Shop Till You're Dropped

One of the biggest issues facing the retail industry, according to the retail industry, is the growing trend of organized theft. Some retail lobbyists have implored congress to enact radical legislation to combat this existential threat.

All told, theft has cost retailers $112.1 billion in 2022, with most retailers believing that number will only continue to rise. Because of this, Target and other retailers have decided to close several stores while others have raised prices to offset the losses. Retailers are starting to lock more products behind plexiglass, creating friction (any obstacle impeding a customer's purchase), and some are even reducing operating hours since most theft happens at night, which also results in lost sales.

But is there a solution to this problem that doesn't hurt the most important part of the retail industry: net profits? Some retail lobbyists think there is.

Matthew Shay is the CEO of The National Retail Federation (NRF), who along with The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), The US Chamber of Commerce, and Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) have championed the Preventing Organized Retail Crime Act (PORCA).

“Retail crime is a persistent threat,” says Shay, “and unfortunately the cost of these crimes gets passed down to the consumer.”

When asked for the figures of retail shrink versus the record profits most retailers have been posting, Shay claims that information is in “a different folder” and spends several minutes pretending to look for it before promising to email that information later.

[Editor’s note: Yep, still haven’t gotten that email.]

Shay goes on to say that “impotent” and “ineffectual” local law enforcement has fumbled any action to get organized retail theft under control due to things like light sentencing and the high monetary value of stolen goods needed for a felony conviction. PORCA and its sponsors are looking to correct this.

But what, you may be asking, is in the Preventing Organized Retail Crime Act?

For that information we sat down with David Johnston, VP of Asset Protection & Retail Operations at The NRF.

“Retail is pretty much the wild west right now,” says Johnston, “you know, like when the bandits come into town and raid the place and the villagers want to stand up to the bandits, but they can’t do it on their own. That's when they call us."

Wait, that sounds like The Magnificent Seven. Is that The Magnificent Seven?

“Yes!” exclaimed Johnston. “Exactly! Yes, we're The Magnificent Seven, and it’s our job to teach the villagers, the loss prevention guys, how to deal with these bastards.”

Johnston goes on to explain that PORCA will use the same tactics that law enforcement utilizes in the ongoing war on drugs, meaning they intend to start by ensnaring the little fish at the bottom and working up to ringleaders in charge. And since the American war on drugs has always been a monumental success, it’s easy to see that this act, when enacted into law, should be nothing short of miraculous.

So what exactly will PORCA do to help stem the mass wave of thefts?

“Well, for starters,” explains Johnston, “it will lower the monetary threshold needed for a federal conviction as well as create harsher punishments. These local judges have gone soft and many shoplifters are walking off with a slap on the wrist and an apology for wasting their time.”

Weird how you can make the word “local” sound like a slur. What else can we expect from PORCA?

“Well, the biggest thing I think,” says Johnston, “like the thing that will make the most difference is that we’re trying to fold in a lot of the protections and policies the police have, the ability to exercise deadly force for instance.”

I’m sorry, what?

“Oh, that’s right.” says Johnston with a visible level of arousal that makes me uncomfortable. “If this act passes into law, and we believe it will, then loss prevention officers will have the ability and right to use whatever force necessary, up to and including deadly force, in the event of a perceived threat of loss."

Wait, how is that supposed to prevent retail crime?

“Oh, I’d say a scumbag walking out with a cart full of baby formula getting two in the back will definitely prevent that crime,” laughs Johnston who would later claim that all his comments were off the record.

After hearing Johnston's disturbing comments, we decided to take a look at the meat and potatoes of this act, and yes, it does stipulate that shoplifters can be killed for attempting to steal meat and potatoes. Or anything else for that matter.

According to the bill:

• Loss prevention officers may use deadly force only when necessary, that is, when one has a reasonable belief that the subject of such force poses an immediate loss of inventory.

• Firearms may not be discharged solely to disable shopping carts. Specifically, firearms may only be discharged towards moving shopping carts if the person pushing the cart can be reasonably suspected to be shoplifting.

• If feasible and would not disturb the experience of paying customers, a verbal warning to submit to store security will be issued prior to the use of deadly loss prevention.

• Warning shots are not permitted outside the self-checkout area.

There are other stipulations to the law of course, like one addendum that tasers or night sticks be used for smaller-scale threats, giving examples of a customer drinking a soda they haven't paid for or a child taking a candy bar just to see if they can get away with it.

"It sounds harsh," says Johnston, "but we probably only need to drop a few before everyone else gets the picture and toes the line. Once people know we can kill 'em then it's on them to comply."

Again, David Johnston would like us to add that all his comments were supposed to be off the record, a fact he didn't bring to our attention until several days after we spoke.

PORCA also stipulates that the qualified immunity that the police enjoy would be extended to loss prevention workers, mainly to ensure that retail corporations cannot be held liable for the inevitable loss of life, as well as posits several hazily defined reasons to give loss prevention workers probable cause to search the carts and bodies of potential perpetrators.

"I've been listening to that Drowning Pool song a lot," adds Johnston, "you know? 'Let the Bodies Hit the Floor'? It's a good song, gets me pumped!"

David Johnston, in addition to being off the record when he said this, wants us to specify that he was just sharing a song he likes and that this comment is presented "totally out of context".

So what are the chances that The Preventing Organized Retail Crime Act actually makes it into law? Well, unfortunately, its chances are pretty good. Everything stipulated in PORCA is already technically legal in the states of Florida and Texas and some stores have already let actual law enforcement set up shop in their building, so shoplifter fatalities are already expected. In order to speed things along, some retailers, including Target, Macy's, and Walmart, have offered to extend their employee discounts to any supporting congressperson while others, such as Ikea and Aldi/Trader Joe's, have agreed to award "yea" votes with a timed shopping spree akin to 90s Nickelodeon's Super Toy Run.

While it seems a near certainty that PORCA will be enacted into law, the bill is not without its critics. Some say that perhaps if retailers stopped colluding to keep raising prices under the guise of inflation and continue to make life unaffordable to those in a lower income bracket (into which most of their own workers fall) in order to pad their already high profits, then retail theft would stop rising as it would no longer be a viable alternative, for some, to starvation. The National Retail Federation, however, doesn't subscribe to such ideas.

"That's a load of hogwash," says NRF CEO Matthew Shay. "I'm sorry we don't operate in a fantasy world where economic policy, pay wages, and food prices contribute to crime. Here in the real world, there are victims and there are villains, and the retail industry is for sure a victim."

As The Preventing Organized Retail Crime Act plows through Congress like a flash mob clearing out a Nordstrom, we advise our readers to be careful out there. That case of soda you "forgot" to show the cashier or that self-checkout discount you gave yourself could leave you staring down the barrel, and the loss prevented won't be your life.

Update:

Prior to the publication of this article, it was revealed to NRF CEO Matthew Shay and RILA CEO Brian Dodge that one of the reasons law enforcement is able to utilize deadly force (mostly) consequence-free is due to the backing of a robust and powerful police union. After the suggestion that PORCA could never work without (at least some) retail workers having the same advantage, Shay and Dodge have shelved the act indefinitely and are now looking for alternatives to the use of deadly force in response to retail theft.