by Eric Lendrum
The rate of shoplifting saw a noticeable increase in the first half of 2024, even as the rates of other crimes fell to levels not seen since before the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Daily Caller, a study by the Council of Criminal Justice (CCJ) determined that shoplifting rose by 24% in 23 different cities across the country, compared to the first half of 2023. That rate is also about 10% higher than the first half of 2019. Meanwhile, the rates of homicide and robbery fell to lower than the levels seen in 2019.
“Shoplifting is a theft by someone other than an employee of the victim of an item displayed for sale,” the study clarifies. “After a notable decline in the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic … shoplifting dropped 15% from 2019 to 2020 and declined another 10% in 2021,” the report reads. “Shoplifting increased 12% across the sample cities from 2022 to 2023, but by the end of 2023, the shoplifting rate was 10% lower than in 2019.”
Several of the most prominent cities to see shoplifting increases include Boston, which saw its 11.9% rate of shoplifting in May of 2020 surge to 42.4% in June of 2024, and Chicago, which previously had a rate of 14.8% in May of 2020 but skyrocketed to 41.4% in June of 2024.
Meanwhile, the first half of 2024 saw approximately 2% fewer homicides and 15% fewer robberies than the first half of 2019.
“The average homicide rate for the entire sample was 2% lower in the first half of 2024 than in the same period in 2019,” the study notes. “The overall decline was driven by large drops in cities with traditionally high homicide rates, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and St. Louis. Two-thirds of the sample cities (19 out of 29) actually had homicide rates that were higher in the first half of 2024 than in 2019.”
The spike in crime in the United States, particularly shoplifting, began in 2020 amidst the nationwide COVID lockdowns and simultaneous race riots that destroyed hundreds of businesses, caused billions in damage, and killed over two dozen civilians. Looting was a frequent occurrence in cities struck by racial violence, which was overwhelmingly carried out by black nationalist groups like Black Lives Matter and the far-left anarcho-communist terrorist organization Antifa. Subsequent progressive efforts to curb the power of the police, including several cities outright defunding their police departments, led to the sustained and even increased rates of shoplifting and other crimes.
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Eric Lendrum reports for American Greatness.
Photo “Person Shoplifting” by Morning Calm Weekly Newspaper Installation Management Command, U.S. Army. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
