Vermont ranks 13th highest in nation in retail theft impact
By Michael Bielawski
New sobering stat for the Green Mountain State: we rank 13th nationally in the impact of retail theft.
Also, the Burlington Retail Association says that the Vermont legislature had a bill in 2022 that would have helped address the problem but was stalled because lawmakers suggested it wouldn’t be enforced properly.
The report titled “Vermont is the 13th most impacted state by retail crime in America” can be read on VermontBiz.com. It includes many stats and graphs illustrating that retail theft has become a high priority for communities in recent years.
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“Organized retail crime has become an issue for retailers nationwide, with stores such as Target saying they are closing storefronts due to theft losses and for safety precautions,” the report states.
It continues, “The National Retail Federation reported that more retailers in America felt organized retail crime was a higher priority in 2023 (78.1%) compared to 2022 (70.7%). In addition, shoplifting statistics show that 88% of retailers say that shoplifters are at least somewhat more aggressive and violent compared to one year ago.”
Business Business Association says reported stats can be misleading
Kelly Devine has been the Executive Director of the Burlington Business Association (BBA) since 2007.
“As far as Burlington goes, I would say that a lot of theft here goes underreported, because if you’ve seen the Burlington Police Priority Response Plan, it’s not on their high priority to respond to retail theft,” she said.
She said that the formally reported number of retail thefts likely did not represent the actual number of thefts. According to the report, there are numerous reasons that stores may choose not to report a theft.
VDC was told in July that businesses do not report retail theft because they do not expect to see an in-person police response. The report also highlights that insurance premiums can rise when stores report thefts, sometimes the store doesn’t want to see the perpetrator face jail time, and sometimes it’s just considered too much trouble to submit a report.
The lack of reporting makes it challenging to gauge the true rate of retail theft.
“While I have not heard that theft is increasing in 2023, it remains to be a significant problem that costs some of our local businesses, some of the larger ones, tens of thousands of dollars every year in losses,” Devine said.
She said one trend is people will steal multiple sizes of one product, indicating that these products are being stolen for the intention of resale, not because they need a warm jacket.
“That means it goes for either cash or to support a drug habit,” she explained. “I think there is a connection between the opioid crisis and retail theft in Burlington.”
The infamous $900 limit
She noted that there was a bill at the Statehouse that would have allowed prosecutors to aggregate the cost of stolen goods for repeat offenders.
What that means is there is a $900 threshold for stolen goods before a perpetrator can be charged with a felony. Repeat offenders currently can repeatedly steal just under that limit and get away with multiple thefts amounting to well over $900 without facing felony charges.
A bill proposed by Rep. Martin Lalonde, D-South Burlington, would have remedied this problem.
“There’s a $900 limit for [to have a felony charge] and we can’t aggregate that,” she said.
She added, “We and several retailers testified in 2022 about the importance of advancing that. … It was never voted out of committee and the reason given was because of the inconsistent level of implementation and philosophies of our state’s attorneys in our different counties. … They said what’s the point of the new rule if the state’s attorneys aren’t going to enforce it.”
The bill was H.381, “An act relating to the aggregate value of stolen property in certain crimes.”
The author is a reporter for the Vermont Daily Chronicle