State investments to combat organized retail theft lead to arrest of over 10,000 suspects

SACRAMENTO — California’s largest-ever single investment to fund local law enforcement efforts to combat retail and property crime continues to pay off. Today, the state reported that law enforcement agencies that received Organized Retail Theft grants have used the Governor’s investments totaling more than $267 million to make 10,138 arrests and to hire additional law enforcement officers and staff.

“Local law enforcement agencies across California are using state funding and new laws to hold criminals accountable. In less than a year, we’ve seen over 10,000 arrests at the local level — on top of our statewide efforts. Together, we’ll continue advancing the effective tools and strategies that have driven down crime rates since the record highs of the 1990s.”

The Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) recently published the results of the third quarter ending June 30, 2024, of the Organized Retail Theft Prevention Grant and the Organized Retail Theft Vertical Prosecution Grant Program. The grants awarded to local law enforcement agencies and prosecutors throughout California fund efforts to hold thieves accountable.

Real results to combat theft 

The Organized Retail Theft (ORT) Prevention Grant is a competitive funding initiative for city police, county sheriffs, and probation departments to combat retail, motor vehicle, and property theft. Through a $242 million state investment, 31 city police departments and seven sheriffs’ offices have increased arrests by 46% in the recent quarter, bringing total arrests to 10,138 suspects, including over 8,000 for organized retail theft. Additionally, during the grant period, agencies hired new staff, implemented data collection tools, and reviewed racial bias policies for surveillance practices.

Stronger enforcement. Serious penalties. Real consequences. 

This follows Governor Newsom’s recent signing of the most significant bipartisan legislation to crack down on property crime in modern California history. Building on the state’s robust laws and record public safety funding, these bipartisan bills establish tough new penalties for repeat offenders, provide additional tools for felony prosecutions, and crack down on serial shoplifters, retail thieves, and auto burglars.

Local support to fight organized retail crime

Governor Newsom has invested $1.1 billion since 2019 to fight crime, hire more police, and improve public safety. Today’s action builds on the Governor’s Real Public Safety Plan — which focuses on strengthening local law enforcement response, ensuring perpetrators are held accountable, and getting guns and drugs off our streets, including by deployment of California Highway Patrol to hot spots including Oakland, Bakersfield, San Francisco, and the newly announced partnership in San Bernardino.

More officers. More enforcement.

As part of Governor Newsom’s strategy to improve public safety, in 2022, CHP launched a multiyear recruitment campaign to fill 1,000 officer positions by hiring qualified individuals from California’s diverse communities. CHP is well on its way to meeting its goal. In the first six months of 2024, the CHP received more than 11,700 cadet applications – a 58% increase from the same period in 2022. The next CHP graduation is in November.

The Governor’s investments in public safety are producing strong results. Last year, the California Highway Patrol reported an annual 310% increase in proactive operations targeting organized retail crime, and special operations across the state to fight crime and improve public safety. And since January 2024, CHP’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force is on track to surpass the work in 2023, making 1,123 arrests and recovering more than $8 million worth of stolen goods. Though the year is still ongoing, the CHP has already surpassed the total investigations of any prior year and made more arrests than any year prior to 2023. Since the task force’s inception in 2019, the CHP has arrested more than 3,200 suspects, recovered over 880,276  stolen items worth over $46 million, and conducted 3,045 investigations.

Agencies taking down crime statewide

The following are some examples of operations and efforts conducted by Organized Retail Crime grantee agencies during the third quarter of the grant cycle:

• The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department retrieved approximately $4 million in stolen goods in separate investigations targeting multiple organized retail theft operations, including a complex multistate investigation of eight suspects who allegedly stole more than $2.5 million worth of items, a cargo theft bust out of Orange County recovering stolen cargo worth up to $1.2 million, and a North Hollywood criminal enterprise where more than 40 pallets of stolen merchandise was recovered.

• The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department arrested dozens of suspects in blitz operations that resulted in the recovery of stolen merchandise and stolen vehicles, and the seizure of illicit drugs.

• The Costa Mesa Police Department collaborated with multiple regional partners to arrest three suspects involved in grand thefts of over $800,000.

• The Los Angeles Police Department took down an organized group that carried out flash mob robberies at the Topanga Mall.

• The San Francisco Police Department conducted multiple citywide operations and coordinated with other grant recipients, including the Daly City Police Department, to take down organized retail theft crews and boosters.

• Multiple Bay Area law enforcement agencies, including the San Jose Police Department and the Campbell Police Department, worked with Home Depot to take down an organized retail operation and arrest 13 suspects.

• The Placer County District Attorney’s Office worked with the Roseville Police Department and the California Highway Patrol to locate and charge a suspect who was alleged to have stolen more than $17,000 from the Roseville Galleria Apple Store.

• The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office filed multiple cases in the grant period, including prosecuting 16 individuals following an investigation by the San Jose Police Department and the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. Charges included conspiracy to commit organized retail crimes, burglary, and grand theft, in addition to conspiracy to commit violent offenses such as assault, kidnapping, torture, robbery, carjacking, criminal threats, drug trafficking, possession, and keeping of gambling machines.