An Eastern Wisconsin Senator is once again taking aim at criminals, this time those who commit retail crimes.
District 1 Senator Andre Jacque of De Pere has introduced a bill that would align the felony thresholds for retail theft and conventional theft to be the same at $500.
It would also allow the value of property stolen or received in a six-month period to be aggregated by a prosecutor, providing that offenses committed in multiple counties may be consolidated into a single filing.
Also, if the theft (retail or conventional) involves a risk of significant bodily harm, the bill increases a misdemeanor offense to a felony with a maximum sentence of three years or increases the maximum penalty for a felony offense by 50 percent.
Sen Jacque says this bill is important because “Dealing appropriately with thieves who repeatedly victimize our neighborhoods, terrorize our businesses, and threaten violence in our communities is an important deterrent to preventing further escalation of this lawlessness, and the price we all pay in the form of higher retail prices ourselves.”
He also noted that according to a report from City Journal Magazine, “nearly two-thirds of the retailers surveyed by the National Retail Federation said that violence associated with store thefts has risen.”
