Public Policy And Issues
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NRF welcomes organized-retail-crime legislation
'Retailers can't afford losses from theft during recession'
March 11, 2009
Washington--The National Retail Federation (NRF) recently welcomed legislation intended to help law-enforcement officials fight the $30 billion-a-year problem of organized retail crime.
The NRF said the legislation comes at a time when the nation's economic crisis has more shoppers turning to "bargain" merchandise that they might not realize is stolen or tainted.
"Organized retail crime is a rapidly growing problem, especially as challenging economic times increase the market for stolen merchandise," NRF Vice President for Loss Prevention Joseph LaRocca said in a media release. "Retailers already struggling to survive are seeing their inventory disappear in increasing amounts, and the goods end up at flea markets or on the Internet at prices that put temptation into the path of cash-strapped consumers trying to stretch every dollar. Losses from these crimes ultimately drive up the price of legitimate merchandise at a time when consumers can least afford it, and do serious damage to our nation's already weakened economy."
LaRocca added that the legislation being introduced shows that Congress is ready to stop treating the perpetrators of organized retail crime like petty shoplifters and recognize them for the professional criminals they really are.
Three major bills on organized retail crime were introduced: the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2009, sponsored by Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill.; the Organized Retail Crime Act of 2009, sponsored by Representative Brad Ellsworth, D-Ind.; and the E-Fencing Enforcement Act of 2009, sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Scott, D-Va. The measures are similar to legislation first introduced last summer.
All three bills would address organized retail crime, in which groups of professional thieves steal merchandise from stores on a large scale and resell the goods in venues ranging from flea markets to the Internet. Organized-retail--crime rings typically target consumer items that are in high demand but easy to steal such as infant formula, razor blades, cosmetics and gift cards, along with more expensive items such as DVDs, CDs, video games, electronics or designer clothing.
In addition to the financial loss, organized retail crime can present a public health hazard because items such as infant formula or over-the-counter medications might be improperly stored or mislabeled.
While the bills offer different approaches to combating organized retail crime, taken together they would define organized retail crime as a federal crime for the first time; require review and necessary amendments of federal sentencing guidelines for criminals convicted of organized retail crime; require operators of online auction sites to cooperate with retailers and law enforcement officials in their investigations of organized retail crime; and, in some cases, hold auction sites responsible for the sale of stolen merchandise that could have been prevented.
LaRocca said online "e-fencing" has become thieves' preferred method for disposing of stolen retail merchandise because they can receive as much as 70 percent of its retail value, compared with 30 percent on a street corner or at a pawn shop. The anonymity of the Internet also reduces the chances of apprehension.
LaRocca said measures specific to the Internet are necessary because online auction operators don't do enough to cooperate with retailers to stop organized retail crime, typically working with police only after an incident is reported and not taking sufficient proactive steps to keep stolen merchandise off of their sites.
According to the FBI and retail loss-prevention experts, retailers lose as much as $30 billion to organized retail crime each year, and an NRF survey found a record 85 percent of retailers were victims of organized retail crime in the past year.
The NRF is the largest retail trade association in the world, with members including department, discount, drug, grocery, independent and specialty stores, catalog merchants, chain restaurants and e-tailers, as well as the industry's key trading partners of retail goods and services.
For more information about the NRF, visit its Web site, NRF.com.
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Public Policy And Issues
Washington--The National Retail Federation (NRF) is welcoming passage of legislation that will allow retailers and other businesses to lengthen the period during which they can "carry back" current losses to claim a tax refund from previous years when they made a profit. Read More
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