STUART, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill imposing harsher penalties for those convicted of theft, with the ultimate goal of deterring organized retail theft and porch piracy.
During a press conference at a Walgreens location in Stuart, the governor signed House Bill 549. The law, which will take effect on October 1, enhances charges for petit and grand theft, enhances charges for those with previous theft convictions and creates new parameters meant to allow for the prosecution of serial porch pirates and organized retail crime rings.
"This bill – cracking down on the porch pirates, cracking down on the porch pirates, cracking down on retail theft rings, making sure people that use social media to incite these flash mobs of retail theft – that all those people are held accountable," DeSantis said. "We don't want to see stores go out of business, we don't want to see prices increase..."
Under the new law, it will be a third-degree felony (grand theft) if the stolen property is worth at least $40. Any items worth less than $40 will be considered a first-degree misdemeanor (petit theft). This applies to packages sitting on your porch as well as any property inside a home.
"...if you order something, and they leave it at your front door – you come home from work or you bring your kids home from school – [the] package is going to be there, and if it's not, someone is going to have hell to pay for stealing it," the governor said.
If the person guilty of the crime has a previous theft conviction on their record, they will be charged with a third-degree felony.
The bill also lessens how many crimes need to happen within a certain time to prosecute a retail theft case. The total value of stolen property will be added up across theft incidents that happen within 120 days.
There's also language added to the statute that defines organized retail theft as an act of five or more people whose goal is to overwhelm the employees, staff and law enforcement's response to avoid getting caught. There are added penalties if a person uses social media to solicit others to participate.
If someone charged with retail theft has at least two previous theft convictions or has a firearm during a theft, they could be charged with a first-degree felony.
A judge could also order the person convicted to pay restitution for the stolen items.
According to a report from the Council on Criminal Justice, major U.S. cities like New York and Los Angeles did see an increase in shoplifting reports from 2019 to 2023. However, the report says there is no clear national rise in shoplifting apart from those cities.
The council said several cities saw significant decreases in retail theft, including St. Petersburg, which saw a 78% decrease in shoplifting from 2019 to 2023.
A study by the National Retail Federation found that Miami was the 10th city most affected by organized retail crime in 2022 across the United States. For the five years prior, the city had been in the top five most impacted by retail theft.