Grassley Presses DOJ, DHS on Response to Spate of Organized Theft

WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is pressing federal authorities to explain what’s being done to combat a spate of organized theft that’s occurred in communities across the country. Organized crime rings that target retail stores often rely on internet communications to coordinate flash mobs and resell the stolen merchandise, triggering federal law enforcement jurisdiction.

 

In letters today to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Grassley is requesting a briefing on the federal response to growing instances of organized theft. Grassley also notes the disconnect of federal law enforcement devoting resources to certain local matters, such as school board meetings, while crime involving federal violations continues to spread.

 

“It is particularly troublesome if federal law enforcement, namely the Department of Justice, takes an interest in working to prevent an alleged “spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence” against local school administrators, acts that are often minor violations of local law, or even noncriminal, but federal law enforcement is not able to devote sufficient resources to combatting organized criminal rings operating in cities across the country and the interstate transportation of stolen goods,” Grassley said in the letters.

 

Grassley’s letter to DOJ is available HERE.  His letter to DHS is available HERE.