Rachel: “Unfortunately, this isn’t really new. We have seen spikes in organized retail crime and retail theft for years. The pandemic also shown a bright light on what’s going on. Just recently the National Retail Federation came out with a report on the top 10 cities for retail theft and unfortunately Los Angeles is #1, San Francisco/Oakland is #2 and Sacramento #8 so we definitely have a problem here in the state.
We (CRA) are trying to be as proactive as possible. Governor Newsom signed legislation that we sponsored to tackle this issue. We were also able to secure funding in the state budget for the Organized Retail Task Force, but we are doing more. We are developing the Organized Retail Crime Association under the Cal Retailers’ umbrella. We are putting together subject matter experts to work with the legislature and local elected officials on how to combat this issue….
