U.S. states with the highest crime rates in 2025

[Property Casualty]

Group warns that cargo theft expected to rise 22% in 2025 due to digitalization in trucking and supply chain

On June 25, the NICB issued a warning on the growing risk of cargo theft caused by increasing digitalization of the supply chain.

The group said that cargo theft resulted in $1 billion in losses in 2023, and that cargo theft losses increased by 27% in 2024 to hit an all-time high. Cargo theft losses are expected to increase by 22% by the end of 2025 to hit yet another record high.

[CDL Life]

Retailers are rushing returns back to resale market as Trump tariff costs hit item economics

As the cost of President Trump’s tariffs drives up the prices of goods, retailers are speeding up the process of returns to rush items back onto the resale market as fast as possible.

The segment of the supply chain responsible for the fast turnaround of returns is known as reverse logistics, where retailers inspect returned items and determine if they can be resold, repaired, or recycled, or if they need to be disposed. The more efficiently a retailer can manage the reverse logistics process, the faster the product can be resold — either at full price online or in-store, or at a discount at a retailer’s outlet channels.

[CNBC]

US economy shrank 0.5% in the first quarter of 2025 amid tariff uncertainty

The U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter as tariffs caused importers to surge shipments before higher levies took effect.

Economists surveyed by LSEG had expected the economy to contract at a 0.2% rate in the quarter, in line with the second preliminary reading. The contraction comes after 2.4% GDP growth was recorded in the fourth quarter.

[FOX Business]

Ransomware Attacks Dip in May Despite Persistent Retail Targeting

Ransomware attacks fell globally for the third consecutive month in May 2025 despite the continued heavy targeting of retailers, according to new figures from NCC Group.

The cybersecurity company recorded 393 attacks in May, a 6% fall from 416 in April.

This follows a significant 31% decline in ransomware attacks in April compared to March. The fall in April is partly thought to be due to infrastructure outages experienced by the RansomHub gang.

The fall in May comes despite a deluge of ransomware incidents affecting high-profile retailers from late April.

The researchers found that the industry category ‘consumer directory’ saw a leap from 73 attacks in April to 102 in May, 26% of all incidents in the month.

Only industrials experienced more attacks at 118, 30% of the total.

[Info-Security Magazine]

Cal/OSHA Releases New Draft of

Workplace Violence Regulation

California Senate Bill 553, which took effect on July 1, 2024, mandates that most California employers create and implement a comprehensive Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (WVPP). Such a plan is designed to improve workplace safety by requiring employers to identify and evaluate hazards as well as train workers to respond to and report incidents. The legislation also requires the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) to develop a workplace violence prevention regulation. Last month, the agency released a new draft of its proposed regulation, an update to last year’s version.

Updated Requirements 

The new proposal presents some significant changes. One of the biggest amendments concerns employees responding to violent incidents.

“It previously said that employees are not to engage criminals or not to defend, they're supposed to retreat away from it,” said Brooke Tabshouri, an attorney with Duane Morris in San Diego. The new draft says that “if an employee engages in an act of lawful self-defense or defense of others, that's not a violation of this policy and an employer cannot retaliate against an employee for having done that.”

The new draft identifies various kinds of workplace violence hazards. These include the following circumstances:

• Employees working alone or away from other workers.
• Poor lighting or lack of visibility. 
• Access to the public. 
• Locations without obvious escape routes. 
• Presence of money or valuable goods.
• Frequent or regular contact with the public.
• Working early in the morning or late at night. 
• Selling, distributing, or providing alcohol, marijuana, or pharmaceutical drugs.

The new draft also mandates that employers use engineering or work practice controls to eliminate or reduce worker exposure to any of the above workplace violence risks. It is likewise the responsibility of employers to maintain records of their inspections and any corrective measures taken to fix workplace hazards.

Employers must also have effective procedures for responding to incidents of workplace violence, including providing medical aid, identifying any involved employees, offering trauma counseling (for employers with more than 25 workers), conducting a debriefing, identifying any contributing hazards, and maintaining a written investigation.

Workplace Violence Prevention Plan

The focus of SB 533 and its subsequent drafts is to require employers to have a WVPP in place.

“The plan must be a layout for how employers intend to address workplace violence in their workplaces,” said Alka Ramchandani-Raj, an attorney with Littler in Walnut Creek, Calif.

In addition to identifying the person responsible for implementation, the plan must include the method of responding to violence, reporting practices, investigation guidelines, assurances against retaliation, training procedures, and steps to correct workplace hazards.

“The good news is Cal/OSHA has published a model plan that is almost like a worksheet to fill out,” Tabshouri said, which makes it simpler for employers to follow the agency’s requirements. 

Employer Obligations

Cal/OSHA’s regulation applies to most employers in the state, but certain industries may be at higher risk of workplace violence, underscoring the importance of having a compliant and comprehensive WVPP. Ramchandani-Raj highlighted jobs in which employees may be working at night; working in secluded locations; having regular or frequent contact with the public; selling alcohol, marijuana, or pharmaceutical drugs; or working where money or valuable goods are present. 

Employers may wonder if the new draft necessitates any practical changes to the workplace violence prevention training that they already provide.

“Since the new proposal further defines workplace violence hazards and investigation protocols, employers must ensure that their training addresses any of the new terms that they did not previously include in their last training,” Ramchandani-Raj said. Employers should therefore evaluate their training protocols to ensure they comply with the revised language in the new draft.

When it comes to reporting incidents of workplace violence, employers must document all threats in their log, whether they resulted in harm or not. “Threats and attempted violence and actual acts of violence all have to be reported,” Tabshouri confirmed.  

Employers should investigate any threats or near misses, Ramchandani-Raj said, and “identify any workplace violence hazards that may have contributed to the potential threat or near miss.”

The draft regulations similarly take into account digital threats of violence made online or electronically. “This includes social media, text messages, phone calls, videos,” and the like, Tabshouri explained. She added, however, that the draft clarifies that employers only need to be concerned about threats they could reasonably be aware of.

Employers should understand that noncompliance with the proposed regulation, when made final, will likely result in the issuance of citations and penalties. “Cal/OSHA has already been issuing citations under Labor Code 6432 for workplace violence, which will likely continue as a citation,” Ramchandani-Raj said.

“There could be penalties that range anywhere from $15,000 all the way up to something like $155,000 if it’s willful,” Tabshouri said. She cautioned employers to document every instance of workplace violence; pretending it didn’t happen is not an option. “Cal/OSHA does need to be made aware of it when required, so hiding it is never in your interest. The punishment is often a lot worse than the crime when that happens.”  

[SHRM]

Attorney General Sunday: After One Year, Organized Retail Crime Unit is Combatting Violent

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Customers Prefer Facial Recognition Technology

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Democrat busted for shoplifting at Target self-checkout line — and uses ailing granny as an excuse

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How a Walmart Store Cut Shoplifting With One Major Change

At the Shrewsbury Walmart, located just outside St. Louis, something unexpected happened after a simple tweak: crime rates went down. Not just a little, either. Police calls were chopped nearly in half after the store removed all self-checkout kiosks. Shoplifting, arrests, and even the overall volume of police visits all saw a sharp decline.

In early 2024, Shrewsbury had become one of the busiest spots for local police. Between January and May that year, the department responded to 1,915 calls. Over 25% of those were just from Walmart. Then, in April, the store removed all self-checkout stations. By the same five-month stretch in 2025, police calls connected to the store had dropped to only 11% of the total.

Shrewsbury Police Chief Lisa Vargas said in plain language, "That's a huge change. We really appreciate Walmart taking the initiative to remove those self-checkers." Her comments came during a city presentation, where the data made it clear that going back to human cashiers may have made all the difference.

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Oklahoma joins a growing number of states cracking down on shoplifting rings at the urging of retailers

After a push from big retailers and law enforcement, a new Oklahoma law will give the state Attorney General the power to prosecute crime rings that steal retail goods to sell online for profit. But a provision to lower the dollar amount to charge shoplifters with a felony didn’t survive. 

One of the bill’s authors, Rep. John George, R-Newalla, said he wants to try to lower the bar for a felony again in a future legislative session. He said he would consider proposing a state question to roll back criminal justice reforms on felony charges that Oklahoma voters approved nearly a decade ago. 

“I’m okay with being smart on crime, I just don’t want to go too far,” George said.  

George’s House Bill 1592 was based on recommendations from a state task force on organized retail crime. Those with seats on the task force include the District Attorneys Council, the State Chamber of Commerce, the Oklahoma Grocers Association, the Convenience Distributors of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Retail Merchants Association – a group that represents big box retailers including Walmart and Target. The task force included executives from the retail chains Lowe’s, OnCue and Reasor’s.

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