Ferguson Seeks Funding For Organized Retail Crime Unit

OLYMPIA, WA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson will seek funding in the next legislative session to staff a new retail crime task force, which would focus efforts on "sophisticated, organized crime rings" and be available to assist investigations across jurisdictions and prosecute cases referred to them by local authorities.

"Washington law enforcement agencies have limited resources to tackle these sophisticated crimes," Ferguson said late last month. "A modest investment in a centralized statewide organized retail crimes unit will hold criminals accountable and deter crimes which cause significant economic harm in our state."

Ferguson's office said the new unit would focus on groups of people who steal products intending to resell them, rather than poverty-driven crimes like petty theft. Earlier this year, the Attorney General assembled a task force to improve coordination between agencies. More than 100 participants attended the first meeting, including retailers, small business owners and law enforcement representatives.

The new proposal seeks $1.5 million annually to staff 10 full-time positions within Ferguson's office. Early backers include the Washington Retail Association and UFCW 3000, which counts more than 50,000 workers among its ranks.

"As the retail industry continues to recover from the pandemic, there has never been a more critical time in Washington state to address the growing impacts of organized retail crime on public safety and the safety of our customers and retail employees," said Renée Sunde, president and CEO of the Washington Retail Association. "Funding the unit is an important part of a multi-pronged approach to coordinate the efforts of state and local law enforcement, prosecutors, retailers and policymakers at multiple agencies and levels of government."

If taken up and approved by lawmakers in the upcoming session, Washington would join several other states with similar units, including Arizona and Michigan.