Video: Joining “Chicago Tonight” are Rob Karr, president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul. (Produced by Abena Bediako)

Stealing is one thing.

Organized retail theft is next level in the eyes of state law.

A new group and database announced Monday will take combatting it to the next level, too.

Organized retail theft has been a felony offense in Illinois since 2023, through a law dubbed the Illinois Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers (INFORM Consumers) Act, which broadly characterizes the crime as when someone knowingly steals at least $300 in merchandise from one or more stores with the intent of reselling it.

It’s also illegal to organize the theft and transport, and to knowingly buy stolen goods.

The INFORM law (Public Act 102-0757 / House Bill 1091) also:

• gives the Illinois attorney general the ability to convene a statewide grand jury to prosecute organized retail theft,
• allows local state’s attorneys to prosecute across county lines,
• establishes that stores have specific rights in court,
• and creates a fund that law enforcement agencies can draw from to help investigate.

To cut down on stolen merchandise being sold online, web-based marketplaces are required through the law to verify high-volume sellers’ identities.

That’s all helping, said Rob Karr, head of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, retailers’ state lobbying and advocacy organization.

“But the next phase is intelligence gathering and sharing which we currently don’t have a mechanism for statewide,” Karr said.

That’s changing, with the debut in Illinois of an online “crime intelligence” platform called Auror described by Karr as a real-time repository that allows users to see “tactics — what they’re stealing, how they’re stealing it. Typically, they (retail thieves) move on a route, so you can track where they’ve been and where they might be going.”

He said that information can serve as a warning for retailers, like by showing that a couple of high-end liquor stores were hit, so another store nearby can take precautions, and it may help police by giving them “extra tools to figure out who’s doing what, where and how.”

There’s no requirement that police or stores participate, though Karr said he’s hopeful agencies will because it’ll make it easier for them to solve crimes.

It’s free to users who pass a screening.

Karr said Auror is used in other states, and though it’s live now in Illinois, there’s no data yet. Law enforcement agencies, retailers and other eligible groups can begin applying for access.

The Illinois Organized Retail Crime Association (ILORCA), a new group under the retail association’s umbrella, was formed to coordinate police, prosecutors, stores’ theft prevention teams and other stakeholders, and will work to get the word out about Auror.

The organization is funded through a state grant and helps facilitate collaboration with other organized retail crime associations across the nation, helping to build prosecutable cases across state lines.

Anne Sagins, who worked for Illinois Senate Republicans for several decades, will serve as ILORCA’s director.

“Not only are these criminal groups devastating businesses and local economies, but they’re also threatening the safety of employees and customers while putting our communities at risk of further crime,” Sagins said in a statement. “By fostering stronger partnerships and enabling real-time intelligence sharing, we are taking a significant step toward reducing these crimes across Illinois.”

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul in 2021 established an Organized Retail Crime Task Force, which collaborates with law enforcement agencies across the state, brick-and-mortar retailers and online platforms to investigate and stop people who are engaging in organized theft. 

“With regards to the trends, unfortunately it varies,” Raoul said. “We’ve seen all sorts of actors, whether it be international actors such as the cartel, gangs, organized crime entities that are domestic, and local operators who may have been initially utilized as mules … organizing for themselves within municipalities in counties and within states.”

Raoul said organized retail theft can be connected to other crimes like human trafficking, drug trafficking, gun trafficking and even terrorism.

“People don’t feel comfortable shopping in person because of these brazen acts,” Raoul said. “It impacts not just the retailer, but it impacts the city at large in terms of its tourism.”

According to the Chicago Police Department’s 2023 annual report, retail theft rose by 10% from 2022, with 9,624 reports in the city last year.

Karr said retailers began noticing a trend in criminal theft rings in 2008, and it’s since become both more common and more brazen. It ranges from looting to high-profile “smash and grabs” at luxury shops.

Critics have complained the focus on retail theft is overblown, and unfairly used by corporations to close stores in impoverished neighborhoods, valuing things over people.

Retailers see it differently, with, as noted by Sagin, the potential of employees and customers being put in a dangerous situation.

“We need to quit thinking of retail theft as a victimless crime,” Karr said. “Every time that something is stolen, that sales tax isn’t paid, and that means that revenue isn’t paid to the local or state governments, to fund the services we all rely on.”

Contact Amanda Vinicky: @AmandaVinicky | [email protected]