Black Friday theft threat turns holiday weekend into shoplifters' 'Super Bowl': former detective
Black Friday & Cyber Monday: Finding the best deals
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A former NYPD robbery squad detective says the threat of Black Friday theft has turned a holiday weekend into shoplifters' "Super Bowl" with retail robbery turning into a "multibillion-dollar business."
A 2024 report released by the National Retail Federation claims that retail theft increased by a whopping 93% in 2023 versus 2019, adding there was also a 90% increase in dollar loss due to shoplifting. The organization estimates 186.9 million Americans will shop between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday.
Former NYPD Detective Patrick Brosnan told Fox News Digital that organized retail theft is no longer simply "petty shoplifting," adding, "this is a whole different deal."
Brosnan said organized retail theft has become a "very profitable business" and is expanding "faster than law enforcement can adapt."
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"Organized retail crime today in 2025, it's no longer teenagers stealing T-shirts," Brosnan said. "These are professional theft rings operating across state lines, reselling through sophisticated and widely networked online marketplaces. They are a sophisticated, super profitable, multibillion-dollar business."
Three alleged shoplifters were taken into custody in Seal Beach recently – with one of them surprised about a new California law. (Credit: Seal Beach Police Department)
Law enforcement agencies across America often increase patrols on Black Friday in an effort to deter theft, including those in some of the nation's biggest cities, like Nashville, San Francisco, Los Angeles and many more.
Brosnan compared Black Friday for shoplifters to one of the nation's biggest sporting events as millions of Americans enter storefronts.
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"Black Friday is their Super Bowl, right? Stores are crowded, you got to understand, very easy to blend in. And unlike most times, the high value goods are out. Staff is stretched and traffic, because there's so much traffic, it camouflages the escape routes," he said. "Law enforcement really has very significant hurdles to overcome. It's not just a regular day."
The former NYPD detective, who founded Brosnan Risk Consultants and has advised major retailers, said he’s urged clients to lock down "high-value" merchandise, such as electronics, fragrances and designer goods. He added that stores should also consider placing their tools in locked cases.
While Brosnan says retailers are doing "everything they can" to mitigate theft, it's a "bad situation" that's "only getting worse."
"You want to do business, people got to come in. And if bad people come in with the good people, there's only so much you could do," he said. "I gotta tell you, [shoplifters] come in, they come like gangbusters, so coordinated, so focused, so knowledgeable as a fact where the items are that they need to get and how they are going to get them, what they have to do to obtain them."