Walmart’s chief executive, Doug McMillon,
told CNBC in December that an increase in shoplifting could lead the company to close stores.
In November, Target’s chief financial officer, Michael Fiddelke, said shrinkage had reduced the company’s profit margin by more than $400 million in 2022. Mr. Fiddelke did not specify how much of the shrinkage was from shoplifting.
Alec Karakatsanis, the founder and executive director of Civil Rights Corps, a nonprofit that fights for criminal justice reform, said that Mr. Kehoe’s backtracking showed why
the public, and the news media, should be more critical of corporate claims about crime.
“I think unfortunately across the United States, the reporting on this issue really lacked this kind of skepticism for a long time,” Mr. Karakatsanis said.