Retail theft legislation introduced in Congress

Earlier this month, Rep. Brad Ellsworth of Indiana and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio introduced a bill in the House that would make organized retail crime a federal offense.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, organized theft costs the retail industry between $30 billion and $37 billion each year.

Joe LaRocca, vice president of loss prevention for the National Retail Federation said the Organized Retail Crime Act of 2008 would make it more difficult for criminals to hide behind state laws and the Internet.

"The rampant growth of organized retail crime is outpacing state and local authorities’ ability to combat it. Criminals increasingly sell stolen goods online and transport stolen merchandise across state lines to avoid tougher criminal penalties," LaRocca said. "State and local law enforcement cannot always chase criminals across state lines and onto the Internet—and criminals know it."

The act defines organized retail crime as fraudulently obtaining "retail merchandise in quantities that would not normally be purchased for personal use or consumption for the purpose of reselling or otherwise reentering such retail merchandise in commerce."

Those found guilty of engaging in organized retail crime would be subject to existing fines and prison sentences, however, the proposed legislation would require the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review its guidelines and make changes as it deems necessary.

"I think that (the legislation) will make people take shoplifting more seriously. Right now there’s a public perception that shoplifting, while its not a good thing to do, its maybe something that kids do or punks do and it’s not something that’s really worthy of concern," said Liz Martinez, a state investigator and author of the book "The Retailers Guide to Crime and Loss Prevention." "People just don’t get that a lot of these organized gangs are funneling their profits into terrorist activities, it’s not in the public consciousness that shoplifting is quite dangerous."

Though similar to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, The Organized Retail Crime Act has several key differences, according to Curtis Baillie, president of Security Consulting Strategies.