ATLANTA – Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has hired a former Cobb County assistant district attorney to head the first statewide Organized Retail Crime Unit.
Timothy Ruffini will oversee a team of prosecutors and investigators targeting criminal networks engaged in recurring thefts and acts of violence against Georgia businesses.
“Tim is a talented prosecutor whose knowledge and experience will prove essential as we work to combat organized retail crime throughout our state,” Carr said Friday.
“With our new statewide Organized Retail Crime Unit, we will continue to serve as a force multiplier by working with all levels of law enforcement to dismantle these increasingly violent and brazen networks once and for all.”
The new unit will be housed in the attorney general’s Prosecution Division, which also includes units aimed at gangs, human trafficking, and white collar and cyber crime.
Georgia businesses lose more than $3 billion a year to retail theft. A national study released in 2021 showed that nearly 76% of retailers reported physical assault against an employee as a result of organized retail crime, while 41% reported attacks involving a weapon.
In Cobb County, Ruffini was assigned to the Marietta, Cobb, and Smyrna Organized Crime Task Force Narcotics Unit. Before that, he served as an assistant district attorney in Chatham County.
The fiscal 2025 state budget includes $1.4 million to launch the new retail crime unit.