Lawyer Basic Chris Carr is about to create Georgia’s first statewide Organized Retail and Cyber Crime Unit, with funding offered within the state’s FY 2025 funds signed in the present day by Governor Brian Kemp. This new unit will take impact on July 1, 2024, with prosecutors and investigators devoted to addressing organized retail theft and cybercrimes throughout the state. Carr may also develop his Gang Prosecution Unit to incorporate new prosecutors and investigators in Columbus, Macon, and Southeast Georgia. At the moment, the Lawyer Basic’s Gang Prosecution Unit is predicated in Atlanta, Albany and Augusta.
“From North Georgia and metro Atlanta to South Georgia and the coast, we’ve seen unprecedented success in placing away a few of Georgia’s most harmful criminals,” stated Carr. “Now we’re strengthening our efforts to fight an alarming enhance in retail theft and cybercrime whereas persevering with to pursue violent gang exercise wherever it happens. We’re grateful for the help of Governor Brian Kemp and our companions within the Basic Meeting, and we sit up for persevering with to work with them to guard the lives and livelihoods of all our fellow Georgians.”
Georgia companies are estimated to lose over $3 billion to retail theft yearly. This consists of $1.6 billion in stolen items and $326 million in misplaced tax income, together with 17,000 misplaced jobs. In line with a 2021 examine, practically 76 % of outlets reported bodily assault in opposition to an affiliate on account of organized retail crime, whereas 41 % reported assaults involving a weapon. This illegal exercise can be linked to different felony operations, together with gang exercise, human and drug trafficking, corruption, bribery and cash laundering.
The Organized Retail and Cyber Crime Unit might be housed within the Lawyer Basic’s Prosecution Division, which additionally consists of Carr’s Gang Prosecution Unit, his Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, and his Public Integrity and White Collar Crime Unit.
Because it started its historic work in July 2022, the Lawyer Basic’s Gang Prosecution Unit has secured practically 40 convictions and indicted 135 people in Athens-Clarke, Barrow, Bryan, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Dougherty, Fulton, Gwinnett, Laurens, Muscogee, Richmond and Thomas counties. This consists of 4 homicide convictions and 6 gang convictions secured in Columbus over the previous six months alone.
