{"id":2332400,"date":"2024-08-28T09:24:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T13:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/organized-retail-crime-costs-illinois-retailers-consumers-taxpayers-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-08-28T09:26:07","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T13:26:07","slug":"organized-retail-crime-costs-illinois-retailers-consumers-taxpayers-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/organized-retail-crime-costs-illinois-retailers-consumers-taxpayers-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Organized retail crime costs Illinois retailers, consumers, taxpayers &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Forganized-retail-crime-costs-illinois-retailers-consumers-taxpayers-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2332400&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the significant impact of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mexican-drug-cartels-are-behind-the-surge-in-retail-thefts\/\" title=\"Mexican cartels drive retail theft surge.\">organized retail\u200b crime<\/a> on \u2064Illinois retailers, consumers, and taxpayers, as highlighted by\u2062 Illinois Attorney General Kwame \u2063Raoul. He explains that organized retail crime encompasses various forms of theft, not limited to smash-and-grab incidents, but also including rail theft and targeted\u2063 thefts \u2063from warehouses and large retail stores. This \u200dissue is prevalent \u2064throughout Illinois, not just in \u200burban \u2062areas. <\/p>\n<p>Raoul mentioned the establishment of the Illinois Organized Retail Crime Task Force in 2021, which was prompted by insights \u2062from a Home Depot\u2063 representative about the extent of organized theft. For the fiscal\u2063 year 2025, Illinois taxpayers are allocating $5 million towards this \u200btask force. <\/p>\n<p>In 2022, retail thefts\u200d in Illinois resulted in an\u2063 estimated \u200dloss of \u200c$185 million in tax revenue. Nationwide, \u200da survey by Capital One Shopping indicated that over 70% of retailers experienced an increase in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/walmart-to-close-multiple-stores-after-they-fail-to-meet-financial-expectations\/\" title=\"Walmart to Close Multiple Stores After They Fail to Meet Financial Expectations\">organized retail crime incidents<\/a> over the past five years, underscoring \u200ca growing concern in the retail industry.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Organized retail crime costs Illinois retailers, consumers, taxpayers<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1739147\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>(The Center Square) &ndash; Illinois retailers, consumers and taxpayers are all paying a price for organized retail crime.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul told The Center Square that organized retail crime involves much more than just smash-and-grab incidents.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s rail theft. It&rsquo;s theft from warehouses, theft from big box stores, the Home Depots, the Walmarts and so forth. It&rsquo;s not just in urban areas. It&rsquo;s throughout the state,&rdquo; Raoul said.<\/p>\n<p>Raoul said his office has worked with local, state and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-confirms-laundrie-notebook-admits-guilt-will-close-gabby-petito-investigation\/\" title=\"FBI Confirms Laundrie Notebook Admits Guilt, Will Close Gabby Petito Investigation\">federal law enforcement partners<\/a> on this issue.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s undeniably a problem. It manifests itself in different ways. I think there was a crew hitting gas-station convenience stores, again the big box stores. Then you have urban and suburban-area places,&rdquo; Raoul said.<\/p>\n<p>Raoul added that he established the Illinois Organized Retail Crime Task Force in 2021, after a government affairs person from Home Depot tipped him off to the organized crime element of retail theft.<\/p>\n<p>Illinois taxpayers are spending $5 million on the task force in fiscal year 2025.<\/p>\n<p>According to Capital One Shopping, retail thefts cost Illinois an estimated $185 million in tax revenue in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Capital One Shopping also found that 70.7% of retailers nationwide reported an increase in organized retail crime incidents over five years.<\/p>\n<p>Retail Industry Leaders Association Vice President of Asset Protection Khris Hamlin told The Center Square that organized theft is definitely a growing problem.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We can talk numbers up and down and all around all day long, but the fact of it is that retailers are seeing an uptick in this activity,&rdquo; Hamlin said.<\/p>\n<p>Hamlin said the Retail Industry Leaders Association has partnered with the National District Attorneys Association and the International Association of Chiefs of Police to address the issue.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When you bring all these collaborative parties together, that&rsquo;s when you start the effort of slowing down the activity. Most importantly, how do you end or slow down recidivism,&rdquo; Hamlin said.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hamlin explained that it&rsquo;s fairly impossible to put a number on the cost of organized retail theft.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The one thing I can say is when you look at these events across the nation, you look at the loss-prevention professional that lost his life in Philadelphia after an organized group of individuals came in and stole. You look at retail employees that lose their lives when individuals come in and knock them over in the effort of fleeing or eluding apprehension. Those are the events that are real to us,&rdquo; Hamlin said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1739147\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1739147\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Organized retail crime is impacting retailers, consumers, and taxpayers in Illinois (The Center Square) \u2013 The financial burden of organized retail crime is being felt by retailers, consumers, and taxpayers across Illinois. Attorney General Kwame Raoul explained to The Center Square that this issue encompasses more than just smash-and-grab thefts. \u201cIt includes rail theft, warehouse thefts, and theft from large stores like Home Depot and Walmart. This problem isn&#8217;t limited to urban areas; it affects the entire state,\u201d Raoul stated. He noted that his office has collaborated with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to tackle this issue. \u201cIt&#8217;s a significant problem that presents itself in various forms,\u201d he added. Raoul mentioned incidents involving crews targeting gas station convenience stores as well as larger retail establishments in both urban and suburban regions. In response to the growing concern over organized retail crime\u2014highlighted by a tip from a Home Depot government affairs representative\u2014Raoul established the Illinois Organized Retail Crime Task Force in 2021. For fiscal year 2025, Illinois taxpayers are investing $5 million into this task force. According to Capital One Shopping&#8217;s estimates for 2022, retail theft resulted in approximately $185 million lost in tax revenue for Illinois. Additionally, their research indicated that over 70% of retailers nationwide have reported an increase in organized retail crime incidents over the past five years. Khris Hamlin, Vice President of Asset Protection at the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), confirmed to The Center Square that organized theft is indeed on the rise: \u201cWe can discuss statistics endlessly; however, retailers are experiencing a noticeable increase in these activities.\u201d Hamlin also mentioned RILA&#8217;s collaboration with organizations such as the National District Attorneys Association and the International Association of Chiefs of Police to combat this issue effectively: \u201cBringing together these collaborative entities is crucial for reducing these activities and addressing recidivism.\u201d He further emphasized that quantifying the cost of organized retail theft is challenging but highlighted its real-life consequences: \u201cWhen we consider events across the country\u2014like when a loss-prevention professional tragically lost his life during an incident involving an organized group or when store employees face danger while trying to prevent theft\u2014it underscores how serious this situation truly is,\u201d Hamlin remarked<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2332401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/iStock-157308559-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[6413,39507,39508],"class_list":["post-2332400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-illinois","tag-organized-retail-crime","tag-retail-costs"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/iStock-157308559-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2332400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2332400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2332400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2332401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2332400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2332400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2332400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}