From: lessgovt@gmail.com   
      
   The Target of Runaway Theft   
   By The Editorial Board, May 21, 2023, WSJ   
   America’s turn toward lawlessness is nowhere more evident than at retail   
   stores, where these days even toothpaste is often under lock and key. Now   
   Brian Cornell, the CEO of Target Corp., has put a number on the cost of   
   “inventory shrinkage,” which    
   is mostly theft: $500 million in lower profits this year.   
      
   “The unfortunate fact is violent incidents are increasing at our stores and   
   across the entire retail industry. And when products are stolen, simply put,   
   they are no longer available for guests who depend on them,” Mr. Cornell   
   told reporters on an    
   earnings call last week. “Beyond safety concerns, worsening shrink rates are   
   putting significant pressure on our financial results.”   
      
   Like other retailers, Target has been closing stores in high-crime areas to   
   reduce losses. The problem is that law-abiding residents of these areas need   
   places to shop. When stores leave, the result is often a so-called commercial   
   desert. Progressives    
   who run these cities blame the companies, but any CEO has to reduce losses   
   that cost shareholders half a billion dollars a year. The first duty of   
   government is to provide for public safety.   
      
   Readers of a certain age probably think of retail theft as individual acts of   
   shoplifting. But today a growing threat is from organized retail crime. Gangs   
   plan their raids on retail stores, warehouses and trucks or rail hubs. The   
   goal isn’t personal    
   consumption.   
      
   It’s to resell the stolen goods at a profit, often over the internet. The   
   gangs have extensive networks of thieves and fences. When the crews hit a   
   store, the employees are overwhelmed and have no chance to stop the theft   
   except at great personal risk.    
   Short-handed police show up too late, if they do at all.   
      
   The National Retail Federation released a detailed report in April that   
   describes the methods and motives of organized retail theft. “Demand for ORC   
   [organized retail crime] goods may also be sustained by a segment of youth who   
   champion an emergent    
   booster subculture that espouses a vague anticapitalist ideology,” the   
   report by the security firm K2 Integrity says.   
      
   “Videos tagged with terms related to shoplifting have accumulated millions   
   of views on social media platforms such as TikTok, and broader social   
   acceptance of retail theft or indifference about purchasing stolen goods   
   suggests ORC perpetrators could    
   face relatively less public shame than other criminals if ORC practices gain   
   greater cultural resonance,” the report adds.   
      
   This reveals a powerful culture of impunity that drives the market for retail   
   theft. It’s part of the political movement that has defined criminal   
   behavior down so that it becomes more acceptable. In California, shoplifting   
   is a misdemeanor unless the    
   stolen goods are valued at more than $950. And even then it is rarely   
   prosecuted or punished.   
      
   The costs of this runaway theft include higher prices for consumers. But worse   
   is a widening culture of disorder and disdain for the law and the rules of a   
   civilized society. All of this will get worse until voters stop tolerating the   
   politicians who    
   indulge criminals.   
      
   https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-target-of-runaway-theft-shoplif   
   ing-crime-stolen-goods-inventory-profits-violence-stores-dfcc7ced   
      
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