Americans Still Perceive Crime as on the Rise

Two-thirds of Americans say there is more crime in the United States than there was a year ago, reflecting Americans general tendency to perceive crime as increasing. Still, the percentage perceiving an increase in crime is below what Gallup measured in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but is higher than the levels from the late 1990s and early 2000s. Americans are somewhat more positive about the trend in crime in their local area, but still are more likely to see it going up than going down. These trends, based on Gallup s annual <em>Crime survey</em>, come at a time when both the FBI and the Bureau of Justice Statistics recently reported drops in property and violent crime from 2008 to 2009 in separate studies, as well as documenting longer-term declines in both types...

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Return Fraud to Cost Retailers $3.7 Billion This Holiday Season

Fine-tuning return policies has become both a science and an art as retailers continue to grapple with roller-coaster return fraud rates. According to NRF&#8217;s annual <em>Return Fraud Survey</em>, completed by loss prevention executives at 111 retail companies, the retail industry will lose an estimated $3.68 billion to return fraud this holiday season, up from $2.74 billion last year. Return fraud will cost retailers an estimated $13.95 billion during the 2010 calendar year, up from $9.59 billion in 2009. When asked if their company has ever changed its return policy to specifically address return fraud, nearly two-thirds (65%) said it had. &#8220;Retailers are still struggling to find the appropriate balance between providing stellar customer service for their...

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Four Ohio State Buildings Closed After Bomb Threat

Four buildings on The Ohio State University campus were evacuated today after the university received an anonymous message that explosives were placed in the buildings. The buildings are the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library, the McPherson Chemical Lab, Smith Laboratory and Scott Laboratory. Classes in the three academic buildings involved were canceled, and all four buildings were closed until at least 5 p.m. or until the investigation is complete, according to Vernon Baisden, the university s director of public safety. The university was notified of the threat at 8:19 a.m. and activated its Buckeye Alert System at 8:41 a.m., according to a message posted on the Ohio State website. Local, state and federal authorities were assisting in the investigation, Baisden said, but...

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Report Details Typical Fraudster Profile in an Organization

A fraud suspect might not be easy to pick out of a crowd -- or from a rap sheet. The average fraud perpetrator has no prior fraud charges or convictions, according to new research by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), a provider of anti-fraud training and education. The offender is commonly between the age of 31-45, and somewhat more likely to be male than female. More insights gleaned from the study help fill out the profile, however. Behavioral red flags, tenure at an organization, position and educational background are all criteria examined in the ACFE s 2010 <em>Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud &amp; Abuse</em>. The report is drawn from a survey of Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs) who investigated fraud cases between January 2008 and...

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Social Security Judges Facing Violent Threats

Judges who hear Social Security disability cases are facing a growing number of violent threats from claimants angry over being denied benefits or frustrated at lengthy delays in processing claims, says an <em>AP</em> report. There were at least 80 threats to kill or harm administrative law judges or staff over the past year â€" an 18 percent increase over the previous reporting period, according to data collected by the agency. The data was released to the Association of Administrative Law Judges and made available to the <em>AP</em>. One claimant in Albuquerque, N.M., called his congressman s office to say he was going to "take his guns and shoot employees" in the Social Security hearing office. In Eugene, Ore., a man who was denied benefits said he is...

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