The Cook County State's Attorney's office was one of the agencies at the helm of a nationwide crackdown on a $1 billion problem, involving professional thieves stealing from stores across the U.S.

More than 500 people were arrested for retail theft recently in a specifically targeted mission by more than 100 law enforcement agencies across the U.S.

"We had probably 400 or 500 people on several calls to organize this," said Assistant State's Attorney David Williams of the Cook County State's Attorney's Regional Organized Crime Task Force. "We teamed up with the private sector — retailers, manufacturers, insurers, financial services — with local, state, and federal law enforcement."

 In 28 states, the goal was to crack down on organized retail theft — which is different from shoplifting. It is not just people stuffing items in their backpacks and running out.

"These are professional thieves," Williams said. "These are people who do pre-surveillance on stores, know store policies."

The policies the thieves know include how far store employees hired to monitor theft can go. Their hands are often tied when it comes to intervening with someone actively pocketing merchandise — someone stealing can walk right out.

"It's always mind-blowing to see how prolific the problem is at times," said Assistant Chief Brandon Shipwash of the California Highway Patrol.

Shipwash and his California Highway Patrol team cuffed more than 90 people during the blitz, and recovered $153,000 worth of stolen goods. Some officers went behind the scenes at stores, while others got warrants and found stockpiles of clothes, purses, shoes, and other items.

"You go through the garage, and it might as well be a warehouse for the company," Shipwash said. "They have so many things."

Smaller retail theft crackdowns have been happening for some time. In 2022, Wilmette police also made a major organized retail crime bust — recovering $7 million worth pilfered products.

"They're stealing it so they can sell it to somebody," Williams said, "so maybe something that cost $100 in the store, they're selling for $10."

The black market involved in such theft often involves gangs, guns, and drugs.

"We've seen that money going overseas to actually finance international crime groups and even terrorist groups," Williams said.

Back on our soil, there is another impact.

 "If something's stolen from a store, it means we're losing tax revenue," said Williams.

 Williams' boss, Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke, is seemingly trying to tackle the problem. She changed the policy for retail theft arrests on her first day in office.

The $1,000 threshold to make retail theft a felony crime — which was set by O'Neill Burke's predecessor, Kim Foxx — was dropped dropping to $300

"That gives us an opportunity to pursue those things in a way that maybe we weren't able to in the past," Williams said.

It should be noted that not every arrest during the operation nailed a kingpin.

Elmhurst police said during the operation, they cited someone who took an $8 pet stain remover. But Williams said that is not whom the operation is going after.

"We're looking for organized criminal crews," he said.

Still, coordinating retail theft investigations across the country was meant to send a message. That message is that eyes are everywhere.

• Retail Theft
• Cook County