![]() ![]() The stolen merchandise frequently ends up in online marketplaces or smaller neighborhood stores where it’s sold for a quick profit, Slaughter said. Retail crime overall, Slaughter said, is up 34% so far this year in Wichita, compared to last year, and up 35% versus a five-year average.Īmong the most stolen items reported by retailers, Slaughter said, are high-priced clothing, Lego sets, jewelry, footwear, beauty and cosmetic products, sporting goods, power tools, and Tide detergent, which is typically cited as one of the most shoplifted items nationally.īecause most retailers have a non-intervention policy in place to protect employees and shoppers, he said thieves are taking advantage and “basically taking anything that can be quickly carried out of the store.” Lego sets, power tools, clothing, jewelry Both retailers did not respond to requests for comment. Sullivan’s office also cited Dick’s Sporting Goods and Academy Sports and Outdoors stores in the city as leading in the region for store thefts. We will prosecute shoplifters to the full extent of the law.”Ĭabela’s did not respond to a request for comment. We take matters of theft seriously and work closely and in cooperation with the appropriate authorities on these types of investigations. Victoria’s Secret did not provide a comment specifically addressing theft at its Wichita store but said in a statement to CNN that “the safety of our associates and customers is always our top priority. Worse, Sullivan said Cabela’s, which sells sporting goods and outdoor products, cited its Wichita store as number one in the nation among its stores for theft. Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group/Getty ImagesĪ Victoria’s Secret store in Wichita, he said, was losing tens of thousands of dollars a month to theft. “These are national chains, and some of these stores in Wichita have the highest rates for retail theft either regionally or nationally.”ĭrone aerial view of downtown Wichita Skyline features Arkansas Rivers and bridges, Kansas. “We talked to some of our largest retailers, and within those chains, some of their stores in Wichita are their biggest problems,” Sullivan said during the meeting. Speaking at an event with the Sedgwick County Board of Commissioners, Sullivan said stores of some popular retail chains in Wichita are among the worst hit, nationally, by retail theft. Wichita police chief Joe Sullivan, who heads up the largest police department in Kansas, in April provided some startling numbers on escalating retail crime in Kansas’ largest city, which is home to nearly 400,000 residents. These criminal enterprises often overlap with the trafficking of drugs.” “Organized retail crime is a problem that is getting worse, not better. “There is a link between drug trafficking and organized retail crime,” Kobach told lawmakers in June. In Kansas, Kobach says one scourge is fueling another: drugs, especially fentanyl addiction. Store employees are frustrated,” he said in an interview with CNN. Kansas lost approximately $642 million in stolen goods in 2021, he said. Republican Kris Kobach, Kansas’ attorney general, said retail crime is a “spiraling problem” in his state, adding that Kansas and Missouri are among the top 10 states in the nation for volume of retail crime. “I’ve lived in this city my entire life and to see this much retail crime, it’s shocking,” said Captain Casey Slaughter, who is in charge of the Wichita Police Department’s property crimes bureau. is also wrestling with the gravity and pervasiveness of retail theft. In America’s Midwest, a bustling, mid-sized metropolis, known for its rich entrepreneurial heritage as home to both Pizza Hut and The Coleman Co. ![]() In some cities like San Francisco, retailers are closing up shop, pointing the finger at crime.īut it’s not just big coastal cities grappling with the problem. They’re in Wichita, Kansas.Ī pattern of store thefts - not just one-off petty shoplifting incidents, but more serious planned and brazen heists from pricey luxuries to everyday products – has retailers on edge across the country. They’re not in San Francisco, Chicago or New York, the way some might assume. ![]() The Cabela’s has reportedly lost more merchandise than any other in the nation. A local Victoria’s Secret lost $30,000 a month to theft, authorities say. ![]()
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