As incidents of organized retail crime (ORC) continue to grow, several states are increasing funding to help local law enforcement investigate and prosecute cases.
Last month, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) announced the state’s largest investment of $267 million in competitive grants to help law enforcement agencies and district attorneys combat retail theft. The Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) has already awarded local police departments across the state with funding to staff retail theft units, investigate ORC cases, and create new task forces with local businesses and community leaders. Thirteen district attorney offices in the state are also expected to receive up to $2.05 million each to prosecute organized retail theft.
The timing of the funding is a welcome sign to many areas in the state hit hard by smash and grab robberies. Several major police departments in the Los Angeles area, for example, are expected to receive new funding as Mayor Karen Bass’ newly-created regional ORC task force is bringing the areas’ multiple police departments together to coordinate efforts.
While California has received much of the attention related to ORC activity, retailers nationwide continue to struggle with retail theft. The National Retail Federation released a study last month that found retail theft was responsible for $112.1 billion in profit losses in 2022. State policymakers, concerned with the economic impact of store closures, are seeking new solutions to crack down on criminal groups.
The Attorneys General in Michigan and Washington have been successful in directing funding to create ORC units within their state police departments. In January, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel created the nation’s first ORC unit within its state police force to solely focus on retail criminal organizations. Three months later, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson followed Michigan’s lead and created its own ten-person ORC unit to coordinate and investigate multi-jurisdictional retail crime across the state. The idea to create an ORC unit within Washington’s state police force came as a direct recommendation from the state’s ORC Task Force.
To date, thirteen states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington — have established an ORC Task Force within their Attorney General offices to investigate and prosecute suspects involved in organized retail crimes. These task forces facilitate coordination among law enforcement, prosecutors, and businesses to bring down retail crime networks operating across jurisdictions.
For more information contact gpp@icsc.com.
