Georgia's New Cargo Theft Bill

This past April, Gov. Nathan Deal of Georgia signed The Georgia Cargo Theft Act, which went into effect on July 1st of this year.  This Act represents the first legislation of its type in the state of Georgia, and perhaps nationally, as well.  Prior to this Act, cargo theft cases were treated as mere car thefts and the perpetrators rarely faced serious penalties for their crime.  This is true even though cargo thefts can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.  As a result of the lack of serious ramifications, cargo theft has continued to be a major issue for everyone along the supply chain, especially in the top 5 cargo theft states of CA, FL, TX, GA, and IL.   It has impacted consumers, unwittingly, in the form of higher prices, as well.

Georgia's new legislation designates mandatory prison time based on the value of the property stolen once the thief is arrested and convicted.  There are a few value ranges, but one example of this would be a theft that is valued between $10,000 and $1M.  The punishment, prior to this legislation was negligible, but as of July 1, 2014, it will carry a term of not less than 5 and not more than 20 years in prison.  The bill is being hailed as a substantial victory for law enforcement in the state of Georgia, but it hopefully will also have a ripple affect nationwide.

Law enforcement entities and many business organizations in the private sector have been pleading and prodding the legislatures at both the State and Federal levels for several years now.  Their efforts have been focused on finding ways to curb the national epidemic that cargo theft has become.  The Georgia Cargo Theft Act is a big step forward at the local level and, hopefully with continued pressure and persistence, it will start a trend on the national level, as well.  

Steve Asip