Nationwide coordinated retail crime crackdown results in hundreds of arrests, authorities say
A nationwide coordinated crackdown on retail crime — what authorities are calling the first of its kind — led to hundreds of arrests in 28 states last week.
The blitz, led by Illinois' Cook County regional organized crime task force, involved more than 100 jurisdictions and over 30 retailers including Home Depot, Macy's, Target, Ulta Beauty, Walgreens, Kroger and Meijer.
'When you give specific focus to a crime, it reverberates,' Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart told CNBC. 'When they see it is being prosecuted and taken seriously, it deters conduct. They don't want to get caught.'
Organized retail crime — a type of shoplifting where groups of thieves work together in targeted operations to turn stolen goods into cash — has grown in scale and scope in recent years. CNBC previously reported on the extensive law enforcement efforts to take down retail crime organizations.
While aggregate numbers for retail theft are difficult to quantify, retailers reported 93% more shoplifting incidents on average in 2023 compared with 2019, according to a survey conducted by the National Retail Federation. Those surveyed also reported a 90% increase in the associated dollar losses over that same time period.
Some critics point to a lack of enforcement and felony thresholds for allowing criminals to continue committing theft. It's something Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke has been focused on since taking office in December.
On her first day in office, O'Neill Burke said prosecutors would pursue felony retail theft charges in accordance with state law, when the value of the goods exceeds $300 or when the suspect already has a felony shoplifting conviction.
Before her taking office, retail theft felonies were charged only if the value of the stolen goods was $1,000 or more or if the suspect had 10 or more prior convictions.
Since Dec. 1, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office has filed charges in 1,450 felony retail theft cases, the office said.
The goals of the coordinated operation, O'Neill Burke told CNBC, is 'to have one day where we focus and concentrate on [retail theft] and we share intelligence about it — about what we learned about the network, so that gives us more tools on how to take this network down.'
It was the coordination between law enforcement and prosecuting attorneys that got a number of the involved retailers to participate in the blitz.
'Collaboration is key to making a meaningful impact,' Ulta Beauty Senior Vice President of Loss Prevention Dan Petrousek told CNBC. 'That's why we were proud to participate in the National ORC Blitz alongside dedicated law enforcement and prosecutorial partners.'
Ulta Beauty had teams participating across nine states in last week's operation, providing law enforcement with information on incidents of retail crime.
'Organized retail crime remains one of the most significant challenges in our industry,' said Marty Maloney, Walgreens director of media relations. 'In this most recent operation we worked closely with law enforcement partners across nearly 20 cities and at over 40 locations to help curb this trend.'
A representative for Home Depot told CNBC that while overall theft is down, investigated incidents of organized retail crime are still up double digits year over year.
Now that the operation has concluded, the group is pulling together each jurisdictions' observations and sharing data to continue to help crack down on retail theft.
Macy's, T.J. Maxx and Target, said they're committed to partnering with law enforcement and pushing for stronger laws to combat retail crime.
California Highway Patrol arrests retail crime suspect in Long Beach, CA.Courtesy: California Highway Patrol.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC News
14 hours ago
- NBC News
Trump aims to slash Pell Grants, which may limit low-income students' college access
For many students and their families, federal student aid is key for college access. And yet, the Trump administration's budget proposal for fiscal year 2026 calls for significant cuts to higher education funding, including reducing the maximum federal Pell Grant award to $5,710 a year from $7,395, as well as scaling back the federal work-study program. The proposed cuts would help pay for the landmark tax and spending bill Republicans in the U.S. Congress hope to enact. Roughly 40% of undergraduate students rely on Pell Grants, a type of federal aid available to low-income families who demonstrate financial need on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Work study funds, which are earned through part-time jobs, often help cover additional education expenses. President Donald Trump 's 'skinny' budget request said changes to the Pell Grant program were necessary due to a looming shortfall, but top-ranking Democrats and college advocates say cuts could have been made elsewhere and students will pay the price. 'The money we invest in post-high school education isn't charity — it helps Americans get good jobs, start businesses, and contribute to our economy,' Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told CNBC. 'No kid's education should be defunded to pay for giant tax giveaways for billionaires.' Pell Grants are 'the foundation for financial support' Nearly 75% of all undergraduates receive some type of financial aid, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. 'Historically the Pell Grant was viewed as the foundation for financial support for low-income students,' said Lesley Turner, an associate professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and a research fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research. 'It's the first dollar, regardless of other types of aid you have access to.' Under Trump's proposal, the maximum Pell Grant for the 2026-2027 academic year would be at its lowest level in more than a decade. 'The Pell reduction would impact the lowest-income families,' said Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, a nonprofit. More than 92% of Pell Grant recipients in 2019-2020 came from families with household incomes below $60,000, according to higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz. How Pell Grant cuts could affect college students If the president's cuts were enacted and then persisted for four years, the average student debt at graduation will be about $6,500 higher among those with a bachelor's degree who received Pell Grants, according to Kantrowitz's own calculations. 'If adopted, [the proposed cuts] would require millions of enrolled students to drop out or take on more debt to complete their degrees — likely denying countless prospective low- and moderate-income students the opportunity to go to college altogether,' Sameer Gadkaree, president and CEO of The Institute for College Access & Success, said in a statement. Already, those grants have not kept up with the rising cost of a four-year degree. Tuition and fees plus room and board for a four-year private college averaged $58,600 in the 2024-25 school year, up from $56,390 a year earlier. At four-year, in-state public colleges, the average was $24,920, up from $24,080, according to the College Board. The Pell program functions like other entitlement programs, such as Social Security or Medicare, where every eligible student is entitled to receive a Pell award. However, unlike those other programs, the Pell program does not rely solely on mandatory funding that is set in the federal budget. Rather, it is also dependent on some discretionary funding, which is appropriated by Congress. The Congressional Budget Office projected a shortfall this year in part because more students now qualify for a Pell Grant due to changes to the financial aid application, and, as a result, more students are enrolling in college. Cutting the Pell Grant is 'extreme' Although there have been other times when the Pell program operated with a deficit, slashing the award amount is an 'extreme' measure, according to Kantrowitz. 'Every past shortfall has been followed by Congress providing additional funding,' he said. 'Even the current House budget reconciliation bill proposes additional funding to eliminate the shortfall.' However, the bill also reduces eligibility for the grants by raising the number of credits students need to take per semester to qualify for the aid. There's a concern those more stringent requirements will harm students who need to work while they're in school and those who are parents balancing classes and child care. 'These are students that could use it the most,' said the University of Chicago's Turner. 'Single parents, for example, that have to work to cover the bills won't be able to take on additional credits,' Mayotte said. 'If their Pell is also reduced, they may have to withdraw from school rather than complete their degree,' Mayotte said.
NBC News
4 days ago
- NBC News
Palantir CEO Karp says AI is dangerous and 'either we win or China will win'
Palantir CEO Alex Karp said the artificial intelligence arms race between the U.S. and China will culminate in one country coming out on top. 'My general bias on AI is it is dangerous,' Karp told CNBC's ' Squawk on the Street ' on Thursday. 'There are positive and negative consequences, and either we win or China will win.' Karp has been a vocal advocate for U.S. AI dominance. He told CNBC in January that the country needs to 'run harder, run faster' in an 'all-country effort' to develop more advanced AI models. In a recent letter to shareholders, he also touted Palantir's commitment to equipping and enhancing U.S. defense interests. The billionaire tech CEO said Thursday that the U.S. currently has a leg up in the AI race and Palantir is leading the way in making companies more secure and efficient with its tools. 'There is no economy in the world with this kind of corporate leadership which is willing to pivot, which understands technologies, which is willing to look at new things, but also has deep domain expertise,' he said. 'Our allies in the West, in Europe, are going to have to learn from us.' Shares of the Denver-based data analytics and AI software firm outperformed in 2024 and have continued their ascent in 2025 as investors bet on their software and work with key government contractors and agencies. The stock is up 74% this year, but investors have to shell out on a higher earnings multiple than its tech peers. 'You don't like the price, exit,' Karp said Thursday in response. Karp also asserted that the company is 'not surveilling Americans' in response to recent New York Times report that Palantir is helping the Trump administration gather data on Americans.
NBC News
4 days ago
- NBC News
Shein and Temu see U.S. demand plunge as loophole for cheap goods closes
Use of low-cost e-commerce giants Temu and Shein has slowed significantly in the key U.S. market amid President Donald Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports and the closure of the de minimis loophole, new data shows. Temu's U.S. daily active users (DAUs) dropped 52% in May versus March, before Trump's tariffs were announced, while those at rival Shein were down 25%, according to data shared with CNBC by market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. DAUs is a measure of the number of people who visit or interact with a platform every 24 hours. Monthly active users (MAUs), a measure of user engagement over a 30-day period, was also down at Temu (30%) and Shein (12%) in May versus March. The declines were also reflected in both platforms' Apple App Store rankings. Temu averaged a rank of 132 in May 2025, down from an average top 3 ranking a year ago, while Shein averaged a rank of 60 last month versus a top 10 ranking the year prior, the data showed. Neither Temu nor Shein immediately responded to CNBC's request for comment. The user drop off comes as both Temu and Shein have pulled back on U.S. advertising spend over recent months since the Trump administration's tariff announcements. Trump in April announced sweeping tariffs on Chinese imports, including the end of the 'de minimis' tariff exemption on May 2, which allowed companies to ship low-cost goods worth less than $800 to the U.S. tariff-free. In May, Temu's U.S. ad spend fell 95% year-on-year while Shein's was down 70%. 'Temu and Shein's decline in US ad spend was also noticeable in April, as spend decreased by 40% and 65% YoY, respectively,' Seema Shah, vice president of research and insights at Sensor Tower, said in emailed comments to CNBC. Both Temu and Shein also altered their logistics models in the wake of tariffs, shifting away from a drop shipping model, which allowed them to send items directly from Chinese suppliers to U.S. consumers, and instead, particularly in Temu's case, building up a network of U.S. warehouses. Rui Ma, founder and analyst at Tech Buzz China, said such moves were also likely to have impacted the companies' ad spend strategy and customer acquisition patterns. 'All these additional costs and regulatory hurdles are clearly hurting Chinese platforms' U.S. growth prospects,' she wrote in emailed comments. Tech Buzz China research from March showed that a 50% tariff would be the point at which Temu would lose most of its price advantages and find it difficult to operate. The tariff on former de minimis imports currently stands at 54%, having been lowered from 120% amid a 90-day tariff truce between the U.S. and China. Growth outside the U.S. Last week, Temu's parent company PDD Holdings reported first-quarter earnings below estimates and pointed to tariffs as a significant pressure on sellers. Temu's popularity has nevertheless picked up outside the U.S., with non-U.S. users rising to account for 90% of the platform's 405 million global MAUs in the second quarter, according to HSBC. Writing in a note last week, HSBC analysts said that was 'supported by growth in Europe, Latin America, and South America.' They added that the swiftest of that growth occurred in 'less affluent markets.' 'Many (Chinese platforms) are now actively redirecting their efforts toward other markets such as Europe,' Ma said.
