. Andrews said,"We need to educate folks on what organized retail crime actually is. And these are individuals and groups going into stores, stealing massive amounts of quantities of merchandise in various stores, day in and day out."
Andrews also touched on some of the actions that organizations and retailers are taking to prevent retail theft. Andrews said,"Retailers are working collaboratively ... many of these individuals are going to multiple retail locations ... we're getting more traction on those cases. So it's an education process for everyone involved, but it's going to take time and it's going to take resources and definitely collaboration.
And these are individuals and groups going into stores, stealing massive amounts of quantities of merchandise in various stores, day in and day out. So that thought process of these are big organizations, and they're insured, and it's not a big deal, we need to change that narrative. There has to be a punishment for these crimes. Otherwise, people are going to continue to do them. If it's a misdemeanor to go in and do these types of behaviors. So we have to get that. We have to get law enforcement's support in these. And of course, there's limited law enforcement resources nowadays.
So some of the things that I'm involved with and that are being done out there. RILA, NRF. They're great organizations that are bringing retailers together. And retailers are working collaboratively to these. We can't work in a silo. Many of these individuals are going to multiple retail locations.