Retail thefts in the United States are growing alarmingly to the extent that major US retailers are locking up all kinds of products, even low-cost ones like toothpaste and soap.
The National Retail Federation (NRF), a group that brings together hundreds of companies such as Walmart, Walgreens, Target, and others, has called on the US Congress to reform the laws so that authorities can deal with the problem.
In a letter sent last June to the House Judiciary Committee and Subcommittee on Crime and Government Oversight, the NRF explained that these are not isolated thefts for personal gain or committed by people in need, or by drug addicts who carry out the thefts to maintain their addiction, but from well-established criminal organizations that make multimillion-dollar profits.
“ORC [organized retail crime] typically involves multiple events and can occur in multiple stores and jurisdictions. The theft of one or a few items, for personal use is very different from organized retail crime,” the NFR said in its letter to the House of Representatives.
According to the Federation’s most recent survey, losses to retailers due to theft, including those by criminal organizations, reached $94.5 billion in 2021, compared to $90.8 billion in 2020.
The survey found that in 2021, there was an average 26.5% increase in criminal organization incidents compared to the previous year.
criminal enterprise
“Organized retail crime typically involves large-scale theft of merchandise from stores, often involving sophisticated techniques such as organized theft, fraudulent returns, and cargo hijacking. and the use of counterfeit or stolen products, as well as the use of counterfeit or stolen credit cards.” According to the NRF,
“Stolen goods are resold through various channels, including online marketplaces, e-commerce, and other websites; barter markets; flea markets; thrift stores; pawn shops; new to the legitimate supply chain; and even in legal retail establishments,” the NRF said.
“Sophisticated criminals have developed techniques to change the UPC bar codes on merchandise so that they sound differently at the checkout, known as ticket switching,” the NRF added.
In many cases, organized retail crime groups attack multiple stores on a single day, moving from state to state and stealing and reselling merchandise.
