There is the flashy flash mob videos that make for good news media. But a lot of organized shoplifting is more like some fence giving drug addicts a list of stuff to walk out of Target with. It’s organized in the sense that a fence is getting a group of people (who are otherwise freelancers) to steal specific things that they can easily exchange for drugs.

There is also the right wing exaggeration, but at the same time if you live in Ballard of Seattle, you’ll see it happen at least weekly, if not more. Whether it’s organized or not is more of a behind scenes thing.