted to selling power tools that are inactive unless scanned and switched on at the cash register.
A survey conducted by the National Retail Federation in 2022 unveiled a surprising ranking of commonly stolen items, with laundry detergent among the most frequently pilfered. Organized retail theft has become a costly concern for the industry, contributing to an estimated $94.5 billion in inventory losses.
Despite these measures, the issue of shoplifting remains a persistent problem for the retail industry. In Chicago, for instance, although the reported cases of shoplifting remained below its pre-pandemic levels throughout 2023, a whacking 46 percent rise was observed from January to October in 2024, compared to the same period the previous year.