Lawmakers unite to tackle surge in organized retail crime nationwide
This holiday season, a bipartisan group of lawmakers isn’t worried about Santa coming down the chimney. Instead, they’re worried about thieves running in through the front door.
Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Maryland) joined "Good Day DC" Friday to talk about his support of what’s called the Combatting Organized Retail Crime Act.
Introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, the legislation is aimed at cracking down on groups of criminals who have increasingly orchestrated smash-and-grab robberies at different types of stores all over the country, with footage of the crimes frequently going viral.
The National Retail Federation found that retail crime has accounted for billions of dollars in losses.
"Sometimes it puts shoppers at risk; sometimes it puts employees at risk," explained Ivey, who added that the legislation would make it easier to prosecute these types of crimes, in part by increasing cooperation between federal, state, and local law enforcement.
Baltimore area jewelry store ransacked by smash-and-grab thieves
A Baltimore County jewelry store was badly damaged after smash-and-grab thieves drove a vehicle through the storefront and ransacked the business.
"We see it’s a growing problem, we decided to step it up and increase the resources to help our state and local officials prosecute these cases," Ivey said, adding that he hopes the bill becomes law soon.