House subcommittee hearing backs national data hub and task force to tackle organized retail crime
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Summary
Lawmakers and witnesses at a Dec. 17 hearing urged Congress to pass the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA) to centralize information and enable federal‑state investigations of transnational retail theft, citing rising cargo theft, gift‑card fraud and multi‑state fencing operations.
Members of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Government Surveillance on Dec. 17 heard bipartisan testimony calling for a federal data hub and task force to disrupt organized retail crime across state and international lines.
In opening remarks, the committee chair framed ORC as a growing threat to retailers, employees and public safety and cited recent arrests in Virginia and Maryland. Shane Bennett, principal of theft, fraud and abuse at Target, told the panel that retailers cannot solve the problem alone and said the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA) would help bridge investigative gaps. "The combating organized retail crime act or CORCA would help bridge that gap," Bennett said during his testimony.
Why it matters: Witnesses and members described a recurring pattern—local thefts that, once investigated, reveal links to multi‑state and transnational networks. District Attorney Stefan of San Diego said her office prosecuted more than 336 defendants tied to organized retail theft over three years with store losses she reported at about $3,208,000, but added that those prosecutions often stop at the booster level and rarely reach the higher chain that consolidates and ships stolen goods overseas.
Federal coordination and a national repository for incidents and evidence were presented as the missing piece. Stefan said a national databank would allow authorities to "connect the dots" between incidents and to escalate investigations to federal prosecutors when appropriate. Chris Spear, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations, urged federal leadership for cargo theft, saying centralized analysis and information sharing would help trace diverted shipments and identify patterns.
Details and evidence: Witnesses described several modes of ORC, including in‑store boosting, organized consolidation and international exfiltration. Retailers said they have partnered with federal agencies in targeted initiatives—Bennett cited Project Red Hook with Homeland Security Investigations as an example—and asked for statutory and funding support to expand such collaborations. Members pressed witnesses about the role of state law, immigration and local prosecutors; witnesses repeatedly emphasized that federal tools would complement, not replace, state and local enforcement.
The hearing also included discussion of state measures: representatives and the district attorney credited California’s Prop 36 with enabling prosecutions of habitual offenders and reducing property crime in San Diego, but said it does not address transnational coordination or strategic theft.
What’s next: Members concluded the hearing with an agreement to collect additional written questions and statements for the record; no markup or vote occurred at the conclusion of the session. The witnesses and several Republican and Democratic members expressed support for further committee action on CORCA to create a federal coordination center and a national reporting repository.