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VietnameseGriffin: ‘This legislation we are asking Congress to pass will help us in our local fight against organized retail crime’
LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement after joining a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general on a letter urging Congress to create stiffer penalties for criminals engaged in organized retail crime:
“Arkansas has been a leader on organized retail crime for the past two years, and I have made it a priority in my office. Last year I hired a full-time organized retail crime investigator, and before that I joined with Homeland Security Investigations and several neighboring states to form an Organized Retail Crime Alliance. We’ve already seen multiple busts and arrests as a result of our focused efforts.
“This legislation we are asking Congress to pass will help us in our local fight against organized retail crime. The more tools we have in bringing these criminals to justice, the more success we will have in keeping our communities, our roadways, and our places of business safe, and the more we can prevent crimes that pass on costs to consumers.”
Organized retail crime has contributed to financial losses totaling over $121 billion in the U.S., and 76 percent of retail asset protection managers report their employees have suffered from violence at the hands of an organized retail criminal. Cargo theft remains a primary component of organized retail crime nationwide – disrupting supply chains and acting as an inflationary pressure on the price of everything from baby formula to clothing.
During the 118th Congress, the House and Senate introduced H.R.895/S.140 – Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2023 and S.139 – Organized Retail Crime Center Authorization Act of 2023. This legislation would provide the necessary resources at the state and federal level to bring the organizations and individuals behind this nationwide problem to justice. Now, the coalition is urging the 119th Congress to re-introduce this bill to include increased federal penalties for supply chain thefts to act as a strong deterrent against the organized theft of goods in transit.
The letter was co-led by attorneys general from Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, and South Carolina. In addition to Arkansas, joining them are the attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, U.S. Virgin Islands, Washington, and West Virginia.
To read the letter, click here.
To download a PDF of this release, click here.
About Attorney General Tim Griffin
Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.
Griffin is currently an officer in the Arkansas Army National Guard and holds the rank of colonel. Griffin served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 28 years. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.
His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana; the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.
Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.
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