As retailers close stores due to shoplifting, are the concerns real or overblown?

Gabrielle Fonrouge:

Yes, absolutely.

It is easier than ever to resell stolen goods. And that is absolutely an issue. Last year, Congress passed the INFORM Act, which requires digital marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, but even smaller places, to disclose the identity of high-volume sellers, so to make it easier for law enforcement to track down those people who are stealing large amounts of goods and then reselling them online.

That's one part of it. That's already gotten past the finish line. And the next one that they're looking towards is the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act. And that kind of touches on this idea of the number that you have to reach in order for it to be a felony offense.

Part of the problem is, you have repeat offenders who will steal small amounts of goods over time, so $100 here, $200 there, $300 here. That's all going to be misdemeanor offenses. And prosecutors aren't going to really — they're going to get programs. It's going to get pled down to violations, things like that. There's not going to be any really strict penalties.

So what they're working to do at the federal level and at the state level is to take these offenses as aggregate offenses. So, for example, I believe, in Florida, their felony theft threshold is $700. And they're changing it to be on an aggregate basis.

So, if you steal 100 here, 300 here, within a 12-month period, if it reaches that number, then you're going to get charged with a felony. And that's what they hope to — will stop these repeat offenders.

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