NSGA Supports Combating Organized Retail Crime Act

DOWNERS GROVE, ILLINOIS (November 7, 2023) – The National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) supports the passage of the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act and the efforts to curb retail crime, which hurts our members, retailers everywhere and the public. 

This legislation would expand federal enforcement of criminal offenses related to organized retail crime, which includes large-scale retail theft and fraud by organized groups of professional shoplifters, or boosters, who make money by stealing merchandise and reselling it for a fraction of the retail cost.  In addition to broadening the list of related offenses, the law would establish the Organized Retail Crime Coordination Center within the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate the federal law enforcement activities related to organized retail crime.

Please support this important legislation by contacting your federally elected officials! You may find your elected officials on the NSGA website here. 

Please copy and paste the language below in your officials’ web inquiry forms.

As a member of the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) and a sporting goods retailer, I’m writing to urge you to cosponsor S. 140/H.R. 895, the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act. Organized retail crime remains a persistent threat to the retail industry, costing the industry over $112 billion in 2022. These sophisticated crimes permeate the entire retail ecosystem, impacting consumers, employees, and communities nationwide.

This bill increases coordination between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies by establishing a Center to Combat Organized Retail Crime at Homeland Security Investigations. This coordination is a critical step for retailers to effectively combat criminal activities.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.  For more information about how retail crime affects the sporting goods industry, please contact NSGA at advocacy@nsga.org.