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2012 Archives
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ORC couple with duct tape-lined shopping bag busted stealing
$6,000 in jeans from True Religion at Wrentham Village
Premium Outlets in RI.
Howard Watson, 54, and Teandra Rose, 50, were arrested on
Interstate 495 by local and state police after they were
allegedly caught in the act of stealing jeans from True
Religion, a clothing store in the outlet mall.
(Source
thesunchronicle.com)
Omaha, Nebraska serial shoplifter with nine shoplifting
busts is busted again with thousands of dollars of stolen
merchandise in his vehicle.
Hitting the Hy-Vee store they found dozens of
batteries-razors-and assorted stolen merchandise in his car
which he was probably selling.
(Source
wowt.com)
Excerpts from
GAO-11-675: Efforts to Combat Organized Retail
Crime
The U.S. Government Accountability Office ORC report
June 2011
Law Enforcement Agencies
Collaborate with Retailers to Investigate ORC, and
Federal Agencies Are Taking Steps to Improve ORC
Case Tracking
State and Local Efforts: Continued
from Friday - Although retail crime is primarily
prosecuted under state criminal laws, the monetary
thresholds required for theft to be considered a
felony vary from state to state. For example, in
Illinois the felony threshold is $30010 and in
Wisconsin it is $2,500. Retail and law enforcement
officials we interviewed noted that professional
shoplifters involved in ORC are typically aware of
these thresholds and often steal at levels below
these amounts to reduce the risk of felony
prosecution. While two retail stakeholders we spoke
with noted that reducing the felony thresholds may
provide a limited deterrent to ORC, they also
recognized that law enforcement already faces
resource constraints with existing retail theft
cases. In fact, some states have increased the
thresholds in recent years, potentially to focus
available resources on higher-priority cases. For
example, in Maryland, the state felony threshold has
increased twice since 2000, from $300 to the current
level of $1,000. In January 2011, California also
raised the threshold for grand theft in that state
from $400 to $950. However, officials in California
indicated that prosecutors often try to develop a
charge of “conspiracy” or use other criminal
statutes, such as those involving false pretenses,
in conjunction with major theft provisions to build
a stronger case. Similarly, officials we spoke with
in Maryland noted that multiple theft incidents may
potentially be linked together through the state’s
“scheme” statute if substantial evidence exists to
identify an ongoing course of conduct, and some
other state laws may allow for aggregation of thefts
to meet the threshold.
In recent years, many states have also developed
legislation that specifically targets ORC-related
offenses. Examples of provisions outlined in state
legislation include defining retail theft and ORC,
prohibiting certain high-theft items from being sold
at flea markets or similar venues, and establishing
felony offenses for multiple thefts occurring within
a specified time frame or for specific activities,
such as box stuffing or possessing items used for
overcoming security devices. Several retail and law
enforcement stakeholders noted that ORC statutes in
most states are relatively new and, according to
three law enforcement authorities we spoke with in
states that had ORC laws, there is not yet broad
awareness of these provisions by many detectives or
prosecutors. As a result, it is too soon to tell
what the impact of these statutes may be in terms of
providing an additional deterrent to ORC and
assisting investigators and prosecutors in building
successful cases.
(Source
gao.gov)
Tomorrow - Federal Efforts
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