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TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - It used to be that opening a business was risky, but you generally knew the variables and the certainties and you would be able to create a business plan and work it to success.

But recently, a new wildcard of business conditions has entered the equation and it is not a good sign for our country. That growing trend is a problem with inventory shrink. Inventory shrink is the retail industry term for theft and damaged inventory. And it is impacting retail businesses across the land. Dick’s Sporting Goods recently pointed to shrink as the main reason for poor quarterly performance even though sales were up almost 4 percent.

The loss of product caused profit to decline 23 percent. We have seen reports of major retailers in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York facing groups of smash and grab attacks where loads of merchandise are stolen in an organized criminal action. This isn’t items like food and baby formula, it is handbags, jewelry, electronics and in Dick’s case, sporting goods.

So, this is a symptom of a disturbing problem that can only be attributed to the disintegration of community standards. Sadly, some criminals know that some major cities won’t prosecute for theft and thus criminal activity is not deterred. Many of the cities that these attacks have happened in have revised their enforcement policies and it is obvious it is not working.

As a country, we must prosecute these offenders to the fullest extent of the law and send a message that this behavior will not go unpunished any longer.