AUSTIN, Texas — State lawmakers were briefed on Tuesday on efforts to stop what officials call a growing problem in Texas: organized retail theft.
The state launched a task force to tackle the issue after the passage of House Bill 1826 by State Rep. Chris Turner (D-Grand Prairie) in 2023.
“We saw pictures of warehouses full of stolen goods,” Turner said.
Turner said organized crime rings are stealing, and often reselling, high-value goods.
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar said while the Lone Star State has seen fewer incidents of organized retail theft than other states, it’s not immune.
The National Retail Federation said theft cost stores around the U.S. $112 billion in 2022.
During an interim hearing on Tuesday, Turner told the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee organized retail theft often crosses city and county limits, making it tough to track and prosecute.
This Organized Retail Theft Task Force, run by the Comptroller’s Office, aims to get everyone on the same page. The 10-member task force includes law enforcement officials, a researcher specializing in organized retail theft and loss prevention officials from H-E-B, Amazon, Target and other big companies.
Associate Deputy Comptroller Korry Castillo testified on Tuesday, saying that the task force has hosted three meetings and five site visits so far, with more planned in the fall, plus conversations with outside speakers to broaden the group’s perspective.
Castillo said one challenge has been getting good data.
“Every individual retailer may have data about what’s going on in their individual shop, but to see kind of the universe of what is happening in retail theft across all different sectors is the biggest challenge that I think even the national associations that look into this have,” Castillo said.
State lawmakers also funded seven new positions within Texas Department of Public Safety in 2023 to fight organized retail theft. DPS put three of those employees in Dallas, three in Houston and one in Austin.
Cpt. Chris Bowen with Texas DPS’ Criminal Investigations Division told lawmakers on Tuesday those new employees have visited retailers and heard prosecution is a big challenge.
“When you look at the urban areas and you have violent crime, the DA’s office is going to put things on a pedestal on what’s important, what’s not,” Bowen said. “As law enforcement, we don’t worry about that. We hand deliver the best case we can and then once that’s delivered to the DA’s office, it’s really out of our control.”
The task force has until December to release a report with recommendations to improve transparency and security.
Lawmakers could use those to draft new bills to fight the problem once the next legislative session starts in January.