On July 19, the Washington Post Editorial Board published an impassioned column calling for an aggressive national response to organized retail crime (ORC). The Editorial Board described ORC as "the term security specialists use to distinguish planned, large-scale stealing to supply the black market from individual cases of the 'five-fingered discount.'" It stressed that evidence that ORC was a growing problem "comes not only from viral videos depicting masked people smashing display cases and dumping the contents into large bags" but also "data."
What a con! And what great research and reporting! This is a very disturbing example of myth-making. It's bought and paid for disinformation. AI will make it orders of magnitude worse, I fear.
You know, I have been hearing bad things about the Wapo for quite some time now. They have some great staff writers but I am seriously considering cancellation of my subscription.
WaPo announced it was going to be offering buyouts in October and sent letters to employees looking for 240 to take the offer. This columnist is leaving and points out WaPo is $100M in the hole.
Time for Jeff to reach into those deep pockets of his. $100M is pocket change for him. And while he's at it he might give thought to cleaning out the editorial board. Ben Bradlee and Katie Graham are surely rolling in their graves.
The worst part for me about this disinformative practices of the WaPo editorial board is that they undermine the integrity of the publication as a whole, such that it's hard to appreciate the legitimate reporting where it exists. It's a shame.
Thanks Judd. Since I started a part time gig last March at a big retail box store, I can personally say that the reason for shrink have little to do with ORC. Inventory procedures not being followed (check in, check out) most likely is a big part. Our info will show we have a quantity, but no one knows it's location. It was checked in but then placed somewhere in the vast store. We then are expected to search for it for weeks before loss declaration. I consider that time theft as it prevents workers from providing customer service and a time waster for customers trying to purchase a product that shows on the web app we have.
Then there is self check out. 1 or 2 people monitoring multiple registers. Wise thieves can easily plan to be in the store at break times when there are fewer employees to monitor. This makes it much easier for someone to side up, act like they are scanning, bag a product and walk out. Self check outs are designed to decrease personnel needs, not to increase profit. Companies can then write off their losses and blame employees from the loss as well.
I went into Off Broadway shoe store to return sneakers. No one at the front register. 5 minutes and yelling finally got a surly employee to appear. I could've easily grabbed dozens of pairs of pricey socks with no inventory tag on them on display right there and walked out the door.
How many contractors has he robbed? He’s guilty of rape and incited a deadly sedition. As he said, “you can fully expect to be shot…” Let’s enforce it for a day.
I cancelled my WaPo subscription when they started censoring negative responses to right-wing “opinion” editorials. Conglomerate ownership of media makes for faux journalism.I quit the NYTimes after they helped to elect tRump in 2016, along with CNN, et al. Money talks, for sure, but I don’t have to pay to read right-wing drivel.
It will only get worse. WaPo is $100M in the red. It issued letters to “hundreds” of employees in October searching for 240 that would take a buyout. Who knows it if will stop at 240 or who will be left.
Such a shame; perhaps, if Corporations were “people,” they wouldn’t compulsively suck up money while losing sight of priorities. Corporate entities are soulless.
Thank you Judd and team--as we can see, most journalists, politicians, and successful newspapers with nationwide readership do not bother to research and fact check. It's SO easy to find the bad guys and despise them enough to blame them and kill them! Senator Grassley seems to never tell the truth--does he have dementia? Cortez Masto should read this and quickly disassociate herself from Grassley. Newsome, if he wants a future of power with liberal admiration must tread carefully because liberals read and pay attention to what is going on at the source level.
Agreed. It is an unlikely and potent combo of those two elements and perhaps other nuances as well. Hard to keep track of who REALLY is the adversary sometimes.
I saw Chris Hayes, MSNBC, reporting on it the day it came out. When I looked for more details I found the article in Retail Dive set out the numbers and how it happened. It’s in Popular Info’s article too which goes further by connecting dots on how it happened to the consequences.
What's the best way to hide the fact that your business is doing poorly? Blame it on someone else, of course. And if that "someone else" is poor and, maybe, non-white, what a great story!
I never thought large-scale retail theft was causing these business losses - it defied common sense. I have to believe that many in the media knew it was BS and published anyway.
That's the excuse Target used in SF. But as Judd reported, the stores it closed had the lowest theft. They just weren't getting business because Target opened too many in one city
Thanks again for bringing this story into the light and exposing these false claims and their motivations for those lies. We need more and more to expose organized and not so organized manipulators and their enablers. But does the greater public get the message or can they even be bothered once the sound bites have evaded their brains?
My recollection is that Popular Information was on top of this story months ago. Of course, facts are no match for video that can be played in an endless loop on Fox. And local news, for that matter.
My NYC resident son wonders why the only stores that keep merchandise under lock and key are the national chains. Corner bodegas and other Mom and Pop businesses don't seem to worry about shoplifting much, if at all.
This doesn't surprise me. I'd believe that most ORC happens to big corporations because no one gives a shit about corporations- not even the employees. If you were gonna organize some smash and grabs, why not do it to a massive corporation that is a proven bad actor in our society (like Walmart).
I recently went into an Off Broadway shoe store to return sneakers and stood at the front desk for 5 minutes with no employee in sight. I had to yell to get help. I could easily have walked out with dozens of pairs of pricey socks if I was so inclined
There are several benefits. I would say a lot of it is because of resale value for known brands - just like certain car models or certain models with the ‘right’ catalytic converter are more at risk to be stolen. Cheaper to do a one size fits all approach.and write it off. I wonder if it also is ann obstacle for certain types of internal theft. And they can use it for the P/R battle.
This kind of "reporting" by WaPo is why I cancelled by subscription this month. It's becoming increasingly clear that their view of truth is ever more subjective. I will have to rely on publications such as Popular Information (thank you Judd - you are an American hero!), Letters from an American, and to some degree, Reuters. There are some other sources, but all viewed with caution and salt these days.
Thank you, Popular Information, for you "outing" the lies of retail giants who don't want to admit they made mistakes of their own. Trimmed back Target stores just didn't work in some places. Ordering on line cut a lot of shopping and not much of that was theft. IN THE MEANTIME, the right wing is clamoring for more police and the failure of the left to protect people.
“Failure of the Left to protect people”? I avoid stores and public places because the right-wingnuts are carrying guns and itching for a fight; because guns are so plentiful on the streets, we are living a Wild West existence.
Exactly Dawna! The paranoid right wing psychos are the ones walking around with guns and intimidating people to compensate for their lack of intelligence and their inability to know when they’ve been duped.
DT is hardly the one to be calling for alleged perpetrators of retail theft, to be shot as they're leaving stores with their ( possiibly) ill gotten goods. Imagine if police shot traitors on site, as they left the WH; without benefit of a trial. Beware of politicians & wannabe dictators offering up " one size fits all" solutions. Interesting how they invoke " aggressive" policing policies, except when it comes to them & theirs. D Trump is " tough on crime" to anyone but him. How convenient..for him.
Just imagine a group of mostly black men, meeting around a noose, climbing the walls, breaking windows, crapping on the floor, scattering documents, destroying art, Killing and maiming cops. A terrorist rampage! I’m sure they would have been treated with such delicacy too! 🙄
This is a very important article. It points to the value of lying. Yet in a world of viral videos it should be recognized that the fear and discomfort people experience doesn’t come from statistics. It comes from imagining you will be there or you will have your own place attacked in the same way. That cannot be ignored. If it is, demagogues will take up the issue. We cannot ignore how people feel, nor should we blame it all on demagogues, mistakes or outright lies.
While that is absolutely true, I find that fear and discomfort often comes from imagining myself, a lowly individual, blamed for something I didn’t do (I’ve experienced that, and I was powerless against the system) rather than suffering as a victim of crime (I’ve experienced that, and I was powerless, because the perpetrator was too powerful to hold accountable). Most crimes are fraud perpetrated by protected individuals or businesses that will never be held accountable because they have too much money and power.
When a newspaper publishes something that has not been fact checked, it lends credence to assertions that other of its articles are "fake news", which plays into the hands of the liars like TFG.
What a con! And what great research and reporting! This is a very disturbing example of myth-making. It's bought and paid for disinformation. AI will make it orders of magnitude worse, I fear.
Re WAPO; so what happened to “Democracy dies in Darkness”.
You know, I have been hearing bad things about the Wapo for quite some time now. They have some great staff writers but I am seriously considering cancellation of my subscription.
I canceled mine last month. Thanks Judd for validating my decision.
WaPo announced it was going to be offering buyouts in October and sent letters to employees looking for 240 to take the offer. This columnist is leaving and points out WaPo is $100M in the hole.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/12/10/early-retirement-for-columnist/
Time for Jeff to reach into those deep pockets of his. $100M is pocket change for him. And while he's at it he might give thought to cleaning out the editorial board. Ben Bradlee and Katie Graham are surely rolling in their graves.
And their education reporter as well.
Mine expires in February. I will not be renewing it.
The worst part for me about this disinformative practices of the WaPo editorial board is that they undermine the integrity of the publication as a whole, such that it's hard to appreciate the legitimate reporting where it exists. It's a shame.
Thanks Judd. Since I started a part time gig last March at a big retail box store, I can personally say that the reason for shrink have little to do with ORC. Inventory procedures not being followed (check in, check out) most likely is a big part. Our info will show we have a quantity, but no one knows it's location. It was checked in but then placed somewhere in the vast store. We then are expected to search for it for weeks before loss declaration. I consider that time theft as it prevents workers from providing customer service and a time waster for customers trying to purchase a product that shows on the web app we have.
Then there is self check out. 1 or 2 people monitoring multiple registers. Wise thieves can easily plan to be in the store at break times when there are fewer employees to monitor. This makes it much easier for someone to side up, act like they are scanning, bag a product and walk out. Self check outs are designed to decrease personnel needs, not to increase profit. Companies can then write off their losses and blame employees from the loss as well.
I went into Off Broadway shoe store to return sneakers. No one at the front register. 5 minutes and yelling finally got a surly employee to appear. I could've easily grabbed dozens of pairs of pricey socks with no inventory tag on them on display right there and walked out the door.
"If you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store," Trump said in October."
Ah Mssr. Trump. May we shoot you NOW?
How many contractors has he robbed? He’s guilty of rape and incited a deadly sedition. As he said, “you can fully expect to be shot…” Let’s enforce it for a day.
Can't help it despite my loving instincts, I have to laugh out loud!
I cancelled my WaPo subscription when they started censoring negative responses to right-wing “opinion” editorials. Conglomerate ownership of media makes for faux journalism.I quit the NYTimes after they helped to elect tRump in 2016, along with CNN, et al. Money talks, for sure, but I don’t have to pay to read right-wing drivel.
It will only get worse. WaPo is $100M in the red. It issued letters to “hundreds” of employees in October searching for 240 that would take a buyout. Who knows it if will stop at 240 or who will be left.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/12/10/early-retirement-for-columnist/
Such a shame; perhaps, if Corporations were “people,” they wouldn’t compulsively suck up money while losing sight of priorities. Corporate entities are soulless.
Thank you Judd and team--as we can see, most journalists, politicians, and successful newspapers with nationwide readership do not bother to research and fact check. It's SO easy to find the bad guys and despise them enough to blame them and kill them! Senator Grassley seems to never tell the truth--does he have dementia? Cortez Masto should read this and quickly disassociate herself from Grassley. Newsome, if he wants a future of power with liberal admiration must tread carefully because liberals read and pay attention to what is going on at the source level.
Exactly right. Ya figure those that perpetuate untruth (like Grassley) have un-spoken agenda?
I agree that for some, there is an unspoken agenda; while for others it's based on sheer ignorance & laziness to bother to verify facts.
Agreed. It is an unlikely and potent combo of those two elements and perhaps other nuances as well. Hard to keep track of who REALLY is the adversary sometimes.
Amazing reporting. Let's see who picks up this story and corrects the record.
I saw Chris Hayes, MSNBC, reporting on it the day it came out. When I looked for more details I found the article in Retail Dive set out the numbers and how it happened. It’s in Popular Info’s article too which goes further by connecting dots on how it happened to the consequences.
What's the best way to hide the fact that your business is doing poorly? Blame it on someone else, of course. And if that "someone else" is poor and, maybe, non-white, what a great story!
I never thought large-scale retail theft was causing these business losses - it defied common sense. I have to believe that many in the media knew it was BS and published anyway.
That's the excuse Target used in SF. But as Judd reported, the stores it closed had the lowest theft. They just weren't getting business because Target opened too many in one city
Thanks again for bringing this story into the light and exposing these false claims and their motivations for those lies. We need more and more to expose organized and not so organized manipulators and their enablers. But does the greater public get the message or can they even be bothered once the sound bites have evaded their brains?
Already the questions are bleak. A great article!
My recollection is that Popular Information was on top of this story months ago. Of course, facts are no match for video that can be played in an endless loop on Fox. And local news, for that matter.
My NYC resident son wonders why the only stores that keep merchandise under lock and key are the national chains. Corner bodegas and other Mom and Pop businesses don't seem to worry about shoplifting much, if at all.
This doesn't surprise me. I'd believe that most ORC happens to big corporations because no one gives a shit about corporations- not even the employees. If you were gonna organize some smash and grabs, why not do it to a massive corporation that is a proven bad actor in our society (like Walmart).
I recently went into an Off Broadway shoe store to return sneakers and stood at the front desk for 5 minutes with no employee in sight. I had to yell to get help. I could easily have walked out with dozens of pairs of pricey socks if I was so inclined
There are several benefits. I would say a lot of it is because of resale value for known brands - just like certain car models or certain models with the ‘right’ catalytic converter are more at risk to be stolen. Cheaper to do a one size fits all approach.and write it off. I wonder if it also is ann obstacle for certain types of internal theft. And they can use it for the P/R battle.
This kind of "reporting" by WaPo is why I cancelled by subscription this month. It's becoming increasingly clear that their view of truth is ever more subjective. I will have to rely on publications such as Popular Information (thank you Judd - you are an American hero!), Letters from an American, and to some degree, Reuters. There are some other sources, but all viewed with caution and salt these days.
"There are some other sources, but all viewed with caution and salt these days."
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!
Thank you, Popular Information, for you "outing" the lies of retail giants who don't want to admit they made mistakes of their own. Trimmed back Target stores just didn't work in some places. Ordering on line cut a lot of shopping and not much of that was theft. IN THE MEANTIME, the right wing is clamoring for more police and the failure of the left to protect people.
“Failure of the Left to protect people”? I avoid stores and public places because the right-wingnuts are carrying guns and itching for a fight; because guns are so plentiful on the streets, we are living a Wild West existence.
Exactly Dawna! The paranoid right wing psychos are the ones walking around with guns and intimidating people to compensate for their lack of intelligence and their inability to know when they’ve been duped.
DT is hardly the one to be calling for alleged perpetrators of retail theft, to be shot as they're leaving stores with their ( possiibly) ill gotten goods. Imagine if police shot traitors on site, as they left the WH; without benefit of a trial. Beware of politicians & wannabe dictators offering up " one size fits all" solutions. Interesting how they invoke " aggressive" policing policies, except when it comes to them & theirs. D Trump is " tough on crime" to anyone but him. How convenient..for him.
Frankly, terrorists climbing the Capitol Building wall should have been shot on sight. They had a noose outside with calls to hang the VP
Agreed. As a former US Marine, I can tell you that the doctrine of "one shot, one kill" would have been fully in force on that awful day.
Just imagine a group of mostly black men, meeting around a noose, climbing the walls, breaking windows, crapping on the floor, scattering documents, destroying art, Killing and maiming cops. A terrorist rampage! I’m sure they would have been treated with such delicacy too! 🙄
They would have all been blown to kingdom-come!
This is a very important article. It points to the value of lying. Yet in a world of viral videos it should be recognized that the fear and discomfort people experience doesn’t come from statistics. It comes from imagining you will be there or you will have your own place attacked in the same way. That cannot be ignored. If it is, demagogues will take up the issue. We cannot ignore how people feel, nor should we blame it all on demagogues, mistakes or outright lies.
When AI gets fully useable by bad faith actors, news and truth will often be mutually exclusive.
While that is absolutely true, I find that fear and discomfort often comes from imagining myself, a lowly individual, blamed for something I didn’t do (I’ve experienced that, and I was powerless against the system) rather than suffering as a victim of crime (I’ve experienced that, and I was powerless, because the perpetrator was too powerful to hold accountable). Most crimes are fraud perpetrated by protected individuals or businesses that will never be held accountable because they have too much money and power.
When a newspaper publishes something that has not been fact checked, it lends credence to assertions that other of its articles are "fake news", which plays into the hands of the liars like TFG.