December 7, 2025
Simone Carter / The Olympian (TNS)
Washington is the nation’s unfortunate leader when it comes to retail theft — an issue that some state lawmakers are signaling needs urgent attention.
In a 2024 Forbes Advisor survey, Washington ranked as the No. 1 state in the nation most impacted by retail crime. Now state Rep. Mari Leavitt, a University Place Democrat, is sounding the alarm on organized retail crime (ORC), the coordinated stealing and reselling of goods for financial gain, typically by large-scale crime rings.
Leavitt said she’s heard concerns from local small businesses and chambers of commerce about the criminal trend.
“Just to be clear, I’m not talking about a grandmother stealing something for her grandson to eat,” she said in a phone interview. “I’m talking about those who are intent with coordinated efforts in order to create havoc in communities.”
Last session Leavitt introduced legislation that sought to crack down on organized retail theft via sentencing enhancements, but it didn’t move beyond a public hearing. (Opponents of the measure argued that harsher sentences don’t deter people from committing crimes.) Since then, Leavitt said she’s worked on the bill, which attracted bipartisan support.
Leavitt said a King County prosecutor recommended language to make her bill stronger, which will be incorporated into an amendment. Still, she added, money is needed to prosecute these cases.
“You can create all the tools you want, but unless we have resources to prosecute these cases, it makes it difficult,” she said.
Leavitt noted that in 2022, then-Attorney General Bob Ferguson developed an Organized Retail Crime Theft Task Force in the AG’s office to help tackle the problem.
State Rep. Roger Goodman, a Kirkland Democrat who chairs the House Community Safety Committee, called retail theft a “huge problem” during a Dec. 4 work session, noting that legislators will be considering ways to address it.
Organized retail crime has surged nationwide, according to a 2024 report from the National Retail Federation. Retailers reported that in 2023, the average annual number of shoplifting incidents was 93% higher compared with 2019.
Washington state in 2021 lost about $2.7 billion in stolen goods — translating to $603 million in missed local and state tax revenue, per the Washington Retail Association (WRA). Leavitt said lost dollars could have been invested in areas like behavioral health treatment and human services.
The retail industry is one of the biggest economic engines in Washington, which is a sales tax-dependent state, said Crystal Leatherman, Washington Retail Association’s director of policy and government affairs.
Leatherman noted that in addition to losing merchandise, business owners sometimes wind up investing in security measures in an attempt to deter future crimes. Many retailers have also reported that the violence committed during these thefts is worsening, she said.
Leatherman said Washington values implementing alternative methods to help people who are struggling, including through diversion programs or drug treatment. But that can become an issue if completing the treatment isn’t required, she added.
Lax consequences, particularly for repeat offenders, may embolden them to continue stealing and to escalate the level of their crimes, Leatherman said.
“These are not victimless crimes,” Leatherman continued.
The Tri-City Herald reported last month that three suspects believed to be in an organized theft ring were arrested after allegedly stealing products from four stores in the same day.
A man who stole $750,000 in merchandise from malls spanning three counties was recently sentenced to 13 years in prison after pleading guilty to several counts including first-degree organized retail theft, according to The News Tribune.
Leavitt cited examples of recent store closings.
Two Fred Meyer locations, one in Everett and another in Kent, announced mid-October closures, with parent company Kroger partly blaming “a steady rise in theft.” Another Fred Meyer in Tacoma’s South End also recently closed. Officials didn’t cite crime as the cause.
When businesses shutter, it can sometimes create food deserts in neighborhoods, Leavitt said.
She reemphasized that her focus is not on the mom stealing diapers for her baby. Rather, she wants to target high-end repeat offenders committing “smash and grabs” by driving into stores and stealing as many high-value products as they can, she said.
Employees don’t feel safe in the workplace, she said, and communities are losing small businesses that can’t afford necessary security upgrades.
“Organized retail crime … at a bigger-picture level is harming communities,” Leavitt said. “It’s a public safety issue.”
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