Media Contact: Sarah Pollo Moo, 916-410-7506
Sacramento, CA – September 22, 2021 – The Following statement can be attributed to Rachel Michelin, President and CEO of the California Retailers Association in response to today's announcement of a new organized retail crime initiative in San Francisco.
"California Retailers Association applauds the efforts by the San Francisco Mayor, local elected officials and law enforcement to announce a new initiative today, in partnership with local retailers and the business community to combat the City and County's growing organized retail crime problem.
CRA's members have hundreds of stores throughout the County and City of San Francisco that have struggled for years with the continued rise in retail theft including having to limit store hours, place consumer items behind locked cases and even close stores.
The CRA team has been working with local jurisdictions throughout the state on this critical issue meeting with local district attorneys, mayors and law enforcement to discuss collaborative solutions. CRA has also been fighting ORC at the state level working with Governor Gavin Newsom and his Administration, state legislators and California Highway Patrol to successfully extend the state's Organized Retail Crime Task Force, which was set to expire, through the passage and signing of AB 331 as well as secure millions in budget appropriation for the Department of Justice specially for ORC.
ORC is a growing problem, not only for businesses, but communities throughout California as the state leads the nation in reports of serial theft. ORC fosters a host of illegal activity, including the recruitment of vulnerable Californians such as youth, homeless and others into sophisticated theft crime networks that frequently use their proceeds to finance other illegal activity including drug smuggling and human trafficking.
CRA and its retail members look forward to continuing to collaborate with the City and County of San Francisco, local law enforcement and businesses in breaking up sophisticated crime rings that have led to millions of dollars in stolen goods.
The work on this critical issue is far from complete as CRA works to continue funding for the Organized Crime Task Force at the state level and explore ways to continue tackling the problem.
This work includes a recent and strategic merging of CRA and the California Organized Retail Crimes Association (CAL-ORCA), an organization dedicated to fostering partnerships between law enforcement professionals and loss prevention professionals to provide training, combat ORC and other crimes impacting the business community. The CRA and Cal-ORCA partnership will aid in the sharing of cross jurisdictional information to help identify, disrupt and apprehend ORC suspects in California and other states. Learn more at www.calretailers.com."
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About the California Retailers Association
The California Retailers Association (CRA) is the only statewide trade association representing all segments of the retail industry including general merchandise, department stores, on-line marketplaces, mass merchandisers, convenience stores, supermarkets and grocery stores, chain drug, and specialty retail such as auto, vision, jewelry, hardware and home stores. CRA works on behalf of California’s retail industry, which prior to the pandemic, operated over 418,840 retail establishments with a gross domestic product of $330 billion annually and employed 3,211,805 people—one fourth of California’s total employment. The state of California collected $48.5 billion in revenue from retail sales and use taxes, representing more than 25% of the state revenue. For more information, go to www.calretailers.com.
