Shoplifting

Ending legal aid for cultural reports at sentencing may only make court hearings longer and costlier

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 15, 2024

This may be popular, even populist, but it carries the risk of not achieving any of those purported goals.

Key Points: 
  • This may be popular, even populist, but it carries the risk of not achieving any of those purported goals.
  • In fact, court hearings may become longer and more expensive.
  • It is governed by the Sentencing Act 2002, which requires judges to take into account many factors when considering a sentence.

What judges must take into account

  • Judges also need to be aware of the likely effect of a sentence.
  • In short, judges need a lot of information to help reach a proper sentence.
  • Similarly, reports about alcohol or drug use that cause a disproportionate amount of offending can be introduced from relevant specialists.

Reasons for offending

  • But probation officers have limits: they may not have much time and may not have the necessary expertise.
  • When parliament passed the Criminal Justice Act 1985, section 16 allowed a request for the court to hear from someone about a person’s “ethnic or cultural background”, how that might be relevant to the reason for offending, and how it might help avoid further offending.
  • More particularly, they can address how that might have been part of the offending, how it might be relevant to any sentence, and how support might help prevent further offending.

The right to a fair trial

  • But this is partly because it has been clarified that legal aid was the correct funding mechanism for cultural reports.
  • Read more:
    New Zealand's legal aid crisis is eroding the right to justice – that's unacceptable in a fair society

    The Ministry of Justice used to pay for them because they were considered a court report.

  • The fundamental right to a fair trial includes a fair sentencing hearing, with the judge having all information that is useful.

Shifting costs elsewhere

  • On one level, therefore, there will be an additional barrier to equal justice for those who are poorer.
  • So, we can expect lawyers to ask other experts, including drug counsellors or psychiatrists, to collate and include relevant information.
  • This will potentially cost a lot more than any savings to legal aid from not funding section 27 reports.


Kris Gledhill is currently working on a project relating to the Sentencing Act 2002 the expenses for which are funded by the Borrin Foundation. He is also a co-opted member of the Criminal Bar Association's Executive Committee. The views expressed in this article are his own.

McWhorter Foundation Confirms Powerhouse Legal Teams: Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz and Becker & Poliakoff

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, January 27, 2024

McWhorter has announced the securing of powerhouse legal representation and upcoming ventures in the sports sector.

Key Points: 
  • McWhorter has announced the securing of powerhouse legal representation and upcoming ventures in the sports sector.
  • McWhorter has partnered with two prominent legal firms, Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, PC, for entertainment representation, and Becker & Poliakoff, P.A., for securities and compliance.
  • will offer their specialized services in securities and compliance, ensuring diligent oversight as McWhorter's companies navigate complex regulatory landscapes.
  • McWhorter Foundation has not registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and may operate under exemptions.

RaptorVision expands software offering to AI integrated platform for Retail

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 16, 2024

NEW YORK, Jan. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NRF Big Show, Booth 252 - RaptorVision, a cutting-edge developer of event based, product engagement video analytics technology, announced its new Event-Based Video Platform and Mobile App, that includes Embedded AI and an integrated VMS. It is a platform that promises to be a game changer in combating Organized Retail Crime, while providing a safer work environment. The RaptorVision platform is focused on product engagement, sending real-time notifications and live video streaming via the RaptorVision mobile app, existing communication systems, including the PA, two-way radios or any IP/Digital output allowing employees to take appropriate action. Whether it is handling shoplifting, an ORC event or proactively providing assistance to an engaged customer, the RaptorVision platform empowers all Retail Stakeholders.

Key Points: 
  • It is a platform that promises to be a game changer in combating Organized Retail Crime, while providing a safer work environment.
  • The RaptorVision platform is focused on product engagement, sending real-time notifications and live video streaming via the RaptorVision mobile app, existing communication systems, including the PA, two-way radios or any IP/Digital output allowing employees to take appropriate action.
  • Whether it is handling shoplifting, an ORC event or proactively providing assistance to an engaged customer, the RaptorVision platform empowers all Retail Stakeholders.
  • "We have developed the RaptorVision platform to embody our patented, Award-Winning Video Analytics and focus on product engagement solutions.

Everseen Retail Threat Curve Report Findings Show Shrink From Cart-Based Loss at Self-Checkouts Doubled in 2023

Retrieved on: 
Monday, January 15, 2024

Everseen , the world’s most advanced Edge Computer Vision AI deployed at scale, today released findings from its Retail Threat Curve report, showing that cart-based loss has doubled in the past year, reaching 30% of all incidents happening at self-checkout.

Key Points: 
  • Everseen , the world’s most advanced Edge Computer Vision AI deployed at scale, today released findings from its Retail Threat Curve report, showing that cart-based loss has doubled in the past year, reaching 30% of all incidents happening at self-checkout.
  • Cart-based loss is defined as unscanned items left in the shopping cart at the end of the payment process.
  • While some cart-based loss is unintentional, Everseen’s analysis showed that the vast majority of cases are malicious.
  • The National Retail Federation estimated that retail shrink — the difference between inventory on the books and what’s actually on hand — is approximately a $112 billion problem .

Rite Aid Banned from Using AI Facial Recognition After FTC Says Retailer Deployed Technology without Reasonable Safeguards

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 2, 2024

Rite Aid will be prohibited from using facial recognition technology for surveillance purposes for five years to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the retailer failed to implement reasonable procedures and prevent harm to consumers in its use of facial recognition technology in hundreds of stores.

Key Points: 
  • Rite Aid will be prohibited from using facial recognition technology for surveillance purposes for five years to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the retailer failed to implement reasonable procedures and prevent harm to consumers in its use of facial recognition technology in hundreds of stores.
  • It also will require Rite Aid to discontinue using any such technology if it cannot control potential risks to consumers.
  • In a complaint filed in federal court, the FTC says that from 2012 to 2020, Rite Aid deployed artificial intelligence-based facial recognition technology in order to identify customers who may have been engaged in shoplifting or other problematic behavior.
  • The company did not inform consumers that it was using the technology in its stores and employees were discouraged from revealing such information.
  • In its complaint, the FTC also says Rite Aid violated its 2010 data security order with the Commission by failing to adequately implement a comprehensive information security program.
  • Among other things, the 2010 order required Rite Aid to ensure its third-party service providers had appropriate safeguards to protect consumers’ personal data.

What's the truth behind the 'shoplifting epidemic'? Six key questions answered

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, December 30, 2023

According to media reports, in 2023 the UK experienced an unprecedented wave of shoplifting. The theory goes that the cost of living crisis and poor police responses are driving a crime wave. Is that really true? Here, we assess six of the most popular assertions made about shoplifting in 2023. Are they myth or reality?1. Is there really a shoplifting epidemic?Many crime types remain below pre-pandemic levels because we now work from home more than we used to.

Key Points: 


According to media reports, in 2023 the UK experienced an unprecedented wave of shoplifting. The theory goes that the cost of living crisis and poor police responses are driving a crime wave. Is that really true? Here, we assess six of the most popular assertions made about shoplifting in 2023. Are they myth or reality?

1. Is there really a shoplifting epidemic?

  • Many crime types remain below pre-pandemic levels because we now work from home more than we used to.
  • That provided camouflage for shoplifting, so it returned to, and now exceeds, pre-pandemic levels.
  • In the first six months of 2023, shoplifting reported to police averaged 7% above the pre-pandemic expected level.

2. Has the cost-of-living crisis driven people to theft?

  • It has become common to blame the cost-of-living crisis for rises in shoplifting.
  • Shoplifting by dependent drug users, for example, is not due to the cost-of-living crisis.
  • That explanation, put forward by the retailers themselves, contradicts the idea that increased shoplifting is due to cost-of-living issues.

3. Are organised gangs to blame?

  • Another version of events is more plausible – that organised gangs are the problem.
  • E-fencing via online marketplaces is more efficient and less risky than face-to-face in the street or pub.
  • We need more evidence, but organised crime offers a plausible explanation for increased post-pandemic shoplifting.

4. Have the police stopped caring?

  • This reflects a long history of problem shops draining police resources with repeat calls without taking responsibility for preventing thefts.
  • After all, is it fair to expect taxpayers, who pay for police, to foot the bill?
  • Pointing the finger at the police deflects some of the blame but it doesn’t address the real problem.

5. Are shops starting to lock up products because of theft increases?

  • The truth is that these have been among the most stolen products for many years and tagging has been around for ages.
  • It is part of a decades-long process of incremental improvements to retail security.
  • By 2010, research identified 30 measures used to help shops prevent theft, including locking cabinets and adding radio frequency tagging to goods, tethering items or using dummy goods such as packaging with nothing in it.
  • Improved vehicle and household security reduced car crime and burglary by three-quarters since 1992, largely via non-punitive and unobtrusive measures.

6. Are social media provocateurs to blame?

  • Social media videos that glorify shoplifting and show how to do it may be part of the picture.
  • Flash mobs have been coordinated on social media, as when hundreds of youths met to rob London’s Oxford Street stores.
  • Social media platforms are best placed and have the technical know-how to develop measures to stop videos from spreading and to make them less attractive to make and watch.

What is to be done?

  • But we know that, with concerted effort, it is possible to prevent shoplifting.
  • Online eCommerce platforms are best placed to prevent e-fencing, and social media platforms best placed to disrupt provocateurs.


The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Grabango’s Computer Vision Analytics Uncover Self-Checkout Systems Have 16 times more Shrink than Traditional Cashier Lanes

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Shoplifting and employee theft account for two-thirds of this amount while internal process/control errors account for most of the rest.

Key Points: 
  • Shoplifting and employee theft account for two-thirds of this amount while internal process/control errors account for most of the rest.
  • This analysis revealed self-checkout led to a shrink rate more than 16 times higher than traditional cashier lines.
  • Checkout-free technology powered by computer vision eliminates self-checkout shrink by accurately tracking what shoppers pick up and charging them the exact amount they owe.
  • For the average supermarket, eliminating partial shrink from self-checkout alone could increase bottom-line profits by more than 50% a year.

How data protection law can help retailers tackle shoplifting

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 24, 2023

As statistics show that shoplifting is up by 27% across ten of the largest cities in the UK*, more retailers are turning to technology to protect their business.

Key Points: 


As statistics show that shoplifting is up by 27% across ten of the largest cities in the UK*, more retailers are turning to technology to protect their business.
Data protection law enables retailers to share criminal offence data such as images to prevent or detect crime as long as it's…

Rising Security Threats Propel Demand for Video Surveillance Systems in BFSI and Retail Sectors

Retrieved on: 
Friday, October 20, 2023

The global video surveillance systems market, valued at US$ 57.0 billion in 2022, is poised for significant growth.

Key Points: 
  • The global video surveillance systems market, valued at US$ 57.0 billion in 2022, is poised for significant growth.
  • Video surveillance systems are technologically advanced monitoring solutions that capture videos and images, which can be compressed, stored, or transmitted over communication networks.
  • Growth in BFSI Industry: The banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector is witnessing significant expansion, leading to a higher demand for video surveillance systems to prevent theft, fraudulent transactions, and other security threats.
  • Retail Sector Demand: The retail industry is adopting video surveillance systems to counteract issues like shoplifting and burglary, driving the market's growth.