State funding for local law enforcement resulted in the arrest of over 6,900 criminals for property theft and shoplifting

Combating organised retail and property crime

The agencies reported the following highlights from the second quarter of the grant cycle:

• Bakersfield Police arrested 105 suspects during grant-funded blitzes and used grant money to install and use mobile flock cameras and vehicle tracking devices.
• The Citrus Heights Police Department, along with the Sacramento Police Department, Rancho Cordova Police Department, Roseville Police Department and Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, used a grant-funded information center and technology to locate and arrest a suspect who stole over $265,000 worth of products from JCPenney in February 2024.
• In Santa Clara County, the grant helped fund the arrest and prosecution of a major operation involving the theft and resale of merchandise from TJ Maxx stores and other retailers in San Jose. Nearly half a million dollars worth of merchandise was stolen, and the Santa Clara County District Attorney charged the nine suspects with multiple felonies.
• The Placer County District Attorney and the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, among others, used their resources to launch advertising campaigns to warn the public that shoplifting would not be tolerated in their communities.

Stronger enforcement. Serious penalties. Real consequences.

This follows Governor Newsom's recent signing of a comprehensive and historic public safety package to strengthen California's existing law enforcement tools and better protect Californians.

California law already provides law enforcement and prosecutors with robust tools to arrest and charge suspects involved in organized retail crime — including up to three years in prison for organized retail theft. The state has the 10th highest threshold in the country for which prosecutors can charge suspects with a crime: $950. Forty other states — including Texas ($2,500), Alabama ($1,500) and Mississippi ($1,000) — require higher amounts for suspects to be charged with a crime.

Local support in the fight against organised retail crime

Governor Newsom has invested $1.1 billion since 2019 to fight crime, help local governments hire more police officers, 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 offenders are held accountable, and removing guns and drugs from our streets, including by deploying the California Highway Patrol in hot spots like Oakland, Bakersfield, and San Francisco.

Nationwide efforts to combat organized retail crime

Last year, the California Highway Patrol reported a 310% year-over-year increase in proactive operations against organized retail crime, as well as special operations across the state to combat crime and improve public safety. And as of January 2024, the CHP's Organized Retail Crime Task Force is on track to exceed its 2023 workload, making 884 arrests and recovering more than a quarter million stolen goods valued at over $7.2 million.