{"id":76951,"date":"2025-11-04T10:12:58","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T18:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=76951"},"modified":"2025-11-04T10:12:58","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T18:12:58","slug":"with-new-laws-and-800-new-arrests-chp-keeps-taking-down-organized-retail-theft-operations-statewide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=76951","title":{"rendered":"With new laws and 800 new arrests, CHP keeps taking down organized retail theft operations statewide"},"content":{"rendered":"

What you need to know:<\/strong>\u00a0Through the state\u2019s Organized Retail Crime Task Force, officials have made nearly 800 arrests, conducted over 500 investigations, and recovered over 150,000 stolen goods with an estimated retail value of $8.6 million in 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n

SACRAMENTO\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>\u2013\u00a0As the holiday shopping season approaches, Governor Gavin Newsom today highlighted how California\u2019s commitment to tackling organized retail theft statewide is showing results. Leveraging\u00a0<\/span>nation-leading new laws<\/a>\u00a0and years of state investments to combat crime, Governor Newsom today announced that this year, the state\u2019s Organized Retail Crime Task Force has made nearly 800 arrests, conducted over 500 investigations, and recovered over 150,000 stolen goods with an estimated retail value of $8.6 million.<\/p>\n

In September, officials conducted 41 investigations, leading to 35 arrests and the recovery of more than 2,050 assets worth over $415,000. The retail value of the stolen assets recovered was up 67.5% from the month prior.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith every arrest and every stolen item seized, we are sending a message loud and clear: California does not tolerate organized retail theft. It\u2019s a message we\u2019ve been sending for years. Through meaningful partnerships between state and local law enforcement, we are ensuring our communities are safer and that our businesses can keep thriving.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Governor Gavin Newsom<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Led by the CHP, the Organized Retail Crime Task Force works with state, local, and federal partners to tackle retail crime statewide. Between the inception of this task force in 2019 and September 30, 2025, the CHP has been involved in over 4,050 investigations, leading to the arrest of nearly 4,600 suspects and the recovery of over 1.4 million stolen goods valued at approximately $60 million.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur success in combating organized retail crime is rooted in collaboration with our local law enforcement partners, retailers and the communities we serve,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>said\u00a0CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee<\/strong>. \u201cTogether, we\u2019re protecting California businesses, holding criminals accountable, and helping restore a sense of safety and confidence for everyone who lives, works and shops in our state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking down fencing operations in California<\/span><\/h2>\n

While officers work across the state to take down organized retail theft rings, in recent months, their efforts have resulted in several large busts in the Sacramento area.<\/span><\/p>\n

During a significant operation targeting potential fencing stemming from a CVS\/Walgreens investigation, CHP officers and the Sacramento Police Department worked together to serve a search warrant in September, recovering 655 items and returning them to the impacted retailers. A firearm was also seized.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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During another notable operation in August, the task force learned of a potential fencing operation from an investigation into thefts from ULTA Beauty. CHP officers and the Sacramento Police Department served a search warrant and recovered a large quantity of suspected stolen retail merchandise. The value and item count for the suspected stolen retail merchandise are still being determined.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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A fencing operation is a criminal enterprise that buys, sells, and redistributes stolen property for a profit. The word \u201cfence\u201d refers to the individual or entity that acts as a middle-person between thieves and the final buyers, allowing them to convert the stolen goods into cash.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Crime suppression teams increase public safety<\/span><\/h2>\n

With crime dropping statewide, the Governor\u00a0<\/span>announced the next phase<\/a>\u00a0of his crime-fighting efforts in July \u2014 deploying new CHP crime suppression teams to work directly with local law enforcement in major cities and regions across the state: San Diego, Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Central Valley, Sacramento, and the San Francisco Bay Area. The work these officers do together every day is all in service to their communities and to improve public safety overall.<\/p>\n

Crime is down in California<\/span><\/h2>\n

California is delivering on its promises \u2013 significant investments in public safety help ensure safety in communities statewide, with lower crime rates in 2024.<\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0Major Cities Chiefs Association<\/a>, overall violent crime in major California cities is down 12.5% in 2025 compared to 2024. As evidenced by another\u00a0data set<\/a>\u00a0released by the California Department of Justice, nearly every major crime category, including violent crime and homicides, dropped in 2024. Plus, California\u2019s 2024 homicide rate is now the second lowest it has been since at least 1966. The overall number of homicides decreased by nearly 12% since 2023. In addition, total full-time criminal justice personnel increased 1.9% from 2023 to 2024.<\/p>\n

Investing in California\u2019s public safety<\/h2>\n

While Republicans in Congress pushed their \u201cbig beautiful betrayal\u201d bill, cutting funding to vital public safety programs, California demonstrated what real public safety looks like: serious investments, strong enforcement, and real results.<\/p>\n

California has\u00a0invested $1.7 billion<\/a>\u00a0since 2019 to fight crime, help local governments hire more police, and improve public safety. In 2023, as part of California\u2019s\u00a0Public Safety Plan<\/a>, the Governor announced the\u00a0largest-ever<\/a>\u00a0investment to combat organized retail crime in state history, an annual\u00a0310%<\/a>\u00a0increase in proactive operations targeting organized retail crime, and\u00a0special<\/a>\u00a0operations\u00a0<\/a>across<\/a>\u00a0the state to fight crime and improve public safety.<\/p>\n

In August 2024, Governor Newsom signed into law\u00a0the most significant bipartisan legislation to crack down on property crime in modern California history.<\/a>\u00a0Building on the state\u2019s robust laws and record public safety funding, these bipartisan bills offer new tools to bolster ongoing efforts to hold criminals accountable for smash-and-grab robberies, property crime, retail theft, and auto burglaries. While California\u2019s crime rate remains at near-historic lows, these laws help the state adapt to evolving criminal tactics, ensuring perpetrators are effectively held accountable.<\/p>\n

In addition, as part of the state\u2019s largest-ever investment to combat organized retail crime, the Governor announced in 2024 that the state\u00a0distributed<\/a>\u00a0$267 million to 55 communities to help local communities combat organized retail crime. These funds have enabled cities and counties to hire more police, make more arrests, and secure more felony charges against suspects. So far, from\u00a0October 2023 to March 2025<\/a>, state funding has resulted in the arrest of more than 22,100 suspects and the referral of nearly 17,100 cases for prosecution. Through this state-funded work, law enforcement agencies have been able to recover nearly $150 million in stolen property \u2013 with years still remaining on the grant cycle.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What you need to know:\u00a0Through the...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76951"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76952,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76951\/revisions\/76952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}