The New Jersey Food Council is praising Gov. Phil Murphy and Attorney General Matthew Platkin following the signing of a sweeping bill aimed at cracking down on organized retail crime and protecting retail workers.
Murphy signed the measure, A-4755/S-3587, during an event Tuesday at the North Brunswick municipal building. The legislation targets criminal enterprises that have increasingly threatened grocery stores and other retailers with theft and violence.
The New Jersey Food Council (NJFC), which represents more than 1,200 food retailers and related businesses across the state, worked closely with lawmakers and a coalition of business groups to advocate for the legislation.
“We are pleased to join in this effort to protect businesses, store employees and shoppers who depend on affordable, quality products that can be purchased safely and confidently,” said NJFC President and CEO Linda Doherty. “Under the leadership of Governor Murphy and Attorney General Platkin, we will drastically reduce the amount of organized retail theft that has become an epidemic in New Jersey.”
More than 50 legislators co-sponsored the bill, which passed unanimously in both chambers. Prime sponsors included Sens. John Burzichelli and Holly Schepisi, and Assemblymembers Joe Danielsen, Garnet Hall Saucikie and Claire Swift Simmons.
The new law:
- Creates the crime of aggravated assault of a retail worker.
- Allows prosecutors to seek enhanced sentencing for repeat offenders.
- Permits aggregation of stolen goods’ value over time to determine the severity of charges.
- Increases penalties for tax evasion by leaders of theft rings.
- Establishes new offenses for reselling stolen property and gift card fraud.
- It also authorizes the Attorney General to create a dedicated retail theft task force or other unit within the Department of Law and Public Safety.
According to the National Retail Federation, more than two-thirds of retail workers surveyed in 2023 reported an increase in violence and aggression related to organized retail crime, compared with the previous year.
“New Jersey is taking a defiant stance and recognizing that organized retail crime is not just petty shoplifting from the neighborhood grocer,” Doherty said. “We are fighting a behemoth operation of professional thieves methodically moving from town to town and across state lines.”
Other states — including New York, Pennsylvania, California, Maryland and Illinois — have already passed similar measures, causing a shift in crime patterns toward New Jersey, the NJFC said.
“With the governor’s signature, professional thieves will no longer see New Jersey as an opportunity for organized retail crime enterprises,” Doherty said. “This new law signals there’s a new sheriff in town.”
The New Jersey Food Council’s member companies employ more than 200,000 workers across the state.
