Written by Vincent Cain
Stores have begun developing protective measures such as coiled wire to crack down on theft and smash-and-grab-type robberies during this Christmas season.
A Nordstrom store was targeted around Thanksgiving in a shopping center in Los Angeles. In response, a yellow coiled wire similar to one you would see guarding a prison was put up around the store.
Josh Nielsen, the vice president of Adamson Police Products, said, “If somebody’s running, trying to get through something quickly, they are going to have to navigate it and get tangled up.”
Around mid-November, the National Retail Foundation (NRF) said, “organized retail crime now costs retailers an average of $700,000 per $1 billion in sales, and three-fourths of retailers saw an increase in ORC in 2020, according to NRF’s 2020 Organized Retail Crime Survey.”
The report found that the top ten cities most affected by organized retail crimes were, in order, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Baltimore, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and Sacramento.
“The NRF report found that half of retailers are allocating additional technology resources,” to prevent theft, the group additionally said, “while another 50 percent are allocating capital to specific loss prevention equipment.”
San Francisco announced that it will be changing the traffic patterns near high-end retailers to make it more difficult for thieves to park, commit crimes, and drive away.
San Francisco Police Chief William Scott stated, “We will do what we need to do to put an end to this madness”
On November 20th, a Nordstrom was looted outside of San Francisco, officials reportedly closed a street.
“If it means that we are going to detour roads, if it means we’re going to have more police on the street and more security around, whatever it is, every option is on the table,” Walnut Creek Mayor Kevin Wilk told the media.
Photo Cred: Danielle Echeverria/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, File
