Amidst the escalating crisis of organized retail crime in the United States, a novel security measure involving a disorienting and blinding fog has gained traction as a potential solution. Developed by DensityUSA, this cutting-edge technology has already been adopted in various countries within the European Union and Australia, and it is now making its presence felt in the U.S., according to Mike Egel, the President of DensityUSA.
Retail establishments are grappling with staggering losses attributed to theft, with an estimated $86.6 billion reported in 2022. Projections indicate that this figure could swell to a daunting $115 billion by 2025, as per findings from Capital One Shopping Research.
“I think the COVID-19 pandemic tore the social and economic fabric of America. Pre-pandemic, crime was on the decline. But when the nation shut down and the economy stepped backwards, common sense went to an all-time low. And sadly, crime rose and continues to grow,” Egel told Fox Business.
To safeguard their inventory, businesses have resorted to concealing products behind cash registers or securing them within glass cases. However, these measures have not deterred orchestrated smash-and-grab robberies, wherein criminals meticulously plan to seize as many items as possible and make a swift exit before witnesses can react or law enforcement arrives.
Egel recounted an incident in the United Kingdom where a truck rammed into the front of a jewelry store, yet the deployed fog swiftly engulfed the entire 900-square-foot space in less than five seconds.
He explained, “Once it’s activated, the DensityUSA system creates a dense fog with near-zero visibility conditions in just seconds. The fog is designed to be dense and disorientating to deter an intruder from following through with their intentions.”
In the case of the U.K. jewelry store, the assailants left empty-handed, with Egel explaining, “Thieves can’t steal what they can’t see.”
The versatile system can be implemented in various retail settings, spanning from clothing stores and pharmacies to cannabis dispensaries, convenience stores, and gun shops.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
11 Responses
Great idea like the Moscow Theater siege on October 23rd, 2002, which was ended with Gas on October 26th, 2002.
They should be utilizing Zircon Gas to get these wicked thieves out of commission once & for all.
OMG. That video looks terrifying. If I were a customer who happened to be in the store at that moment, I would absolutely panic, thinking the store was on fire and about to blow up.
If the store were crowded, there would likely be a mass panic, with hysterical shoppers trampling each other in their desperate search for an exit.
The “bag” law in retail stores is a huge contributing factor to retail theft. People don’t realize it. It causes prices to go up and people buy less.
Has anyone ever done a study to find out, since waste has gone down because of recycling, how much slower is the climate warming? Is recycling really helping the climate?
I guess The Cloud is becoming now more pervasive.
Then the criminals sue for getting cancer from the fog win/win
Bogus! It had nothing to do with Covid. It all started with the BLM protests… from there they saw how much they were able to get away with and now it’s outright, broad daylight robberies with no fear from anyone… they’ve been brainwashed to think they deserve everything because of the BLM and slavery and are looking to cash in. Aren’t they passing a law in LA that every black person living there will get paid tens of thousands of dollars? They’re corrupt!
And then makas bechoiros?
Nonsense- this is rubbish- צוטשעפּעניש!!
They will soon invent anti-fog glasses…
@goldilocks: interesting point I’m also curious what the other shoppers experience is. But the article said this is in use in other parts of the world so I wonder how it’s handled there
That must be the UK
Bc those are actually air guns not real rifles
so now the thieves can take off their masks and hoodies since the cameras can no longer capture their faces?
they can just grab blindly at shelves- and no one can SEE the robbers to stop them