California Attorney General Rob Bonta Launches New Plan for Retail Crime

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has announced a new plan to combat shoplifting in retail stores. 

This comes as a response to an increase in organized retail crime with stores losing an estimated $700,000 per $1 billion in sales. 

The plan is an agreement between the Justice Department and many retailers to enforce organized shoplifting in California. 

What are the Details? 

The partnership between the Justice Department and retailers will center around organized retail crime, which is large-scale theft from stores with the intent to make a financial gain. 

Retailers include brick-and-mortar stores and online marketplaces. 

For brick-and-mortar stores, stakeholders have committed to the following: 

• A commitment to filing a police report for all incidents that include specific information such as location, suspect information, stolen items, SKU numbers, and price 
• Retaining video evidence of incidents to help with the prosecution and keep an internal roster of individuals that have committed a retail crime 
• Ensuring loss prevention employees are trained in reporting and gathering evidence on these crimes 
• Maintain a record of such crimes 
• Collaborate and communicate with other retailers to establish connections between incidents and detect patterns 
• Collaborate with law enforcement with training for identifying, investigating, and resolving organized retail crime cases 

For online marketplaces, stakeholders have committed to the following: 

• Retain staff responsible for addressing reports from retailers and law enforcement 
• Create a webpage with an online portal or point of contact dedicated to responding to law enforcement requests for warrants and subpoenas 
• Maintain internal written policies, systems, and staff to prevent and detect organized retail crime 
• Maintain internal written policies that guide collaboration between retailers and other marketplaces through a webpage with a point of contact
• Stay updated on organized retail crime trends 

To read the full agreement between the Justice Department and retailers, click here. 

Thus far, major retailers such as Target, Amazon, and Albertsons have ensured their partnership. 

Additionally, the Justice Department has launched a webpage where the public can report tips and information on crimes they have witnessed. 

For the latest news in the Greater Los Angeles area, keep up with BOMA on the Frontline.