While many states including Illinois are becoming more and more soft on crime, i.e. no cash bail, Florida has just passed a new bill be crack down on retail crime.
Florida HB 549 includes the following. (
Yes, please bring this to Illinois.)
The bill (
HB 549) makes it a third-degree felony, worth up to five years in prison, to combine with five or more people to commit retail theft.
(i.e. organized crime)
Use of social media to plan thefts would be a second-degree felony, bringing up to 15 years.
(i.e. using social media to create flash mobs for stealing and looting)
Use a firearm or commit a second offense and you could catch a first-degree felony, punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Additionally, the span in which the state could charge a felony for multiple retail theft grows from 30 days to 120 days.
Stealing stuff off a porch worth less than $40 becomes a first-degree misdemeanor; a subsequent offence becomes a third-degree felony and so does theft of property worth $40 or more.
(Don't mess with our Amazon deliveries)
The bill takes effect on Oct. 1.
(great, but why will this take so long???)
Listen to the video. Even the Walgreens executive was thrilled with the enhanced law.
BTW--Florida recently enhanced a "squatters" law. Imagine a doc like Tencza that has a 2nd home in Florida and he and his wife arrive there and they discover that they have squatters and they law now protects and they can't kick out. No more in Florida. They need these laws in NYC, Chicago and California.
Note that they talked about even the toothpaste had to be under lock and key. Free the toothpaste.
