(NewsNation) — Shoplifting rates in the first half of 2024 are 24% higher than during the same period in 2023 according to a report published by the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ).
The report uses data from 23 different U.S. cities for which larceny incident data was available through June 2024.
There was a notable decline in shoplifting during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it dropped 15% from 2019 to 2020 and another 10% in 2021. From 2022 to 2023, there was a 12% increase, but by the end of 2023, the shoplifting rate was 10% lower than pre-pandemic levels.
The report said the shoplifting rate in the first half of 2024 was 10% higher than in 2019. February, March and May saw the largest increases relative to the same months in 2023.
One of the report’s co-authors, CCJ Senior Research Specialist Ernesto Lopez, cautioned that it is unclear how much the change reflects an actual rise in shoplifting incidents or increased reporting to law enforcement.
In a CCJ news release from 2023, it says retail theft has received extensive media coverage and caught the attention of policymakers, especially organized retail theft, which could lead to increased reporting.
Other crime rates have dropped in 2024, however, with homicide and most other violent crimes dropping to or slightly below levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide protests that followed the killing of George Floyd, according to the report.
Rates of violent crimes including homicide, aggravated assault, gun assault, domestic violence, robbery and carjacking were all lower than in 2023, and only gun assault and carjacking had higher rates than in 2019.
“Especially with homicide, the continuing downward trends we’re seeing so far this year are heartening, as every killing prevented is a life saved,” Lopez said. “But crime is heavily influenced by local factors, and despite the national trends, many U.S. cities continue to face intolerably high levels of violence.”