Organized retail crime (ORC)—when teams or massive networks work collectively to steal massive portions of merchandise—has develop into a big downside in the US. U.S. retailers had $68.9 billion price of products stolen in 2019, with organized retail crime a big contributor to those losses. To deal with this downside, the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act would make it simpler for federal prosecutors to cost somebody with partaking in organized retail crime based mostly on the overall worth of the products they’ve stolen. Nevertheless, this transformation fails to seize the variations between ORC and shoplifting and creates a system that penalizes high-value shoplifting as harshly as ORC. Congress ought to amend the invoice to underscore the variations between shoplifting and ORC whereas empowering legislation enforcement to search out and goal stolen items on on-line resale platforms.
ORC stands other than newbie theft attributable to three key traits. First, whereas informal shoplifters or thieves steal objects for private use, ORC focuses on stealing items with the specific function of reselling them for revenue. Second, ORC differs from newbie theft as a result of it includes a structured division of labor and specialization amongst these concerned, managing duties resembling stock management, advertising and marketing, gross sales, fee processing, and cash laundering to deal with the complexity of their operations. Final, ORC actions usually contain meticulous planning, deliberate focusing on, and intensive coordination amongst individuals. Beginner shoplifters interact in spontaneous, opportunistic crimes with little or no preplanning.
ORC teams largely goal normal client items, together with attire, cosmetics, housewares, cleansing and laundry merchandise, and toddler merchandise. These merchandise are usually stolen throughout “smash-and-grab” assaults, throughout which massive teams of perpetrators assault a retailer instantly and steal massive portions of merchandise. The common worth of stolen merchandise usually ranges between $2,000 and $3,000, whereas luxurious and high-value items can lead to losses of greater than $7,500. Whereas electronics are probably the most continuously focused objects for teams stealing and focusing on merchandise whereas in transit, luxurious and high-value items symbolize a really small portion of ORC.
ORC fencing operations use the Web to resell stolen items. Nevertheless, ORC operations that resell on-line are shifting fencing operations away from third-party on-line marketplaces—like Amazon Market and eBay—the place the net platform performs an even bigger position as an middleman between consumers and sellers and towards peer-to-peer venues—like Fb and Craigslist—the place the platform is way much less concerned. Evaluation of almost 9,000 listings throughout Fb Market and Craigslist discovered that round 25 p.c of listings for generally stolen items include key phrases or phrases related to ORC, resembling “out there in bulk” and “new with tags,” that point out {that a} new product is being resold.
This shift is occurring as a result of main third-party marketplaces have carried out insurance policies to gather and confirm fundamental identification from sellers, together with banking info, which will increase the danger for criminals to make use of these platforms. Peer-to-peer venues, which regularly function as on-line categorised commercials and don’t course of monetary transactions, have fewer limitations to entry and barely try to gather or confirm vendor info. The massive variety of reputable sellers on these marketplaces additionally offers extra anonymity.
A bipartisan group of members in each chambers of Congress have launched the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2023. The invoice’s acknowledged function is to fight organized crime involving the unlawful acquisition of retail items for the aim of “promoting these illegally obtained items by bodily and on-line retail marketplaces.” The laws would set up an Organized Retail Crime Coordination Heart to align counter-ORC actions nationally and internationally. The Coordination Heart would develop national-level ORC intelligence, facilitate info sharing and cross-agency investigations, and function a middle of experience for coaching and technical help. The Coordination Heart might play a worthwhile position as a result of addressing ORC requires cooperation from retailers, legislation enforcement companies, and on-line platforms.
Whereas the invoice represents a powerful first step, it makes use of a definition of ORC that would misdirect restricted legislation enforcement sources away from ORC organizations and in the direction of conventional shoplifters. The invoice makes use of $5,000 of stolen items in 12 months as a benchmark to prosecute shoplifting as ORC. This might lead to shoplifting of high-priced items or frequent shoplifting being prosecuted as organized crime. Nevertheless, most particular person incidents of ORC don’t attain this threshold, that means that even when legislation enforcement catches perpetrators within the act, they might be unable to prosecute the theft as ORC.
To higher goal ORC, Congress ought to amend the invoice, directing the ORC Coordination Heart to work alongside leaders within the retail trade, logistics and delivery industries, and legislation enforcement companies to discover a extra productive benchmark that instantly pertains to organized crime, resembling coordination between perpetrators, whole variety of perpetrators concerned in a single incident, or theft with the intent to resell.
The invoice additionally fails to account for the presence of stolen items on on-line peer-to-peer marketplaces the place customers promote instantly to one another. Analysis signifies that the majority items stolen from ORC find yourself on these marketplaces. Congress ought to amend the language of the invoice to incorporate peer-to-peer marketplaces alongside e-commerce and bodily markets as a location the place stolen items are bought and may direct the Coordination Heart to check the state of organized retail crime and stolen items on on-line peer-to-peer marketplaces.
Organized retail crime continues to be an issue all through the US and has a big affect on customers, retailers, and workers. It’s crucial to handle the issue, however Congress ought to make sure that steps taken to handle the issue adequately handle the problem at hand.
