The state is losing more than $32 million a year in sales tax because of the rise in organized shoplifters who swipe large quantities of merchandise to resell, retailers told a state Senate committee Wednesday.
The Public Safety and Human Services Committee heard a presentation from retailers, police and prosecutors hoping to encourage the passage of a Senate Bill 1059, which would make organized retail theft a separate criminal charge and a Class 4 felony.
Under current state laws, a shoplifter can be charged with a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the value of the goods, and be punished by up to two years in prison. Under the bill, organized retail theft - defined as shoplifting with the intent to resell or trade the merchandise - would be a felony, regardless of the value of the stolen goods. It would be punishable by up to 3 1/2 years in prison.
Committee chairwoman Linda Gray, R-Phoenix, who sponsored the bill, said the legislation will be among the first to go through committee for a vote after the budget is completed. "I think (the response) will be good," she said. "It affects all of us. Those are prices we're absorbing."
The bill would bring Arizona on par with 35 other states that have either enacted legislation or have introduced bills to combat organized retail theft, according to Michelle Ahlmer, president of the Arizona Retail Association. The bill comes at the recommendation of a task force commissioned during the 2007 session to look into the growing trend.
The two-page report also recommended more education and training for officers and a full-time law-enforcement task force that would work with retailers to combat the crime full time.
Retailers insist they're doing their part to work with law enforcement to battle the growing trend by sharing information about suspects and trends and protecting their merchandise.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2009/04/30/20090430politics-shoplifting0430.html
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