Organized retail crime in New Jersey affects everyone.

Throughout our state, products such as baby formula, over-the-counter medication, energy drinks, expensive cuts of meat, seafood and other high-demand items are ripped off the shelves and resold. Consumers are put at risk because the safety of those products can no longer be guaranteed when expiration dates are altered, or food items are stored without proper refrigeration.

Organized retail theft also endangers retail workers and customers. Retailers are forced to take unprecedented security measures and prices increase. The impact is so pervasive that a 2023 National Retail Security Survey found that retailers faced an estimated loss of $112.1 billion nationwide. New Jersey is deprived of an estimated $200 million in sales taxes that could support essential programs to benefit New Jerseyans.

In response to this, the New Jersey Food Council has led the fight against organized retail theft by working with lawmakers on a bill that will protect consumers and retail workers, ensure collaboration between retailers and state prosecutors, and hold leaders of organized retail theft accountable for their crimes.

Authored by John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester) and Holly Schepisi (R-Bergen) and Assemblymen Joe Danielsen (D-Somerset) and Alex Sauickie (R-Monmouth), our legislation targets professional theft rings that methodically move from community to community and across state lines, stealing high-demand products and selling them on the gray market. The legislation also targets gift card fraud, which results in the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars across the U.S.

If enacted, prosecutors also would be able to demand harsher punishment for persistent offenders, while prosecutors could dive back a year in determining the total amount of theft and upgrade the offense. Ringleaders of organized retail theft also would face first-degree offenses and increased penalties for tax evasion.

This omnibus bill would also include these effective initiatives:

• It establishes a state-run unit or office, organized by the Attorney General, to investigate and prosecute organized retail theft cases and assist county prosecutors. The bill earmarks $1 million for staffing this special unit.
• It institutes new tamper-proof gift card packaging and requires third-party gift card resellers to track who is selling and buying the cards.
• It also creates the offense of fostering the sale of stolen property, while clarifying that the existing theft statutes also apply to online sales of stolen goods. The legislation also would protect store employees, creating the specific crime of aggravated assault of a retail worker.

• New Jersey is not alone in this campaign; neighboring states have already taken critical steps to curb organized retail crime, as part of a nationwide battle.

New Jersey is not alone in this campaign; neighboring states have already taken critical steps to curb organized retail crime, as part of a nationwide battle.

Pennsylvania recently created a new first-degree felony offense for major rings and regional units in the Attorney General’s Office. Philadelphia lowered the threshold for theft of stolen goods and established real time crime measures with law enforcement.

New York increased criminal penalties for anyone who assaults a retail worker. The state also invested $40.2 million in the State Police for resources to be used by prosecutors and local law enforcement, and offered tax credits to help small businesses add security measures.

In Maryland, a new law enacted requires that gift cards sold in stores be encased in secure packaging so thieves can no longer steal their numbers.

California has also invested millions of dollars to fund prosecutors, law enforcement and investigators to address organized retail crime. Meanwhile, Illinois allocated $5 million to fund an Organized Retail Crime Task Force and directed law enforcement and prosecutors to work directly with retailers to build cases.

Now it’s New Jersey’s turn to combat organized retail theft, by enacting legislation that directly targets the crime syndicates that threaten our consumers.

We urge all our lawmakers to join in this fight to protect business owners, store employees and shoppers who depend on affordable, quality products that can be purchased safely and confidently.