Retail Workers Fear Holiday Upsurge of Violence, Thefts

As the nation heads into a holiday weekend, retail workers are on high alert for thefts and or acts of violence in their stores. Others are leaving the profession altogether.

Some 649,000 retail workers gave notice in April, the second most significant single-month exodus in over 20 years, reports the Washington Post. The departure deals a big blow to the retail industry which accounts for 6.3 percent of the U.S. workforce, according to the United States Census Bureau. 

While some have fled for better-paying jobs, many fled over the growing fear of workplace safety.

Almost 70 percent of storefronts have reported an increase in theft this past year, The Hill reports.

Retail store theft mostly goes unreported, making it difficult to gather data. The number of theft incidents is likely far higher than the reported data.

Additionally, the number of assaults in several stores has outpaced the national average, according to FBI assault data, reports the New York Times.

From 2018 to 2020, assaults reported to the FBI by law enforcement agencies rose 63 percent in grocery stores and 75 percent in convenience stores. Overall, the FBI saw a 42 percent increase in reported assaults.

The assault numbers depend on how often police departments and other local agencies report assault data to the FBI. Of the more than two million assaults reported to the FBI by law enforcement agencies across the country in 2020, more than 82,000 — about 4 percent — occurred in a retail store.

Despite the risk of assault, retail workers have little room to fend for themselves or their stores. Workers can be fired for intervening physically or sometimes even confronting potential shoplifters.

Still, the number of incidents is on the rise.

In one incident, a customer stomped on the face of a private security guard. In another, a shoplifter punched a night manager twice in the head and then shot him in the chest.

The starkest events happened last year in Boulder Colo., where a shooting left 10 killed in a King Soopers supermarket. More recently, a shooting at a Buffalo grocery store killed another 10 people.

Many retailers point to the global pandemic as one of the key indicators of increased thefts and violence at retail locations, but the data shows thefts and violence increased before the pandemic.

One retail worker was stunned when a thief walked out with an assortment of items and entered into a Mercedes-Benz S.U.V.

“The ones you think are going to steal are not the ones doing it,” he said. “From high class to low class, they are all doing it.”

Meanwhile, in a meeting with retail industry leaders Thursday, Deputy Attorney General  Lisa O. Monaco promised the government would address new fears of cybersecurity and rising theft and crime.

Monaco warned of the “blended threat” of sophisticated cyber-criminal groups and nation-state actors forming alliances of convenience, of opportunity and by design.

She encouraged retailers to bolster their cyber defensives and proactively develop a relationship with their local FBI.

James Van Bramer is associate editor of The Crime Report.