Congresswoman Kim Schrier at the 12th Avenue Cafe in Issaquah with Carl Kleinknecht Director of Security at Bellevue Square and Renee Sunde President of the Washington Retail Association
Those Smash & Grab robbers are getting the attention of Congress and Washington’s Kim Schrier is co-sponsoring the “Combating Organized Retail Crime Act”.
“The bill establishes an Organized Retail Crime Center” a center run by the powerful Department of Homeland Security Schrier says “It also requires Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to focus on organized retail crime and to do it together in a coordinated fashion, that’s critical.”
Organized Retail Crime comes at a cost of $700B a year nationwide; and $2.7B in loses in Washington:
“A couple of months ago some Columbian nationals, we got a heads up they were coming our way” Carl Kleinknecht, director of security at the Bellevue Square, says network of groups focused on Organized Retail Crime got a tip “Watched the suspects and in a matter of about 35 minutes clean out about $80,000 worth of items” Bellevue police and security teams were mobilized and waiting he says “There were a couple of foot chases, we ultimately impounded three vehicles, all three individuals were arrested.”
The legislation comes with tougher new laws for money launder and longer prison sentences “These stolen goods are sold online” but the congresswoman says there’s a darker side to this kind of crime “And the money these crime rings bring in fuels other illicit activities related to trafficking of drugs and trafficking of people and weapons.”
Congresswoman Schrier’s bill is currently in the House Judiciary Committee. A similar piece of legislation has been introduced in the U-S Senate.
