Shoplifting has surged across the United States in 2024, despite many major crimes, such as homicide, returning to pre-pandemic levels, according to a significant national crime study.
Shoplifting rates increase
The Council on Criminal Justice’s (CCJ) Mid-Year Crime Report, released Thursday, revealed that shoplifting rates rose an average of 24% during the first half of 2024 compared to the same period last year.
The study analyzed crime statistics from 23 cities nationwide, highlighting a steady increase in shoplifting since the country began emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic around 2022. Initially, shoplifting rates dropped approximately 15% from 2019 to 2020 and continued to decline into 2021. However, they began climbing through 2023, remaining about 10% lower than pre-pandemic levels. The 24% spike in 2024 has now pushed shoplifting rates about 10% higher than those seen in 2019.
Sharp increase might be partly due to more frequent reporting by stores
Shoplifting has garnered significant attention in recent years due to alarming videos showing brazen “smash-and-grab” thefts, where groups of thieves overwhelm stores and make off with large quantities of goods. These incidents have led pharmacies and big box stores to implement barriers to curb theft, frustrating honest customers. Ernesto Lopez, a senior researcher with CCJ who contributed to the report, suggested that the sharp increase might be partly due to more frequent reporting by stores, driven by heightened attention to the problem.
Crime trends amid the pandemic
Despite the surge in shoplifting, many crime categories from 39 cities assessed by CCJ have returned to pre-pandemic levels after increases during the pandemic. Homicide rates, in particular, have declined notably. Homicide rates rose sharply across 29 cities during the pandemic, including a historic 30% single-year increase in 2020, continuing to surge through 2021. However, murder rates began to decline by 2022. As of July 2024, homicide rates are down about 13% from the same period last year and 2% lower than the same period in 2019.
City-specific variations
Not all cities have seen a decline in homicides. Buffalo experienced a 26% year-over-year increase in 2024 and a 6% rise from 2019. Syracuse saw an 18% year-over-year increase in 2024 and a 15% rise since 2019.
Despite generally positive crime statistics, a late 2023 Gallup poll found that Americans’ personal safety fears were at a three-decade high, with 40% reporting fear of walking home alone at night. Lopez suggested that the disparity between lower crime rates and heightened safety concerns might stem from the lingering effects of the pandemic, which he described as “a massive disruption of social life.” “They remember the news, the news stories, they remember summer protests. There’s a lot that happened, just a lot of disruption that I think could still be lingering with people,” Lopez said.