Organized Retail Crime Center Authorization Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 139 To combat organized crime involving the illegal acquisition of retail goods for the purpose of selling those illegally obtained goods through physical and online retail marketplaces. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 30, 2023 Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself and Ms. CORTEZ MASTO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To combat organized crime involving the illegal acquisition of retail goods for the purpose of selling those illegally obtained goods through physical and online retail mar- ketplaces. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Organized Retail 4 Crime Center Authorization Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S139.IS S139 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 139 IS (1) organized retail crime, a crime involving 1 groups of individuals specifically targeting retail 2 stores, often by using violence or threats of violence 3 to subdue employees and shoppers while robbing 4 stores of their most valuable and easily diverted 5 merchandise, has been a growing concern to retail- 6 ers, industry, and law enforcement; 7 (2) retailers have seen a dramatic increase in 8 occurrences of organized retail crime, costing retail- 9 ers approximately $720,000 per every 10 $1,000,000,000 in sales in 2019, representing more 11 than a 50-percent increase in such losses since 2015. 12 Further, according to the National Retail Federa- 13 tion, the use of violence or aggression is increasing 14 in the commission of these crimes, with 2⁄3 of retail- 15 ers reporting an increase of violence during the com- 16 mission of retail theft; 17 (3) organized retail crime— 18 (A) threatens the safety and liberty of in- 19 dividuals in the United States when those indi- 20 viduals engage in commerce; 21 (B) erodes the retail economy for cus- 22 tomers and businesses alike; and 23 (C) finances transnational criminal organi- 24 zations that use the proceeds of those thefts to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S139.IS S139 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 139 IS support the criminal goals of the criminal orga- 1 nizations; and 2 (4) it has become necessary for Congress to di- 3 rect the executive branch to create a central coordi- 4 nation center to align Federal, State, local, terri- 5 torial, and Tribal efforts to combat organized retail 6 crime. 7 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF A CENTER TO COMBAT ORGA- 8 NIZED RETAIL CRIME. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Trade Facilitation 10 and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4341 et 11 seq.) is amended by inserting after section 305 the fol- 12 lowing: 13 ‘‘SEC. 305A. ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME COORDINATION 14 CENTER. 15 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 16 ‘‘(1) CENTER.—The term ‘Center’ means the 17 Organized Retail Crime Coordination Center estab- 18 lished pursuant to subsection (b)(1). 19 ‘‘(2) ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME.—The term 20 ‘organized retail crime’ includes— 21 ‘‘(A) any crime described in section 2314 22 or 2315 of title 18, United States Code; and 23 ‘‘(B) aiding or abetting the commission of, 24 or conspiring to commit, any act that is in fur- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S139.IS S139 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 139 IS therance of a violation of a crime referred to in 1 paragraph (1). 2 ‘‘(b) ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME COORDINATION 3 CENTER.— 4 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days 5 after the date of the enactment of the Organized Re- 6 tail Crime Center Authorization Act of 2023, the 7 Secretary of Homeland Security shall direct the Ex- 8 ecutive Associate Director of Homeland Security In- 9 vestigations to establish the Organized Retail Crime 10 Coordination Center. 11 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The duties of the Center shall 12 include— 13 ‘‘(A) coordinating Federal law enforcement 14 activities related to organized retail crime, in- 15 cluding investigations of national and 16 transnational criminal organizations that are 17 engaged in organized retail crime; 18 ‘‘(B) establishing relationships with State 19 and local law enforcement agencies and organi- 20 zations, including organized retail crime asso- 21 ciations, and sharing information regarding or- 22 ganized retail crime threats with such agencies 23 and organizations; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S139.IS S139 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 139 IS ‘‘(C) assisting State and local law enforce- 1 ment agencies with their investigations of orga- 2 nized retail crime groups; 3 ‘‘(D) establishing relationships with retail 4 companies, sharing information with such com- 5 panies regarding organized retail crime threats, 6 and providing mechanisms for the receipt of in- 7 vestigative information on such threats; 8 ‘‘(E) establishing a secure system for shar- 9 ing information regarding organized retail 10 crime threats by leveraging existing information 11 systems at the Department of Homeland Secu- 12 rity and the Department of Justice; 13 ‘‘(F) tracking trends with respect to orga- 14 nized retail crime and releasing annual public 15 reports on such trends; and 16 ‘‘(G) supporting the provision of training 17 and technical assistance in accordance with sub- 18 section (c). 19 ‘‘(3) LEADERSHIP; STAFFING.— 20 ‘‘(A) DIRECTOR.—The Center shall be 21 headed by a Director, who shall be— 22 ‘‘(i) an experienced law enforcement 23 officer; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S139.IS S139 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 139 IS ‘‘(ii) appointed by the Director of 1 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce- 2 ment; and 3 ‘‘(iii) in the Senior Executive Service 4 (as defined in section 3132 of title 5, 5 United States Code). 6 ‘‘(B) DEPUTY DIRECTOR.—The Director of 7 the Center shall be assisted by a Deputy Direc- 8 tor, who shall be appointed, on a 2-year rota- 9 tional basis, upon request from the Executive 10 Associate Director of Homeland Security Inves- 11 tigations, by— 12 ‘‘(i) the Director of the Federal Bu- 13 reau of Investigation; 14 ‘‘(ii) the Director of the United States 15 Secret Service; or 16 ‘‘(iii) the Chief Postal Inspector. 17 ‘‘(C) FEDERAL STAFF.—The staff of the 18 Center shall include— 19 ‘‘(i) Special Agents and Analysts from 20 Homeland Security Investigations; and 21 ‘‘(ii) detailed criminal investigators, 22 analysts, and liaisons from other Federal 23 agencies who have responsibilities related 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S139.IS S139 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 139 IS to organized retail crime, including 1 detailees from— 2 ‘‘(I) U.S. Customs and Border 3 Protection; 4 ‘‘(II) the United States Secret 5 Service; 6 ‘‘(III) the United States Postal 7 Inspection Service; 8 ‘‘(IV) the Bureau of Alcohol, To- 9 bacco, Firearms and Explosives; and 10 ‘‘(V) the Drug Enforcement Ad- 11 ministration. 12 ‘‘(D) STATE AND LOCAL STAFF.—The 13 staff of the Center may include detailees from 14 State and local law enforcement agencies, who 15 shall serve at the Center on a nonreimbursable 16 basis. 17 ‘‘(4) COORDINATION.— 18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Center shall co- 19 ordinate its activities, as appropriate, with 20 other Federal agencies and centers responsible 21 for countering transnational organized crime 22 threats. 23 ‘‘(B) SHARED RESOURCES.—In estab- 24 lishing the Center, the Executive Associate Di- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S139.IS S139 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 139 IS rector of Homeland Security Investigations may 1 co-locate or otherwise share resources and per- 2 sonnel, including detailees and agency liaisons, 3 with— 4 ‘‘(i) the National Intellectual Property 5 Rights Coordination Center established 6 pursuant to section 305(a)(1); or 7 ‘‘(ii) other existing interagency cen- 8 ters within the Department of Homeland 9 Security. 10 ‘‘(C) AGREEMENTS.—The Director of the 11 Center, or his or her designee, may enter into 12 agreements with Federal, State, local, and Trib- 13 al agencies and private sector entities to facili- 14 tate carrying out the duties described in para- 15 graph (2). 16 ‘‘(D) INFORMATION SHARING.—Subject to 17 the approval of the Director of the Center, in- 18 formation that would otherwise be subject to 19 the limitation on the disclosure of confidential 20 information set forth in section 1905 of title 21 18, United States Code, may be shared if such 22 disclosure is operationally necessary. The Direc- 23 tor may not delegate his or her authority under 24 this subparagraph. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S139.IS S139 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 139 IS ‘‘(5) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 1 ‘‘(A) INITIAL REPORT.— 2 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 3 year after the date of the enactment of the 4 Organized Retail Crime Center Authoriza- 5 tion Act of 2023, the Secretary of Home- 6 land Security shall submit a report regard- 7 ing the establishment of the Center to— 8 ‘‘(I) the Committee on the Judi- 9 ciary of the Senate; 10 ‘‘(II) the Committee on Home- 11 land Security and Governmental Af- 12 fairs of the Senate; 13 ‘‘(III) the Committee on the Ju- 14 diciary of the House of Representa- 15 tives; and 16 ‘‘(IV) the Committee on Home- 17 land Security of the House of Rep- 18 resentatives. 19 ‘‘(ii) CONTENTS.—The report required 20 under clause (i) should include a descrip- 21 tion of— 22 ‘‘(I) the organizational structure 23 of the Center; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S139.IS S139 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 139 IS ‘‘(II) the agencies and partner 1 organizations that are represented 2 within the Center; 3 ‘‘(III) any challenges that had to 4 be addressed while establishing the 5 Center; 6 ‘‘(IV) any lessons learned from 7 establishing the Center, including suc- 8 cessful prosecutions resulting from the 9 activities of the Center; 10 ‘‘(V) recommendations for ways 11 to strengthen the enforcement of laws 12 involving organized retail crime; 13 ‘‘(VI) recommendations for ways 14 to include organized retail crime with- 15 in a holistic supply chain security en- 16 forcement framework; 17 ‘‘(VII) the intersections and com- 18 monalities between organized retail 19 crime organizations and other orga- 20 nized theft groups, including supply 21 chain diversion and theft; and 22 ‘‘(VIII) the impact of organized 23 theft groups on the scarcity of vital 24 products, including medicines, per- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S139.IS S139 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 139 IS sonal protective equipment, and infant 1 formula. 2 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL REPORT.—Beginning on the 3 date that is 1 year after the submission of the 4 report required under subparagraph (A), the 5 Director shall submit an annual report that de- 6 scribes the activities of the Center during the 7 previous year to the congressional committees 8 listed in subparagraph (A)(i). 9 ‘‘(c) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 10 ‘‘(1) EVALUATION.—Not later than 180 days 11 after the date of the enactment of the Organized Re- 12 tail Crime Center Authorization Act of 2023, the 13 Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney 14 General shall conduct an evaluation of existing Fed- 15 eral programs that provide grants, training, and 16 technical support to State, local, and Tribal law en- 17 forcement to assist in countering organized retail 18 crime. 19 ‘‘(2) EVALUATION SCOPE.—The evaluation re- 20 quired under paragraph (1) shall evaluate, at a min- 21 imum— 22 ‘‘(A) the Homeland Security Grant Pro- 23 gram at the Federal Emergency Management 24 Agency; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S139.IS S139 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 139 IS ‘‘(B) grant programs at the Office of Jus- 1 tice Programs within the Department of Jus- 2 tice; and 3 ‘‘(C) relevant training programs at the 4 Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. 5 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than 45 days after 6 the completion of the evaluation required under 7 paragraph (1), the Secretary of Homeland Security 8 and the Attorney General shall jointly submit a re- 9 port to the congressional committees listed in sub- 10 section (b)(5)(A)(i) that— 11 ‘‘(A) describes the results of such evalua- 12 tion; and 13 ‘‘(B) includes recommendations on ways to 14 expand grants, training, and technical assist- 15 ance for combating organized retail crime. 16 ‘‘(4) ENHANCING OR MODIFYING TRAINING AND 17 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Not later than 45 days 18 after submitting the report required under para- 19 graph (3), the Secretary of Homeland Security and 20 the Attorney General shall jointly issue formal guid- 21 ance to relevant agencies and offices within the De- 22 partment of Homeland Security and the Department 23 of Justice for modifying or expanding, as appro- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Feb 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S139.IS S139 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 139 IS priate, the prioritization of training and technical as- 1 sistance designed to counter organized retail crime.’’. 2 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 3 for the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 4 2015 (Public Law 107–296) is amended by inserting after 5 the item relating to section 305 the following: 6 ‘‘Sec. 305A. Organized Retail Crime Coordination Center.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S139.IS S139 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS