The state government needs to take action on retail crime, State Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, argued in a news release this week.
“While we’ve seen a spike in many areas of crime, retail theft and other retail crimes are especially a problem,” Schoesler said. “Retail crimes hurt not only stores and shops, but also consumers because these crimes force retailers to raise prices. The Legislature, the governor and the attorney general need to take action to greatly reduce retail crime in Washington.”
The value of items stolen from stores more than doubled in Washington state from 2019 to 2020 and the Washington Retail Association estimates organized crime groups stole $2.7 billion from retailers in 2021.
Washington also has the second highest per capita rate of retail theft of any state in the country after Pennsylvania. Last year, 23,323 cases of shoplifting were reported in Washington state in 2021. Seattle also ranked eighth among large cities for retail crime in 2021.
Schoesler says retailers have seen an increase of theft and fraud on their property as organized retail theft rings have become more “brazen, violent and sophisticated in targeting stores.” He believes these organized crime groups are putting customers and store employees in danger and are involved in other crimes such as human trafficking, money laundering and narcotics.
“Retail crimes, especially theft, have become so much worse in recent years that the Washington Retail Association just released a retail-crimes resource guide for its members,” Schoesler said. “To me, that says the state isn’t providing enough help for retailers and local and state law enforcement agencies don’t have enough officers to effectively combat retail theft.”
Schoesler sits on the Senate Labor, Commerce and Tribal Affairs Committee, which held a work session on retail crime last week. According to Schoesler, the work session is a sign organized retail crime has come on the Legislature’s radar, but added the issue still needs to be made a high priority for when the legislative session starts in January.
