Lawmakers advance bill on shoplifting
While Christmas Eve shoppers browsed the aisles in Bay State shops, the House loaded its cart with a bill designed to reduce shoplifting.
The legislation advanced Wednesday would criminalize distribution of shoplifting tools aimed at disabling theft detection systems. It also specifically outlaws shoplifting by use of an emergency exit, and creates a new charge of using fraudulent receipts.
The bill was sent to the Gov. Deval Patrick over the summer, but he sent it back with an amendment seeking to provide alternatives to prison for subsequent violations of the receipt of stolen property law.
Organized retail crime, defined as three or more people who team up to steal from retailers, could be punished by sentences of 2 to 15 years in prison if the crime ring stole $10,000 worth of goods in the past three months, the bill stipulates. A leader of an organized retail crime ring could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison under the legislation.
With two weeks remaining in the session, the bill still needs approval by the Senate and by Patrick before it becomes law.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments