Smash and Grab

The metro Atlanta area has endured an epidemic of gang-related smash-and-grabs over the past several years. Now, it is aggressively attacking the problem through tough new legislation that increases penalties for juvenile and adult offenders, intensive community outreach programs and unprecedented collaboration between retailers, law enforcement agencies and county prosecutors.

These efforts come none too soon for merchants that have lost millions of dollars in theft and damage to crimes that are becoming increasingly brazen and violent.

“We’ve been lucky so far,” says John Heavener, president of the Georgia Retail Association. “People have already been accosted, Maced and pepper sprayed. We know that if we don’t do something soon, it’s only a matter of time before someone gets killed.”

Sharla Jackson, community prosecutor for the Fulton County District Attorney’s office, agrees. “This is going to escalate, and someone’s going to get hurt. We’ve got to put a lid on it before that happens.”

A three-pronged approach
The Georgia State Senate passed the Smash and Grab Act — incorporated as part of House Bill 1104 — on April 29, just hours before it was set to adjourn, and it is expected to be signed into law this month.

Michael Liberatore, regional vice president of loss prevention for Macy’s and chairman of NRF’s Loss Prevention Legislative Committee, outlined the depth of Atlanta’s problem and the need for legislative action in March during testimony before the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee.

“This low-risk, high-reward activity has become a breeding ground for juvenile crime as young people are recruited off the street with promises of big payoffs … or worst of all, gang acceptance,” he told the committee. “All of this is accomplished with the assurances that there are few, if any, criminal apprehensions or convictions, partly because existing laws have not kept pace with current crime trends and limit law enforcement’s ability to successfully apprehend and prosecute these crimes.”

Liberatore knows the solution isn’t as easy as locking up juveniles: “We’re simply trying to mitigate the problem by dulling the recruiting tool. It’s really a three-pronged approach: improved retail and law enforcement inter-agency communication, community outreach and better laws.”

Calvin Moss, a 29-year veteran of the Atlanta Police Department and deputy chief of the Criminal Investigations Division, says tougher laws are only part of the solution. “I don’t see us arresting our way out of it. It’s going to require a holistic approach and the involvement of communities, law enforcement, religious groups, schools and social service agencies.”

There were 363 retail burglaries in Atlanta between 2007 and 2009. Of these, 44 percent were smash and grabs. Clothing (particularly high-end denim) accounts for nearly 40 percent of all retail thefts, with electronics accounting for another 28 percent, according to figures compiled by the Law Enforcement Retail Partnership Network (LERPnet). “The M.O. is the same, but they are moving from small specialty clothing boutiques to specialty electronics stores,” says Angelica Rodriguez, senior director of loss prevention for NRF.

LERPnet reports were instrumental in the passage of the Georgia Smash-and-Grab bill, which makes such crimes felonies punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

For Liberatore, the chain of events in Atlanta track quite close to those that transpired in Florida in the early 1990s, which culminated with the carjacking and death of a German tourist in Miami and a restructuring of state law. “It started with rocks being thrown through windows and kids stealing desirable merchandise,” he says. “As they got more brazen we invested a lot of money in physical security like steel roll-down doors.

“Then it escalated to perps hijacking vehicles and driving them into the stores,” he says. “Even the steel and concrete barriers we put up didn’t stop them. They’d hook up chains to the vehicles and pry the doors open.”

Macy’s stores in Georgia had been victimized by several smash and grabs in the 12 months preceding passage of the legislation, incurring damages and property losses of approximately $300,000. The company has invested just under $1 million in security measures like roll-down doors, improved surveillance systems, increased parking lot patrols and security coverage by off-duty police officers. The stores have also adjusted interior lighting to make it harder for thieves to find certain merchandise, and cameras have been trained on specific departments.

Among other incidents, eyewear with an estimated value of $150,000 was stolen from a Pearle Vision store and $80,000 in denim, sportswear, jewelry and shoes were stolen from the eModa boutique in Atlanta’s midtown section. The crimes are believed to have been perpetrated by the so-called Blue Jean Bandits; the group has ties to a local gang, 30 Deep, and enlists juveniles to commit many of the crimes. The targets are not always random. Police have found that gangs had been taking orders for merchandise before the robberies — lucrative ventures in which a $200 pair of premium jeans can have a street value of about $70.

More serious penalties
The new state law defines smash-and-grab burglaries as entering a retail establishment without authority with the intent to commit theft and causing more than $500 of damage. Additionally, if an adult recruits a minor into felonious activities, it is no longer a misdemeanor and the first offense is 10 years. “We’re trying to make the penalty serious because half of the perps are under 17 in most gang-related thefts,” Heavener says. The second part of the bill “makes it easier to keep [juvenile perpetrators] incarcerated for a longer period of time.”

Jackson says her office “asked that smash-and-grab be treated as a designated felony. This gives the courts the discretion to keep juveniles in custody for up to five years.”

Since crime prevention is part of the solution, the District Attorney’s office and Atlanta police have convened training sessions for retailers. “We looked at all the areas in which we could assist retailers by suggesting changes in the way they do things—things like safety plans for employees and how to display merchandise so it’s harder for people to just rush in and grab it,” Jackson says. “We actually went into the communities to visit retailers, took photographs and critiqued what they did.”

The District Attorney’s office has also implemented a Citizens CourtWatch program under which members of the community come to court to identify and help with prosecution of repeat offenders.

“The goal is to implement a CourtWatch for retailers that will help them become better advocates by speaking with prosecutors and making statements to the court,” Jackson says. “Unless it’s a violent crime, there aren’t a lot of people explaining to the judge how this crime impacted the community. This will help.”

Meanwhile, police in metro Atlanta have been meeting with the retail task force on a regular basis. “The intent is to share information, gather intelligence and harden targets as much as possible,” Moss says. “I think many retailers have already beefed up security teams and are more alert to the potential threat of groups coming in and making off with merchandise during business hours.”