Survey: Retail theft on the rise - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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For the first time in six years, there’s been a real increased in the rate ofretaik theft, according to a survey conducted by the with a fundint grant from . "This year, both the dollar loss and rate of loss increasede and the evidence shows that the economy and resultintg cutbacks in staffing by retailers are creatinyg an opportunistic environment for both individua shoplifters and organized retail said U of F criminologist Richard who directedthe survey. In 2007, the lowesrt rate of retail theft inthe 18-yeard history of the surveu was reported at a rate of 1.44 percent of overalol retail sales. Last year, that rate rose to 1.52 percent of salesd translating into lossesof $36.
56 billion. Hollinger notes the numbers are from last and don’t reflect retail theft rate s for the first part of this year when the recessiob was even worse. Employee theft comprised the largest portion ofthe losses, whichb totaled $15.9 billion, or almost half of lossesx (44 percent). Shoplifting accounted for $12.7 billion (35 percent) of losses. Othed losses included administrativeerror ($5.4 billion and 15 percentt of shrinkage) and vendor fraud ($1.4 billionb and 4 percent of shrinkage).