NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A recent grand jury report put into writing what officers see on a daily basis: criminals breaking into businesses, stealing goods, and getting away. The report called the phenomenon a “financial burden on consumers.”
“We’re seeing organized groups that plan to come up there, they separate, the divide and they go in and they take multiple thousands of dollars,” commander Kevin Lovell told News 2 earlier this year.
PREVIOUS: ‘You will be arrested’: MNPD South Precinct cracking down on organized retail crime
Police data showed that in October, the department investigated nearly 80 incidents of commercial burglary ranging from vape shops , jewelry stores , and even big-box stores. Commercial burglary has risen across four precincts compared to this time last year, including West, Central, North and Madison.
A recent grand jury report out of Davidson County revealed that residents saw that “retail theft can lead to increased prices as businesses attempt to recover losses.” Further, the grand jury reported that they “frequently heard the same names committing these offenses.”