Excerpt:

After announcing store closures, critics began debunking Target’s claims of out of control organized retail crime, parroted by mass media, and exposing the retailer’s deep investments in high-tech crime fighting, including its two world class crime labs built in 2003 “that even the FBI can’t match.”

When Popular Info’s report reached consumers, there was widespread condemnation for Target online. Some even suggested that the organized retail crime panic was cooked up inside corporate boardrooms.

Stakeholders in Minnesota chimed in, including State Rep. Aisha Gomez, chair of the Minnesota House Tax Committee.

“It’s much easier to fall into alarmist law and order rhetoric than admit things aren’t going well,” Gomez tweeted.

Industry insiders agree that overall loss “is largely in line with past years and is considered a normal and healthy level of shrink,” according to CNBC.