IL Attorney General urges congressional action on organized retail theft
CHICAGO (WCIA) — The Illinois Attorney General is taking a stand against organized retail crime and he's urging action from Congress to combat this rising criminal trend.
Kwame Raoul is co-leading a bipartisan coalition of 38 attorneys general of U.S. states and territories to address the problem. On Tuesday, the coalition sent a letter to Congress asking that they pass legislation to help the states fight back.
In the letter, Raoul and the coalition explained that organized retail crime has contributed to financial losses of over $121 billion in the U.S. In addition, 76% of retail asset protection managers have reported their employees experiencing violence at the hands of shoplifters and thieves.
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Legislation was introduced during the 118th and most recently completed congressional term that would have provided state and federal resources necessary to bring organizations and individuals to justice, but the bill was never signed into law. Raoul and the coalition asked that the bill be reintroduced in the 119th and current U.S. Congress.
'I am urging Congress to reintroduce a bill to combat organized retail crime because the complex nature of these crimes frequently involves multiple jurisdictions at the local, state and federal levels. Organized retail crime can take many forms and is often a mechanism used to support other types of crime. It is imperative that Congress pass national legislation to streamline the sharing of resources and information between law enforcement agencies and states,' Raoul said in a statement. 'I created an Organized Retail Crime Task Force in Illinois to facilitate collaboration between local, state and federal law enforcement. Our bipartisan collaboration is calling for Congress to take action that will allow states to better collaborate and hold accountable the organizations and individuals perpetrating these crimes.'
Raoul and several other attorneys general have formed task forces and created prosecution units to combat organized retail theft. Raoul's Organized Retail Crime Task Force is the first statewide, public-private collaboration of its kind in the state. It was designed to foster cooperation among retailers, online marketplaces, law enforcement agencies and state's attorneys dedicated to targeting organized retail crime enterprises.
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In their letter, Raoul and the coalition said the legislation introduced in the 118th Congress would expand upon and synchronize state and federal efforts through the creation of a retail crime coordination center inside the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The center would facilitate the sharing of information necessary to combat the interstate nature of organized retail crime.
In addition to forming his task force, Raoul initiated changes to Illinois law that specifically defines organized retail crime. The law, passed in 2022, created stronger oversight of online marketplaces to curb the use of legitimate platforms to sell stolen goods, created a statewide intelligence platform to coordinate enforcement efforts and requires online marketplaces to verify the identity of high-volume sellers.
The law also enabled any state's attorney to prosecute the whole crime if any element of the crime happened in their jurisdiction and gave the Attorney General's office authority to use the statewide grand jury to prosecute organized retail crime.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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