Florida lawmakers’ crack down on retail and porch thefts nears the finish line

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A bill aimed at cracking down on porch and retail thieves is nearing the finish line in the Florida Legislature.

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The bill includes various enhanced penalties for crimes that are hurting businesses’ bottom lines and driving prices up for consumers.

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The National Retail Federation estimates businesses lost a combined $112 billion in 2022 due to retail theft.

Packages stolen off of American’s porches cost a combined $19.5 billion that same year according to figures cited in the retail theft bill’s staff analysis.

Last year, Action News Jax revealed retail theft cost businesses here in Jacksonville an estimated half million dollars in 2022, which was roughly twice as much as the year prior.

“Whether or not you’ve seen organized retail crime in action, it’s impacting all of us,” said Amanda Bevis, a spokesperson with the Florida Retail Federation. “That impacts what they can pay their team members, what kind of prices and deals they can offer to consumers.”

RELATED: Accused porch pirate stole packages from more than 20 houses, police say

The Florida Senate is expected to take up legislation Tuesday evening that would create enhanced penalties both for porch thefts and retail thefts.

Some of the main changes include lowering the price tag of items stolen off porches to trigger a felony charge, making organized smash and grab retail thefts a felony when multiple people are involved, and increasing penalties even higher if the theft is organized on social media.

There are also enhanced penalties for repeat offenders.

When the bill was heard in the House late last month, some Democratic lawmakers objected to the stiff penalties, noting the severe lifelong consequences a felony conviction can bring.

“Giving somebody a felony for forty bucks? We talk about ruining somebody’s life forever. Stopping them from being able to get into the military, stopping them from being able to be able and go off to college somewhere,” said State Representative Dianne Hart (D-Tampa).

But the bill sponsor countered the escalating prevalence of retail and porch theft demands a strong response.

“I’m trying to prevent people from getting hurt. I’m trying to protect our economy. I’m trying to protect our businesses and our jobs,” said State Representative Bob Rommel (R-Naples).

RELATED: Porch pirates face potential felony charges for stealing packages

Bevis argued the bill intentionally targets organized crime, rather than the random shoplifter.

“It’s high dollar. They know what they’re doing. They’re making a business out of it and the goal of this legislation is to stop those actions,” said Bevis.

An amendment has been filed ahead of the bill’s hearing before the full Senate would change the length of time between retail crimes where enhanced penalties could be applied, lowering the House’s 365 day period to 120 days.

Both are substantial increases over the current 30 days.

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If adopted, the bill will need to be passed one final time by the House.

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