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RETAILERS URGE NC LEGISLATORS TO CRACK DOWN ON ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME

BY: CLAYTON HENKEL - APRIL 28, 2022 6:00 AM


NC retailers have reported a rise in organized retail thefts. In rare occasions
the property is recovered. (Photo courtesy Lowe’s/Craig Dowdle)



Pandemic, opioids, rising prices blamed for sharp rise in retail thefts

“In retail, we’re in business to sell, they are in business to steal.”

Craig Dowdle, the regional investigation manager for Lowe’s Home Improvement,
told state legislators Tuesday that Organized Retail Crime has been rising
steadily since the pandemic.

“I’m not talking about someone who comes into the store because their lawnmower
won’t run and they can’t afford the part to fix it, or the roof that’s leaking
and they steal a pack of shingles,” Dowdle explained. “These are people who come
in and steal significant amounts of product.”

Dowdle told members of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and
Public Safety that it’s not just one store; it’s a statewide problem.

“I want to make sure you understand. These are professionals, organized, using
their phones, using apps, mapping the stores,” Dowdle continued. “And we’ve got
so many Lowe’s stores here it’s profitable for a theft group to hit Lowe’s in
North Carolina because travel, logistics is down — because our stores are so
close together.”

Craig Dowdle, regional investigation manager for Lowe’s Home Improvement,
explains how items are fenced.



In addition to merchandise theft, Dowdle said the Mooresville-based retail giant
has seen a rise in credit card and refund fraud.

“Don’t forget when someone does a fraudulent refund, we give them back the tax
money too, they get that back. When they are stealing product they are not
paying taxes.”

And it’s more than just an occasional power tool that vanishes from the store
shelves.

As commodity prices have risen, Lowe’s has seen thefts increase for copper.

Their number one selling item, lumber or OSB (oriented strand board) has been
especially popular among thieves.

“We store it outside where it’s easy for the customer or the contractor to get
that. But it also allows the shoplifter, the organized crime unit, to drive up a
truck and trailer,” Dowdle explained. “Couple guys they can load a lot of
product. Ten sheets of OSB is $300, 100 sheets $3,000.”

Dowdle said Lowe’s employees are there to help customers complete their
“honey-do lists” not act as law enforcement.

“When someone is pushing out a cart load of product with a can of mace,
threatening to spray employees, I can tell you it’s not in our handbook as a
how-to of how to handle that situation.”

Sgt. Scott Womack with the City of Raleigh Police Department agreed that
shoplifting has become a significant issue since the pandemic.

Raleigh police have recorded more than 2,100 shoplifting cases in past 12
months.

“The average age of the offender is 37 years old, so we’re not talking about
someone who is just starting out or saying, ‘Here’s a T-shirt I don’t want to
pay for’,” Sgt. Womack said. “We are talking about seasoned professionals.”

Raleigh Police Sergeant Scott Womack



Womack told the committee these individuals are often operating in groups of two
or more.

“How do they communicate? It’s real simple. We have great technology. They are
texting each other, they’re on their cell phones.”

Womack said another common scheme is to steal merchandise and return it to a
store without a receipt. The store may not give them cash, but they will provide
a store gift card that the thief can then use or re-sell.

The pandemic has added another wrinkle for investigators as customers have been
encouraged to mask up.

“When someone is wearing a mask it makes it harder to use traditional methods to
identify suspects,” said Womack.

The National Retail Federation reports that 65% of retailers report a greater
level of violence over the past 12 months.

“Eighty-six percent of [retailers report] their associates have been verbally
threatened by suspects, 75% have had an associate assaulted,” Womack testified.

From power tools to paper towels, criminals have targeted what they can sell
quickly.



And it’s not always the high-ticket items that are being stolen.

Batteries, razor blades, detergent pods that can be easily resold are
increasingly targeted by organized criminals, according to Womack.

“We see these things taken because it’s what people use every day. That’s what
people are willing to buy.”

Last September the Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at
a home in Harrisburg, N.C.,  and recovered about $400,000 in stolen merchandise
from Lowe’s, Home Depot, Target, Harbor Freight and Harris Teeter.

The sheriff’s office in that case said five people were operating a large
organized retail theft operation out of the basement of the rental home, selling
many stolen items online.

“Do you have an estimate going back to the last calendar year of how much
merchandise was stolen in your stores?” Sen. Bob Steinburg (R-Camden) asked.

“Millions,” answered Dowdle, the investigation manager for Lowe’s.

Dowdle said current legislation caps out the punishment on organized retail
theft as a Class G felony with a value exceeding $20,000.

“What about those that are hitting $50,000, $100,000, half-a-million?” he
pressed lawmakers.

Sen. Warren Daniel (R-Avery)



Sen. Warren Daniel (R-Avery) said while he would gladly support any legislation
to address the problem, the true problem was border security.

“Y’all need to be burning up the White House’s phone, you need to be burning up
Congress, because this bill is not going to stop your problem,” said Daniel.

Rep. Charles Graham (D-Robeson) said the elephant in the room is addiction.

“I think until we really address the issue of the opioid crisis and the mental
health issues that are stemming from this opioid crisis, we’re again going to
get the same results,” offered Graham. “And I’m not sure how willing we as a
state and a General Assembly are willing to do that.”

Rep. Charles Graham (D-Robeson)



The Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety hopes to
fast track legislation during the upcoming short session that would increase the
penalties for organized retail theft.

Committee co-chair Sen. Danny Britt (R-Robeson) said the draft legislation will
also include a provision to expedite the return of any recovered goods to the
retailer.

“What we don’t want is these things stolen sitting in an evidence locker for two
or three years whenever the evidence could be cataloged and saved for purposes
or prosecution, but still releasing that evidence to the party it belongs to,”
said Britt.


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Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide
proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing
guidelines for use of photos and graphics.




CLAYTON HENKEL

Communications Coordinator Clayton Henkel manages the NC Newsline website and
daily newsletter, while also producing daily audio commentaries and the weekly
News and Views radio program/podcast.

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Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons licence
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide
proper attribution and link to our web site.

DEIJ Policy | Ethics Policy | Privacy Policy
© NC Newsline, 2023
1
X



RETAILERS URGE NC LEGISLATORS TO CRACK DOWN ON ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME

by Clayton Henkel, NC Newsline
April 28, 2022

<h1>Retailers urge NC legislators to crack down on organized retail crime</h1>
<p>by Clayton Henkel, <a href="https://ncnewsline.com">NC Newsline</a> <br
/>April 28, 2022</p> <figure><a
href="https://ncnewsline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/organized-theft-scaled.jpg"></a><i></i>
NC retailers have reported a rise in organized retail thefts. In rare occasions
the property is recovered. (Photo courtesy Lowe’s/Craig Dowdle)</p></figure>
<p><strong>Pandemic, opioids, rising prices blamed for sharp rise in retail
thefts </strong></p> <p>“In retail, we’re in business to sell, they are in
business to steal.”</p> <p>Craig Dowdle, the regional investigation manager for
Lowe’s Home Improvement, told state legislators Tuesday that Organized Retail
Crime has been rising steadily since the pandemic.</p> <p>“I’m not talking about
someone who comes into the store because their lawnmower won’t run and they
can’t afford the part to fix it, or the roof that’s leaking and they steal a
pack of shingles,” Dowdle explained. “These are people who come in and steal
significant amounts of product.”</p> <p>Dowdle told members of the <a
href="https://www.ncleg.gov/Committees/CommitteeInfo/NonStanding/427/">Joint
Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety</a> that it’s not
just one store; it’s a statewide problem.</p> <p>“I want to make sure you
understand. These are professionals, organized, using their phones, using apps,
mapping the stores,” Dowdle continued. “And we’ve got so many Lowe’s stores here
it’s profitable for a theft group to hit Lowe’s in North Carolina because
travel, logistics is down — because our stores are so close together.”</p>
<figure><a
href="https://ncnewsline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Lowes-2.jpg"></a><i></i>
Craig Dowdle, regional investigation manager for Lowe’s Home Improvement,
explains how items are fenced.</p></figure> <p>In addition to merchandise theft,
Dowdle said the Mooresville-based retail giant has seen a rise in credit card
and refund fraud.</p> <p>“Don’t forget when someone does a fraudulent refund, we
give them back the tax money too, they get that back. When they are stealing
product they are not paying taxes.”</p> <p>And it’s more than just an occasional
power tool that vanishes from the store shelves.</p> <p>As commodity prices have
risen, Lowe’s has seen thefts increase for copper.</p> <p>Their number one
selling item, lumber or OSB (oriented strand board) has been especially popular
among thieves.</p> <p>“We store it outside where it’s easy for the customer or
the contractor to get that. But it also allows the shoplifter, the organized
crime unit, to drive up a truck and trailer,” Dowdle explained. “Couple guys
they can load a lot of product. Ten sheets of OSB is $300, 100 sheets
$3,000.”</p> <p>Dowdle said Lowe’s employees are there to help customers
complete their “honey-do lists” not act as law enforcement.</p> <p>“When someone
is pushing out a cart load of product with a can of mace, threatening to spray
employees, I can tell you it’s not in our handbook as a how-to of how to handle
that situation.”</p> <p>Sgt. Scott Womack with the City of Raleigh Police
Department agreed that shoplifting has become a significant issue since the
pandemic.</p> <p>Raleigh police have recorded more than 2,100 shoplifting cases
in past 12 months.</p> <p>“The average age of the offender is 37 years old, so
we’re not talking about someone who is just starting out or saying, ‘Here’s a
T-shirt I don’t want to pay for’,” Sgt. Womack said. “We are talking about
seasoned professionals.”</p> <figure><a
href="https://ncnewsline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Sergeant-Scott-Womack2-scaled.jpg"></a><i></i>
Raleigh Police Sergeant Scott Womack</p></figure> <p>Womack told the committee
these individuals are often operating in groups of two or more.</p> <p>“How do
they communicate? It’s real simple. We have great technology. They are texting
each other, they’re on their cell phones.”</p> <p>Womack said another common
scheme is to steal merchandise and return it to a store without a receipt. The
store may not give them cash, but they will provide a store gift card that the
thief can then use or re-sell.</p> <p>The pandemic has added another wrinkle for
investigators as customers have been encouraged to mask up.</p> <p>“When someone
is wearing a mask it makes it harder to use traditional methods to identify
suspects,” said Womack.</p> <p>The National Retail Federation reports that 65%
of retailers report a greater level of violence over the past 12 months.</p>
<p>“Eighty-six percent of [retailers report] their associates have been verbally
threatened by suspects, 75% have had an associate assaulted,” Womack
testified.</p> <figure><a
href="https://ncnewsline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Retail-Theft-CourtesyPhotoLowes.jpg"></a><i></i>
From power tools to paper towels, criminals have targeted what they can sell
quickly.</p></figure> <p>And it’s not always the high-ticket items that are
being stolen.</p> <p>Batteries, razor blades, detergent pods that can be easily
resold are increasingly targeted by organized criminals, according to
Womack.</p> <p>“We see these things taken because it’s what people use every
day. That’s what people are willing to buy.”</p> <p>Last September the Cabarrus
County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at a home in Harrisburg,
N.C.,  and recovered about $400,000 in stolen merchandise from Lowe’s, Home
Depot, Target, Harbor Freight and Harris Teeter.</p> <p>The sheriff’s office in
that case said five people were operating a large organized retail theft
operation out of the basement of the rental home, selling many stolen items
online.</p> <p>“Do you have an estimate going back to the last calendar year of
how much merchandise was stolen in your stores?” Sen. Bob Steinburg (R-Camden)
asked.</p> <p>“Millions,” answered Dowdle, the investigation manager for
Lowe’s.</p> <p>Dowdle said current legislation caps out the punishment on
organized retail theft as a Class G felony with a value exceeding $20,000.</p>
<p>“What about those that are hitting $50,000, $100,000, half-a-million?” he
pressed lawmakers.</p> <figure><a
href="https://ncnewsline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/SenWarrenDaniel.jpg"></a><i></i>
Sen. Warren Daniel (R-Avery)</p></figure> <p>Sen. Warren Daniel (R-Avery) said
while he would gladly support any legislation to address the problem, the true
problem was border security.</p> <p>“Y’all need to be burning up the White
House’s phone, you need to be burning up Congress, because this bill is not
going to stop your problem,” said Daniel.</p> <p>Rep. Charles Graham (D-Robeson)
said the elephant in the room is addiction.</p> <p>“I think until we really
address the issue of the opioid crisis and the mental health issues that are
stemming from this opioid crisis, we’re again going to get the same results,”
offered Graham. “And I’m not sure how willing we as a state and a General
Assembly are willing to do that.”</p> <figure><a
href="https://ncnewsline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Rep.-Charles-Graham-scaled.jpg"></a><i></i>
Rep. Charles Graham (D-Robeson)</p></figure> <p>The Joint Legislative Oversight
Committee on Justice and Public Safety hopes to fast track legislation during
the upcoming short session that would increase the penalties for organized
retail theft.</p> <p>Committee co-chair Sen. Danny Britt (R-Robeson) said the <a
href="https://www.ncleg.gov/documentsites/committees/JLOCJPS/2021-22%20Interim/April%2026,%202022/5%20-2021-SA-18%20Organized%20Retail%20Theft.pdf">draft
legislation</a> will also include a provision to expedite the return of any
recovered goods to the retailer.</p> <p>“What we don’t want is these things
stolen sitting in an evidence locker for two or three years whenever the
evidence could be cataloged and saved for purposes or prosecution, but still
releasing that evidence to the party it belongs to,” said Britt.</p> <style>
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