Rep. Ken Buck leads letter to DOJ demanding action on surging retail crime

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Organized retail crime leaves NYC drug stores reeling

Fox News senior correspondent Laura Ingle reports on the latest.

FIRST ON FOX: More than a dozen Republicans sent a joint letter Monday to Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding action on surging retail crime over the past year-plus.

Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., the prime author of the letter, told Fox News the Biden administration must act to provide for the security of all citizens.

"I urge the Justice Department to take action and develop a national strategy to address the alarming rise in organized retail crime," his letter reads.

In an interview with Fox News on Saturday, Buck said he hopes the DOJ will take the nationwide surge in retail thefts "more seriously" than at present.

"We need to have a federal effort that is supporting the effort that's going on in state and local law enforcement. These gangs are national and sometimes international. And so, the federal government should get involved in helping out. They shouldn't necessarily take the lead, but they should get involved in helping out," he said.

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A boarded-up Michael Kors store in San Francisco, California amid a rise in smash-and-grab thefts.    (Getty Images)

In the letter, Buck and his colleagues wrote that there has been a "sharp rise" in such crime in the past several months, and that local law enforcement agencies are in danger of being overwhelmed.

"Due to this rising tide of lawlessness, retailers are facing around $45 billion in annual losses, up from $30 billion just a decade ago. State and local law enforcement are doing all they can," the letter says. "Critical federal assistance, however, remains absent."

Buck was joined on the letter by more than a dozen other Republican members, including Reps. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, Rodney Davis, R-Ill., Burgess Owens, R-Utah, and William Timmons IV, R-S.C.

The letter also cites the Biden Justice Department’s recent success in capturing $4.5 million in profits from stolen merchandise through its Operation Booster Buster – which broke up a large-scale theft ring in Tulsa, Okla., and surrounding areas. Twenty-nine people were charged in that operation, in cooperation with Oklahoma authorities.

Buck's letter also comes following viral footage from across the nation showing flash mobs breaking into stores and looting merchandise. Such crime waves have struck both coasts, from New York City to Philadelphia to Walnut Creek, Calif. 

In the letter, Buck and his fellow signatories noted the National Retail Foundation found 70% of respondents to a recent survey reported increases in such organized retail crime.

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"[These] increases are markedly larger than in previous years. Further, the rise of online commerce platforms and the multi-jurisdictional nature of such theft, often crossing state lines, makes this a uniquely challenging issue for local authorities," the letter to Garland adds.

When asked by Fox News about the effect the lenient response in some cities to those left-wing demonstrations that turned violent in Summer 2020 had on the spike in retail theft being felt in 2021, Buck said certain policies have indeed fueled that fire:

"I think that the wrong signal has been sent to these criminals… anytime you talk about defunding the police, it demoralizes the police, and we need to make sure that our police realize that that law-abiding citizens support them and that the district attorneys support them," he said.

"Police get very frustrated when they arrest the same person over and over again. And so we really want to have good prosecutors and good sentences — and that, I think, would decrease this crime wave significantly."

In his interview with Fox News, Buck went on to criticize lax policies toward prosecutorial discretion and no-bail laws in some cities, where repeat offenders are often let back onto the street instead of into the municipal jail.

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WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 05: U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at the Department of Justice on January 5, 2022 in Washington, DC. Garland addressed the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. (Photo by Carolyn Kaster-Pool/Getty Images)

"When the police are ordered to stand down and the arrests aren't made for vandalism all the way up through arson and serious assaults, I don't think it helps," he said. "I think it sends the wrong signal… And I think that I wouldn't call them protests -- I think there were legitimate protesters, but I also think there were thugs who were out to intimidate people."

"And that activity and their response to that activity was that was not helpful for criminals across the board who were looking at increasing their activity."

Buck went on to cite Garland's success in prosecuting Operation Booster Buster, and said it is a sign of hope that the DOJ will act expeditiously in response to his letter.

"I hope he does," the lawmaker said of the attorney general. "And I think that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies are ready to help, and I think that's really important."

"I think that a signal from the top of the department would be great. And I think that they, the agents, recognize the seriousness of what's going on to retailers and consumers."