Tag Archives: Skagit County Criminal Defense

Federal Judge Prohibits Seattle from Enforcing Its Anti-Graffiti Law

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Seattle court ruling halts enforcement of graffiti-related property crimes | KOMO

A U.S. district court has ruled by injunction that Seattle must temporarily cease enforcement of property crimes with regard to graffiti.

Judge Marsha Pechman of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington issued a preliminary injunction. It says the city’s ordinance that punishes graffiti “targets speech” and “poses a real and substantial threat of censorship.”

Seattle’s municipal code says a person is guilty of “property destruction,” a gross misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in jail, if “he or she… [w]rites, paints, or draws any inscription, figure, or mark of any type on any public or private building or other structure or any real or personal property owned by any other person.”

“On its face, the Ordinance sweeps so broadly that it criminalizes innocuous drawings (from a child’s drawing of a mermaid to pro-police messages written by the Seattle Police Foundation) that can hardly be said to constitute ‘visual blight’ and which would naturally wash away in the next rain storm.” ~Justice Pechman, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

The Seattle Police Department (SPD) released a statement to address the court’s ruling, stating that a lack of future enforcement is not a conscious decision by the government.

“Late yesterday afternoon, SPD received an order from a US District Court judge that enjoined, in full, enforcement of SMC 12A.080.020 – the City’s misdemeanor property destruction law. This means that until further order of the Court, SPD cannot take action on damage to property under this law. This is not a matter within SPD or City discretion; we are bound by the court order as it is written.” ~Seattle Police Department

Vandalism and graffiti have become a prominent issue in Seattle, and the city government is expected to request an expedited reconsideration of the ruling.

The department added, “We know, as evidenced by the thousands of calls for service we receive each year reporting acts of vandalism and other forms of property damage that property damage is, in fact, a crime that is of significance to community members.”

My opinion? This is a thorny subject. Many cities around the US deal with the problem of graffiti art everyday. Sometimes it may be a name, a threat, an image, a symbol, or a brilliant canvas of the graffiti artist’s imagination. Whatever the case, it usually involves painting something on someone else’s property. So, whose rights should win out? The artist’s right to free speech or the property owner’s right to the quiet use and enjoyment of their own property?

Generally, one cannot exercise a right, even one guaranteed by the constitution, if it interferes with another person’s right. While Americans do not have a right to be free from annoyance by the speech or expression of another, even through artistic means, they do have the right to the exclusive use and possession of property. Thus, most graffiti art will not be protected as free speech when it is done on someone else’s property, and the property owner does not consent.

The parameters of the federal court’s ruling may invalidate similar anti-graffiti ordinances in  Washington and other States.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with Malicious Mischief or any other crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Use of License Plate Readers Spreading Across Washington

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Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Excellent article by journalist Natalie Swaby says cities across Washington are turning to technology and using automated license plate reader cameras to combat crime.

The use of automated license plate readers (ALPR) is spreading fast across city and state law enforcement agencies.

WHAT ARE AUTOMATED LICENCE PLATE READERS (ALPR’S)?

ALPRs are high-speed, computer-controlled camera systems that are typically mounted on street poles, streetlights, highway overpasses, mobile trailers, or attached to police squad cars. ALPRs automatically capture all license plate numbers that come into view, along with the location, date, and time. The data, which includes photographs of the vehicle and sometimes its driver and passengers, is then uploaded to a central server.

Law enforcement agencies use ALPR systems for the authorized law enforcement purpose of rapidly identifying and locating vehicles of legitimate interest to law enforcement. In one common use of ALPR technology, license plate encounters are compared against law enforcement databases, also known as “hot lists”. The lists contain the license plate numbers and letters of vehicles associated with active investigations, such as those related to Amber Alerts or other missing persons, stolen vehicles, or stolen license plates. The information is also retained for a fixed retention period, though it is only re-accessible by law enforcement given a legitimate law enforcement purpose.

A second common use of ALPR technology is to canvas license plates around any crime scene to assist in the identification of suspects, victims, and witnesses. ALPR technology only acts as a pointer system that allows law enforcement to conduct searches with limited information, including partial license plate information.

WHERE ARE ALPR’S LOCATED?

ALPR units are attached to law enforcement vehicles or deployed at fixed locations, where they collect license plate information from vehicles on public roadways, public property and vehicles that are within public view. As the ALPR devices are a law enforcement investigative tool we do not provide the locations of the cameras. If subjects engaged in violent and/or serial criminal activities are made aware of the location of the devices, they could take measures to avoid detection.

The City of Tukwila issued a notice out about six months ago, letting people know they’d be using solar-powered cameras that are motion activated by vehicles. Police say it helps them investigate crimes. Software on the camera compares the license plate to different crime databases. If the camera catches a license plate that is on a crime database, law enforcement is alerted immediately.

THE ACLU’S RESPONSE

The ACLU of Washington says they are currently working to make sure there are clear guidelines for how government agencies use the technology.

“The information captured by the readers – including the license plate number, and the date, time, and location of every scan – is being collected and sometimes pooled into regional sharing systems. As a result, enormous databases of innocent motorists’ location information are growing rapidly. This information is often retained for years or even indefinitely, with few or no restrictions to protect privacy rights.” ~ACLU

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime involving ALPR technology. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Police Bodycams Hold K-9’s Accountable

Bellingham Defense Attorney, Body camera, K-9 Police Dogs, Mount Vernon Criminal Defense Attorney, Skagit County Criminal Defense, Whatcom County Criminal Defense, , , , ,

A police dog with its new 'body cam' : r/pics

Excellent article in NPR by Martin Kaste reports that drug-sniffing dogs are not impartial. Ironically, this phenomenon was proven by police body camera evidence.

For decades, American courts have had to take it on faith that drug-sniffing dogs were impartial. Testimony by a dog’s handler, along with training records and credentialing by a local K-9 organization, were usually enough. But the recent spread of body cameras now threatens to upend that faith.

Historically, that claim would have been nearly impossible to prove. However, a recent lawsuit reveals a nagging doubt about drug-sniffing dogs: that handlers might influence them to alert to a scent that may not be there.

FEDERAL LAWSUIT IN TEXAS POTENTIALLY UNDERMINES K-9 UNIT LEGITIMACY.

A newly filed federal lawsuit in Texas shows cameras’ potential to undermine K-9 unit legitimacy. Houston resident Alek Schott accuses Bexar County Sheriff’s deputy Joel Babb of pulling him over on Interstate 35 on false pretenses, and then, when he refused to give permission to search his pickup truck, he says K-9 unit deputy Martin A. Molina III prompted his dog to “alert” to the scent of drugs.

Here, Schott requested and received the officers’ body camera footage, giving him almost the same view the K-9 handler had — including the moment the handler’s right hand made a gesture toward the attentive dog, which then jumped up on the pickup’s door. No drugs were found in Schott’s pickup, and the county later reimbursed him for damage done during the search — including dog scratches outside and inside the truck.

ARE K-9 POLICE TRAINED TO “ALERT” ON COMMAND?

Research has shown handlers may not even realize they’re doing it. Some K-9 trainers have called for “double-blind” testing of the dogs, in which the location and existence of test drugs are randomized, unknown even to the dog’s handler. But that approach has been slow to catch on, and is often met with hostility.

Former K-9 officer and trainer Andy Falco hopes the spread of body cameras will change that. Falco works as an expert witness in cases involving sniffer dogs, and he says the number of legal challenges based on close-up video has exploded. Most cases involve cameras, now, and close-up reviews of every gesture and move of handlers and dogs. In one case he worked on, the Idaho Supreme Court threw out a drug conviction because it decided the K-9 “trespassed” on a vehicle with its paw — a degree of after-the-fact scrutiny that would have been impossible before body cameras.

“I think it’s good for the K-9 units that these things are out there . . . It’ll make them train harder, and perhaps even some of them that weren’t doing double-blind sniffs will start doing double-blind sniffs.” ~Former K-9 Officer Andy Falco

And when Falco is shown the video from Bexar County, he sees why Schott is suing. “The right hand facing up, and then moving it upward — that is the command to sit. There’s not any reason why he would be doing it where he’s doing it, so it is out of place,” he says. “That appears to be a cue of some sort that he gives the dog.”

Other K-9 trainers say the video isn’t a slam-dunk, and that there could be innocent explanations for the gesture. But one thing is clear to them: going forward, K-9 units should expect their every move and gesture could come under review after the search is over.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Broad Coalition Launches to Restore the Constitutional Right to Trial

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The Trial Penalty - Prison Professors

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) reports that numerous organizations have united to end the trial penalty. This coalition, called End the Trial Penalty, consists of twenty-four criminal justice organizations, impacted people, think tanks, academics, activists, and reform leaders from across the ideological spectrum have united to end the trial penalty.

What is a “Trial Penalty?”

A “trial penalty” refers to the substantial difference between the sentence offered in a plea offer prior to trial versus the sentence a defendant receives after trial. This penalty is now so severe and pervasive that it has virtually eliminated the constitutional right to a trial. To avoid the penalty, accused persons must surrender many other fundamental rights which are essential to a fair justice system.

The coercive and punitive effects of the trial penalty are so pervasive that they have virtually eliminated our constitutional right to trial. In fact, over 97% of cases ending in a conviction never go to trial, leading to a range of issues reverberating through our legal system, including the waiver of numerous constitutional freedoms and rights, overcriminalization, loss of public oversight, and racial injustice.

Fortunately, the End the Trial Penalty Coalition aims to restore the right to trial, helping right these wrongs to ensure a fair, rational, and humane criminal legal system.

Members of this new Coalition will work together to raise awareness of the adverse effects of a justice system without trials, advocate policy reform, and forge relationships with key policymakers. The Coalition will also serve as a resource for people interested in participating in an impactful criminal legal reform movement.

The Coalition has published a comprehensive Policy Overview which includes policy ideas to combat coercive practices in the plea bargaining process, to improve data collection and transparency, and to foster post-trial reform and accountability measures.

The Coalition plans to further partner with impacted people and their families, community leaders, criminal legal system stakeholders, and local organizers to ensure everyone has a seat at the table in the efforts to restore justice to our legal system.

About End the Trial Penalty

End the Trial Penalty is an ideologically diverse coalition of criminal justice organizations and leaders committed to ending the trial penalty to ensure a fair, rational, and humane criminal legal system. The coalition aims to eliminate the coercive elements of plea bargaining to restore our fundamental constitutional rights, including the right to a jury trial.

My opinion?

The Sixth Amendment enshrines the right to trial for anyone accused of a crime. Yet, in America today, less than 3% of criminal cases ever make it to trial. Many factors drive that statistic, including the trial penalty. Defendants are confronted with an impossible choice: either fighting for their innocence but often risking decades in prison or admitting to something they didn’t do but salvaging their family and future. It’s no wonder that innocent people can and do plead guilty.

I’m pleased that organizations like End the Trial Penalty exists to uphold our constitutional right to trial. Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Washington State Ranked 23rd In The Nation For Drug Use

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Cities begin forming drug possession laws after Washington bill failed to pass legislature | KOMO

Insightful article in The Center Square by journalist Brett Davis shows reveals Washington ranks at No. 23 in the nation for drug use. The article follows on the heels of a WalletHub study.

To compile its rankings, WalletHub compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia across 21 key metrics, including arrests, overdose rates, opioid prescriptions, and employee drug testing laws.

Washington came in at No. 3 – just behind Vermont and Oregon, respectively – in terms of the highest percentage of adult drug users. The Evergreen State also took the No. 3 ranking, behind Oregon and Colorado, in terms of the highest percentage of adults with unmet drug-treatment needs.

Per WalletHub’s report, Washington ranked 51st in the nation – dead last – with the fewest people receiving substance abuse treatment per 1,000 drug users.

It wasn’t all bad news for Washington, however, which accounts for the state’s overall in-between ranking.

“Washington ranks in the middle of the pack in terms of drug use . . . On the downside, the state has a large share of adults who used illicit drugs in the past month, almost 22%, and does not consider substance abuse during pregnancy a crime. It also has the third largest share of adults who couldn’t get treatment for illicit drug use in the past year, 8.5%.” ~WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez

WalletHub’s study notes America’s war against drug abuse has “a long and storied history in the United States.

“Yet despite the country’s best efforts to fight it, the problem is getting worse, and is exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report states. “There were over 100,000 drug overdose deaths in the 12-month period ending in April 2021, up 28.5% from the previous year. It’s crucial for the government to address this issue and prevent it from getting any worse.”

The top 10 states and state designates in terms of drug use:

1. West Virginia

2. District of Columbia

3. Arkansas

4. Missouri

5. New Mexico

6. Nevada

7. Colorado

8. Michigan

9. Oregon

10. Tennessee

The bottom 10 states in terms of drug use:

51. Minnesota

50. Hawaii

49. Utah

48. Idaho

47. Iowa

46. North Dakota

45. Nebraska

44. Virginia

43. South Dakota

42. Georgia

Dozens of cities in Washington state are considering new bans on possession or public use of illegal drugs. That’s after state legislators failed to reach an agreement on a new drug law in the final hours of the 2023 legislative session.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a Drug Offense or any other crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Police Departments Relaxing Recruitment Qualifications

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Learn About Becoming a Police Officer

NewsNation reports that police departments nationwide are struggling to recruit new officers, especially as more agencies have reported upticks in resignations and retirements.

Across major American cities, new strategies and relaxed entry requirements are being implemented. Some say it helps gain new recruits, while others believe it will weaken police forces. According to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, 78% of agencies reported issues recruiting qualified candidates. About 50% of agencies have changed their internal policies in order to gain additional qualified candidates. And about 25% of law-enforcement agencies said they eliminated services, units or positions altogether due to an inability to staff their departments adequately.

Nowadays, departments are coming up with new ways to appeal to recruits. The city of Golden, Colorado, is shifting to a 32-hour workweek. This, while still promising they will maintain the same number of officers patrolling the streets.

“Thirty-two-hour work week, where pay, benefits, things of that nature do not change,” said Sgt. Ben Salentine of the Golden Police Department. “That gives each one of our employees that extra time to spend how they want. Do they want to use an extra eight hours a week to go to the gym? Go for it. Spend it with your family? Go for it. That (is) recreation time that really allows us to really be our best selves for the community.”

The Golden Police Department is expected to start the four-day workweek program on a six-month trial. City officials believe the change will improve employee retention, engagement and the well-being of their officers.

Other cities such as New Orleans and Chicago have waived college credit requirements for some recruits. And in other states including Massachusetts, departments have eliminated the sit-up test due to the number of recruits failing to meet the requirement, preventing them from joining the force.

My opinion? Law enforcement is a difficult profession. Police work is rife with stressors. They experience sleep deprivation, long shift hours, societal isolation, and continued exposure to negative human elements. Police are in constant danger. It’s no wonder many become overly suspicious of everything and everyone.

It is also important to realize that they take an oath to serve and protect their community.  Police misconduct may happen during the course of contact and/or arrests. When it does, police contact may include unlawful searches and seizures.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Public Discussion of New Jail in Whatcom County

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Creepy Photos of an Abandoned Prison | The Weather Channel

Great article by journalist Robert Mittendorf discusses the possible cost, location, design and scope of a new jail facility.

Whatcom County’s current jail, which is 40 years old, is considered too small for current needs and requires millions of dollars in safety renovations. It’s under booking restrictions because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was built to hold 148 offenders and was remodeled to a capacity of 212. The Work Center in Irongate has 150 beds for full-custody, lower-security offenders and those on a work crew or work-release programs.

Mittendorf reports that It’s the first public discussion of cost after more than a year of meetings to develop plans for a new jail. This comes along with services that could include diversion programs and mental health and substance abuse treatment facilities.

THE MONEY

A .2% sales tax could collect $13.8 million annually, with $8.3 million to Whatcom County and $5.5 million split among Bellingham and its other cities based on population. A 30-year bond issue with annual payments of $8.3 million could raise $143 million.

THREE POSSIBLE LOCATIONS

Choosing a jail location is the next step in the process. Three locations in the county have emerged, with cost estimates based on a jail size of 400 to 440 beds:

▪ The parking lot south of the Whatcom County Courthouse, location of the current jail in downtown Bellingham. It would be at least seven stories tall on 1.3 acres, with three stories of underground parking and cost $207 million. Opportunities for expansion and nearby location of other services would be limited.

▪ A location on Deemer Road in the Irongate industrial area, near the Jail Work Center and the Anne Deacon Crisis Triage Center. It would be four to five stories tall with underground parking and cost $170 million. Its five buildable acres allow for some possibility of adding additional services nearby. Driving time would be about nine to 12 minutes from the downtown courthouse.

▪ A site on LaBounty Drive in Ferndale, where plans for a jail were scrapped after ballot measures to fund it with a .2% sales tax failed in 2015 and 2017. Cost is estimated at $137 million. Its layout on 16 acres of buildable land would be horizontal and no more than two stories tall. It has the greatest potential for adding nearby services. Because it is near Interstate 5, driving time would be about nine to 15 minutes from the downtown courthouse.

In addition to a new jail, more behavioral health facilities and staff are needed, and also more housing for people who are released from jail, according to reports from the Whatcom County Justice Project over the past year. It has also focused on ways to reduce time in jail, such as electronic home monitoring and programs that treat substance abuse.

The VERA Institute reports the following general information about most jails located across the nation:

  • Close to 70 percent of all people held in local jails have been charged with violations of drug, property, or public order laws; less than one-third have been charged with offenses that are considered violent.
  • Unlike in prisons—where incarcerated people have been convicted of a crime—two-thirds of the people in local jails have not been found guilty of their current charges but remain incarcerated pretrial, often because they’re unable to pay even small bail amounts.
  • Many incarcerated people also experience added challenges like homelessness or behavioral health issues. Forty-four percent of people in jail report having at least one mental health condition.
  • And the rate of people with substance use disorders is six times as high in jail as in the community.
  • People in jails have also experienced homelessness at a rate from 7.5 to 11.3 times that of the broader population.
  • These facts are not accidental. They’re the result of policy decisions to use enforcement and incarceration instead of treatment and services.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: jail is a terrible place. Please review Making Bail and contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Lock Your Pet In Your Car?

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Summer approaches! And with it, the hurry-up-and-have-fun approach to life. We have barbeques. Go to beaches. Play in the sun. In between fun time, we run errands. And when we run errands, we leave our pets in the car.

Unfortunately, without ventilation, the temperature inside your car will rise high and fast. Leaving pets in a hot car can cause heat stroke or death. Cracking a window open isn’t enough.

CIVIL INFRACTIONS & CRIMINAL CHARGES.

Washington state law makes it a civil infraction to leave any animal alone in a car. The law also applies to any other enclosed space, if they could be killed by excessive heat, excessive cold, lack of ventilation or lack of water. This civil infraction comes with a maximum fine of $125.

It is also possible to get slapped with an animal cruelty charge, depending on the severity of the situation, and other circumstances. In Washington, you can be convicted of animal cruelty if you don’t provide needed shelter, sanitation, space, or vet treatment. The law applies if you acted recklessly, purposefully, or with criminal negligence, and only if the animal suffers unjustified pain as a result.

HOW HOT CAN A CAR GET?

According to a 2005 study from the American Academy of Pediatrics, outside temperatures of around 70 degrees can heat the inside of a car to over 115 degrees within minutes.

Dogs experience heat exhaustion when their body temperature hits 103 degrees, according to pet food company Hill’s Pet Nutrition. It’s typically safe to leave your dog in the car for no more than five minutes when the outside temperature is above freezing and below 70 degrees.

RESCUING PETS FROM HOT OR COLD CARS.

If you see a dog or pet in obvious distress inside a car, what can you do to help? Wherever you live, you should try to contact local animal control authorities or law enforcement. Authorities may be able to track down and contact the car owner. Many states also allow officers or emergency responders to use force, if needed, to save endangered animals.

CAN YOU BREAK A CAR WINDOW?

Some states have Good Samaritan laws that protect a rescuer from criminal or civil liability for breaking into a locked car to rescue an animal. But in order to be protected, rescuers must take certain steps—including calling 911 or law enforcement first. And usually, their actions—such as breaking a window—must be absolutely necessary or used only as a last resort. In states that don’t have Good Samaritan laws, the rescuer could face legal repercussions for their actions.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with Animal Cruelty or any other crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Bellingham Retail Stores Beef Up Security in Response to Rising Crime

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Gold fever sweeps the criminal underworld

Excellent article in the Cascadia Weekly by Ralph Schwartz describes how Bellingham retail stores are increasing security in response to rising crime.

Thefts in Bellingham’s downtown core peaked in March 2022, according to the city’s crime statistics webpage. Apparently, this is part of a broader citywide crime wave that hit Bellingham in the latter stages of the COVID-19 pandemic for a variety of reasons.

Among them was overcrowding at the jail, which prompted the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office to stop booking nonviolent offenders.  The police department was short on officers. Finally, new state laws made it more difficult for police to engage with suspected criminals.

Bellingham’s Meridian neighborhood also reported thefts peaked in the summer of 2022. This neighborhood includes Bellis Fair mall and major retails such as Home Depot and Walmart. The neighborhood averaged four reported thefts a day in June through August of last year.

The shoplifting problem isn’t limited to Bellingham. Nationally, retail theft was growing before the pandemic, reaching $68.9 billion in stolen goods in 2019, according to the Retail Industry Leaders Association. A more recent survey by the National Retail Federation reported that overall shrinkage, which includes theft, damaged goods and other losses, reached $94.5 billion in 2021, up 4% compared to 2020, with much of that attributed to a rise in organized crime.

According to the article, large-scale retailers like Home Depot have armed their security guards. This comes in response to Organized Retail Theft operations originating from a nearby Homeless encampment.

“Organized retail crime is an ongoing issue, and it has been on the rise over the last several years for many retailers . . . We have a multitude of initiatives in place to mitigate, including human and technology resources, to make theft in our stores more difficult; close partnerships with law enforcement; and significant efforts working with federal and state task forces to fight this problem.” ~Evelyn Fornes, Senior manager of communications and advocacy for The Home Depot

Washington also has the second highest per capita rate of retail theft of any state in the country after Pennsylvania. In 2021, 23,323 cases of shoplifting were reported in Washington state. Seattle also ranked eighth among large cities for retail crime in 2021.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with Theft or any other crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Why Retail Is Focused on Organized Crime

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Retail theft ring: $2M in merchandise recovered, 3 arrested, Wilmette police say - ABC7 Chicago

Great article by journalist Eric Rosenbaum discusses why large retail stores see an increase in Organized Retail Theft.

BIG BOX RETAILERS BELIEVE THEY ARE VICTIMS OF CRIME

“The country has a retail theft problem,” Home Depot CFO Richard McPhail said on a call with CNBC on Tuesday after its earnings. “We’re confident in our ability to mitigate and blunt that pressure, but that pressure certainly exists out there.” Home Depot’s vice president of asset protection had told CNBC in March crime is increasing at double-digit rates.

According to the article, Target said organized retail crime will reach $500 million more in stolen and lost merchandise this year compared with a year ago. On its earnings call, Target CEO Brian Cornell said retail theft is “a worsening trend that emerged last year.” Retailers are convinced the crime trend is rising. Complicting matters, the trend is not simply a shoplifting issue reflecting tougher economic times for Americans. The trends show an increasin in the work of organized retail crime networks.

ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME

The National Retail Federation says Organized Retail Crime is the main reason for retail “shrink.” This is defined as a mismatch between actual inventory and what is on the books — which reached $94.5 billion in 2021, an increase of almost $4 billion year over year.

Its president Matt Shay told CNBC on Thursday that the issue isn’t going away. “Conversations we’ve had with members over the last several years indicate it is getting to be a really acute and serious problem,” and as far as the annual numbers, remains “growing.” While theft is “manifesting itself in stores with acts of violence,” Shay stressed that in-store, individual crime is not the biggest scope of the problem. It’s not people shoplifting an individual item for personal use.

These days, shoplifting is a big part of organized crime. Target chief financial officer Michael Fiddelke had said after its earnings in November 2022 that shoplifting jumped about 50% year over and year, resulting in over $400 million in losses in the fiscal year, and Walmart’s CEO Doug McMillon issued another warning about the rising threat on CNBC in December.

“This is very sophisticated local, state, national and transnational organizations, organized not just to steal at the store level, but throughout the entire supply chain … on the docks, on trucks, off ships, through containers, on the railways. This is a really persistent problem and it’s across the supply chain,” ~Matt Shay, President of National Retail Federation.

MOVING UP THE SUPPLY CHAIN: CARGO THEFT

That matches CargoNet data recently provided to CNBC by insurance company Travelers, which has a special investigations group and works with law enforcement to recover stolen goods. It found food and beverage coming into port or in a warehouse is No. 1 on the list of products being targeted by freight thieves who are increasing their criminal activity across the national supply chain, with household goods and electronics still high on the list of cargo thieves.

Physical theft is still the No. 1 method used by thieves in the supply chain, but they are getting more sophisticated, creating fictitious pickups through use of identity theft — pretending to be trucking companies, including infiltrating online freight management systems and freight brokerage phone lines.

“A lot of times, they will get away with it,” Scott Cornell, transportation lead and crime and theft specialist at insurance provider Travelers, recently told CNBC. It has tracked a 600% increase in this form of cargo crime.

Cargo theft is occurring at multiple points in an item’s journey, with the NRF finding that theft “en route from distribution centers to stores” was the top target, at 47.4%; followed by cargo theft at stores, at 42.1%, and cargo “en route from manufacturers to distribution centers,” at 35.1%.

COMBATTING ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME ACT

The National Retail Federation is lobbying for the Combatting Organized Retail Crime Act, which would create a function within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to elevate the theft issue to a national issue. It would also allow the DHS to coordinate with law enforcement across the country, provide resources, and report to Congress.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with Theft or any other crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.