Store Workers Face Violence Surge
Illinois retail workers confront rising violence as organized crime surges

Top offenders responsible for most incidents; industry groups call for stronger coordination between law enforcement and retailers.

Illinois retail workers are facing increasing levels of in-store violence, driven in large part by repeat and organized offenders, according to new data from global retail crime intelligence company Auror.

The data shows that one in seven retail crime incidents in Illinois involve violence, weapons, or threatening behavior, while the top 10 percent of offenders accounted for more than 63 percent of reported incidents last year. Overall, violent events increased by seven percent compared with the previous year. Firearms were involved in nearly 40 percent of weapon-related incidents, followed by knives and other blades.

The findings, drawn from some of North America’s largest retailers using Auror’s crime reporting platform, highlight the growing risks despite investments in security and loss prevention. The platform allows retailers and law enforcement to identify repeat offenders and organized crime patterns across multiple jurisdictions, helping connect incidents that might otherwise appear isolated.

“Organized retail crime hurts Illinois communities on multiple levels,” said Anne Sagins, executive director of the Illinois Organized Retail Crime Association (ILORCA). “It puts workers in harm’s way and targets local businesses through coordinated operations by criminal groups. Addressing this threat requires strong coordination between retailers and law enforcement.”

“The violence and theft are completely unacceptable,” said Raul Aguilar, head of law enforcement for Auror in the Americas. “Consistent reporting and shared intelligence are helping identify repeat offenders who operate across state lines. These are not isolated incidents—they are organized, multi-state operations.”

ILORCA, the nation’s first statewide intelligence-sharing network for organized retail crime, continues to coordinate efforts across the supply chain, including railroads, trucking companies, and distributors, to combat organized crime comprehensively.  chambanatoday.com


Self-Checkout Pullback Continues As Theft Surges & Satisfaction Falls
Hate Self-Checkout? Stores Are Finally Cutting Back

From rising theft to customer frustration, stores are rethinking self-checkout and bringing back more human cashiers.

Since a slew of major retail chains adopted self-checkouts, many customers have hated the move for a variety of reasons, including being upset about cashiers losing their jobs. For those who wish self-checkouts were a thing of the past, there is good news, as several of the biggest retail companies are starting to move away from them.

The New York Post has reported on a new trend in the retail space that is the opposite of what customers have been seeing over the last several years. After retail companies spent years investing a lot of money to replace traditional cashier lanes with self-checkouts, some chains are reversing the trend.

Most notably, the outlet reported that Walmart is actively eliminating self-checkouts in several of its locations. Citing a report from the Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Post detailed a recent example of a location in South Philadelphia that had recently removed its self-checkouts. There has been some conjecture that chains may be making these shifts due to self-checkouts making theft easier. However, a Walmart spokesperson told the outlet that they have been bringing back traditional checkout lanes to make shopping better for the company’s customers.

The New York Post’s article went on to detail that Walmart isn’t the only chain that is moving away from self-checkout. It stated that in 2024, Dollar General removed them from 12,000 stores in America. In other cases, self-checkouts have been phased out without a full return to traditional cashier lanes.

When Sam’s Club began moving away from self-checkout, the company introduced AI-powered “scan and go” technology. Costco shoppers may already be aware of the tech. It involves a staff member scanning your cart in full as you wait in line, and everything loads onscreen once your card is scanned. It allows the checkout process to run smoothly, as all that is left to do is pay. mensjournal.com


Understaffed Self-Checkout Areas Driving Theft?
OPINION: The price of poor oversight: How retail loss drives up the cost of living
There is a narrative in retail right now – that the only way to stop theft is through policing. This is not the full picture.

By their own admission, retailers across New York lose more than $4 billion dollars of revenue annually through retail-theft.

A growing share of this loss is happening at self-checkout – where inadequate staffing turns customers into free labor for the store. Companies have tried to maximize profit by minimizing employees, but what they have created instead is a losing self-checkout model that ultimately is paid for by the everyday customer – New Yorkers.

For the State this means losing $176 million in sales tax revenue. For New York City, the loss is tens of millions of dollars. At a time when our city budget is struggling to keep up with its full obligations, addressing this understaffing is purely common sense.

Affordability is directly connected to revenue loss – when companies lose money, they raise prices to balance it out, driving up the cost of food and essential goods across New York City. That means our neighbors are paying more – not just because of inflation, but because stores are losing money and trying to make up for it at the register.

But, we found a great starting point in our communities to help begin to solve this problem and that is why we introduced Int. No. 729.

Int. No. 729 is a common-sense correction. It requires adequate staffing in self-checkout areas and establishes a 15-item limit so these systems are used as they were originally intended – quick, manageable, and supervised. amny.com


ATA Presses DOJ to Crack Down on Cargo Theft
The American Trucking Associations joined a broad coalition to pressure the U.S. Department of Justice to implement congressionally mandated measures to counter a sharp rise in cargo theft and organized retail crime.

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