March 14

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Retail Alliance Guides Landmark ORC Legislation Through Virginia General Assembly

March 14, 2004

Norfolk, VA - On the heels of its past success in fighting Organized Retail Crime (ORC), Retail Alliance was instrumental in the Virginia General Assembly’s passage this year of landmark legislation aimed at reducing trafficking of stolen goods through flea markets. Also, as part of its ongoing effort to fight ORC, the regional association successfully lobbied against an increase in the larceny threshold.

The flea market bill, HB283, sponsored by Delegate John Cosgrove of Chesapeake, unanimously passed both the House of Delegates and the Senate. The bill strengthens the ability of law enforcement to deal with stolen goods being resold in flea markets by imposing a penalty for failure of an itinerant merchant to comply with existing recordkeeping laws on the origin of new goods. Violators will be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor, subject to a $250 fine.

“The bill was brought to me by the Hampton Roads Law Enforcement Workshop set up by Delegate Thelma Drake (Norfolk). The idea of bringing teeth to the code made sense,” Delegate Cosgrove explained. “The fact that it was supported by law enforcement played a big part in its acceptance by both the House and the Senate.”

Chesapeake Police Detective Bob Hummel, who serves on the Retail Alliance Loss Prevention Task Force, the Law Enforcement Workshop and several other regional and state crime groups, identified the need for this legislation.

“We worked closely with Delegate Cosgrove and Detective Hummel to draft appropriate language for the bill, spearhead its passage through committees and lobby for full passage. Retail Alliance’s achievement in passing landmark Organized Retail Crime legislation last year certainly helped the bill achieve a unanimous vote in both the House and Senate,” said Margaret Ballard, Vice President, Public Affairs, for the regional association. “Retailers in Virginia have tried for 15 years to pass an itinerant merchant regulatory bill with criminal penalties. Finally, we have success.”

Hummel heads Chesapeake’s pawn shot unit and also serves on the FBI cyber crimes work group. He explained that he and other police officers are aware of cases where shoplifters have stolen items such as infant formula, over-the-counter medications and toner cartridges. Rather than sell these stolen goods to pawn shops, which are under stricter reporting regulations, the thieves go to flea markets where record-keeping requirements are less stringent, and up until now, have not been enforceable.

A recent report, “Organized Retail Crime: Describing a Major Problem,” authored by Read Hayes, PhD, CPP, of the Loss Prevention Research Council at the University of Florida, provides an inside look at the extent of ORC across the nation and the role that flea markets play.

“With between 3000 and 5000 locations, flea markets provide widespread opportunities to sell illicit items alongside licit products across North America. According to offender informants, flea markets play a particularly important role in selling stolen goods,” the report states.

“Anecdotally, I would say that Virginia is way ahead of other states in addressing Organized Retail Crime,” said John-Garrett Kemper, a legal consultant to Retail Alliance. “This bill provides a significant financial disincentive that will help law enforcement in flushing out the non-legitimate merchants from the legitimate.”

The flea market bill now goes to Governor Warner for his approval and signature.

Another measure against ORC was the defeat of a bill that would have increased the larceny threshold from $200 to $500. Although a similar bill was introduced and defeated in the 2003 General Assembly session, it was reintroduced this year. Retail Alliance joined forces with the Virginia Retail Merchants Association and the Retail Merchants Association of Greater Richmond to successfully fight this increase. The bill was defeated at the committee level.

These legislative victories mark the third consecutive year that Retail Alliance has fought ORC at the state level. In the 2003 General Assembly session, the association successfully championed legislation that significantly increased penalties for professional shoplifters. The legislation added new crimes and stiffer penalties for organized retail theft in the areas of multiple person theft, theft with intent to distribute, sale of stolen property and use of detection shielding devices. In 2002, Retail Alliance was instrumental in passage of legislation that prohibited itinerant merchants from selling infant formula and over-the-counter medications, which may have been stolen from retail outlets.

Founded in Norfolk in 1903, Retail Alliance is a retail association and a sales agent for Equifax, providing businesses credit-related products and reporting, recovery services and mortgage credit reports. Retail Alliance serves its association partners with benefits that include retail lobbying, professional development, training, and discounted group buying. Over 2,000 Virginia and North Carolina businesses are partners or customers of Retail Alliance.

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