Retail Association Highlights The Increase Of Organized Retail Crime

Retail Theft Often Preplanned By Complex Criminal Networks, New Report Asserts – Daily Wire, 2023/04/13

Criminal operations which are expanding in complexity often enable retail theft in the United States, according to a report released on Thursday by the National Retail Federation.

Organized retail crime, defined by the trade association as theft which occurs through high-level coordination for the goal of reselling stolen items, has increasingly plagued retailers as crime rates increase across the nation. The report asserts that criminal networks are shifting from the resale of goods on third-party online sellers and leaning more upon peer-to-peer platforms.

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Rather than seeking to acquire luxury goods, crime networks often coordinate their efforts to steal consumer goods which present ease of theft, monetary value, and ease of resale.

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The report said crime networks have become increasingly “violent” and “brazen” in their tactics over the past two years, using methods such as smash-and-grab, weapons, flash mob tactics, or threats of violence against store employees or customers. Viral videos featuring the tactics have circulated over the past few years as crime rates soar in many cities.

Demand for goods stolen via organized retail crime could be increasingly buoyed by a subculture of youth which maintain a “vague anti-capitalist ideology” and increasingly consider theft acceptable, according to the report.

Law and order is now coming to the surface as part of economic health. In the article, it was mentioned that WalMart is closing 4 stores in Chicago. That could include job loss and loss of tax revenue for local communities.

The report is here.

Organized Retail Crime – National Retail Foundation, 2023/04