November 25, 2024

Texas Comptroller’s Office Releases Study on Organized Retail Theft in Texas

(AUSTIN) — Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar today announced the release of his agency’s A Study on Organized Retail Theft in Texas (PDF), which reflects the findings of a Hegar-led Texas Organized Retail Theft (ORT) Task Force and includes recommendations developed from meetings, interviews and site visits with experts and stakeholders.

“The coordinated efforts of those committing organized retail thefts across multiple jurisdictions warrant an equally coordinated effort among law enforcement, prosecutors, retailers and online marketplaces,” Hegar said. “This task force brought together key personnel representing entities taking a leadership role in tackling ORT and tapped additional partners across a range of sectors to ensure lawmakers in Texas have a clear view of the problem and a path toward addressing the issue in our great state.

"There is still work ahead of us as these criminals become more organized, more efficient and more sophisticated, but unlike some other states, Texans will not sit idly by and permit this type of lawless behavior. We will take bold steps to end it. These thefts pose a major societal issue for all Texans and a threat to the state’s economic well-being, and I would like to thank the members of the task force and the other project participants for their time and contributions in helping to fight ORT perpetrators.”

ORT is the large-scale theft and reselling of merchandise. In 2023, the Texas Legislature created a task force led by Hegar to analyze and develop strategies for combating ORT. The ORT Task Force, which includes law enforcement, retailers and policy experts, conducted research, listened to expert testimony and visited retailers as part of its study.

The ORT study and visuals from Hegar’s visits with task force stakeholders can be found on the Comptroller’s website.

Below are the findings of the Task Force and its recommendations for further action:

Finding 1: Though a 2022 estimate by the Texas Organized Retail Crime Association estimated the annual cost of ORT in Texas was more than $442 million, uniform statewide data relating specifically to ORT are not collected in Texas. This makes it difficult to quantify the extent and cost of ORT, pinpoint where crimes are happening and dedicate sufficient resources to combat ORT. Also, retailers are reluctant to share certain proprietary data with their competitors.

Recommendations:

• Develop a statewide repository to collect ORT data that can be aggregated and analyzed.
• Work with retailers to categorize and mask their confidential data in a manner that doesn’t expose proprietary information while still allowing analysts to estimate the cost of ORT and detect trends.
• If ORT trends indicate a need, consider creating an organization to combat ORT modeled after or housed under the Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center.

Finding 2: Thefts conducted by perpetrators who target multiple types of merchandise or who operate in more than one law enforcement jurisdiction may be difficult to identify as ORT. Improved transparency, interaction and communication among all stakeholders — retailers, law enforcement and prosecutors — have yielded positive results in some cities.

Recommendations:

• Continue support for the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Organized Retail Theft Prevention Unit and consider increasing the total number of full-time employees for the unit.
• Identify an existing state agency to serve as both an information clearinghouse and a facilitator to help local law enforcement departments develop and improve ORT coordination, cooperation and knowledge sharing with other jurisdictions so potential links to related cases may be identified.
• Use San Antonio’s Businesses Against Theft Network program as a model for other cities to improve communication, transparency and collaboration among stakeholders.
• Establish a store walk-through program. Retailers can launch a store walk-through program inviting law enforcement agencies and prosecutors’ offices to get a better understanding of the ORT issue. This can foster a stronger relationship between retailers and law enforcement.
• Incorporate ORT in new officer training as part of a continuing education class for law enforcement.

Finding 3: Prosecuting ORT can be time and resource intensive, and prosecutors sometimes apply ORT charges inconsistently (e.g., charging an ORT crime as simple theft, which may take less time and be easier to prove). Prosecutors find the requirement to prove intentionality in ORT cases to be an obstacle in the pursuit of charges under the ORT statute.

Other state laws may inadvertently make it difficult for ORT crimes to be prosecuted. Retailers, for example, are required by law to wait 10 days before reporting the theft of certain rental items. Normally this provision would be in a consumer’s best interest, but it is a barrier to retailers when they become aware that the items are being resold before they are allowed to report the theft.

Recommendations:

• Form a committee of prosecutors to review the ORT statute’s requirements, including proof of intentionality, and other statutes that are barriers to ORT prosecution, such as the waiting period on reporting stolen rental items. The committee should seek input from retailers and law enforcement during its review. The committee will present its suggestions to the ORT Task Force before the next legislative session.
• Develop training on ORT as a continuing education course, such as a one-hour presentation on the key steps for prosecuting an ORT case.