ABSTRACT
Organized retail crime, which includes multiple organized shoplifting conducted by a group or gang, theft from trailers or distribution centers, and in some cases counterfeiting, is estimated to be a $30 billion a year problem for retailers, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Task Force’s report on organized retail crime. The most concerning thing about this crime is that it occurs repetitively, from shopping center to shopping center, city to city, state to state. Because members of local law enforcement do not link shoplifting offenses from one shopping center or city to the next, they rarely recognize the series of crimes committed by one shoplifting gang until the thieves are long gone from the area. In addition, ORC has an alarmingly high average cost per incident. The crimes are usually in large quantities of product and large amounts of cost dollars to the companies they effect. The actors who commit these crimes are known as boosters because they boost, or lift, product out of the store. Sometimes they also use a shoplifting tool called a “booster box,” which is a box (or bag) with handles that looks like it comes from one of the stores in the shopping mall or center. The bottom of the bag or box is cut out to form a trap door. The booster bag is placed quickly over an item that they intend to steal, and as shoplifters place their hand under the bag, holding the merchandise in the bag, they lift it up and carry it away.
