By SDCN Editor
Sacramento, CA–The California Highway Patrol’s Organized Retail Crime Task Forces, expanded by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2022, alongside multiple law enforcement agencies, announced the takedown of an organized retail theft ring responsible for the theft of more than $1 million worth of goods from Apple stores throughout multiple counties in California and beyond.
Californians deserve to feel safe and businesses deserve to operate throughout the state without fear of theft,” said Governor Newsom. “Our retail theft task force continues to crack down on crime, recovering more than $28 million worth of stolen merchandise to date. I want to thank our CHP officers, Attorney General Bonta, and our federal and local partners for helping create a safer California.”
In an effort to combat organized retail thefts in the state, Newsom invested more than $241.4 million last year to bolster law enforcement efforts to address the crimes, and support affected businesses.
The state provided a total of $15 million annually for the California Highway Patrol to expand and make permanent its Organized Retail Crime Task Force. The unit works with local law enforcement to address organized theft in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and San Diego regions and was expanded by the governor to cover the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valley regions.
District attorneys throughout the state will receive annual funding of $30 million over the next three years to effectively prosecute theft-related retail crimes.
The state will provide $85 million annually for three years in competitive grants for local law enforcement agencies to combat the crimes, and protect businesses impacted by an increase in retail thefts.
CA Assembly Bill 331 (Jones-Sawyer), extends CHP’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force sunset provision:
“Prior law, until July 1, 2021, made a person guilty of organized retail theft, punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony, as specified, if the person acted in concert with one or more persons to steal merchandise from one or more merchant’s premises or online marketplaces with the intent to sell or return the merchandise for value, acted in concert with 2 or more persons to receive, purchase, or possess merchandise knowing or believing it to have been stolen, acted as an agent of another to steal merchandise from one or more merchant’s premises or online marketplaces as part of an organized plan to commit theft, or recruited, coordinated, organized, supervised, directed, managed, or financed another to undertake acts of theft.
This bill would reenact the crime of organized retail theft until January 1, 2026. By creating a new crime, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.”
Since the task Force’s inception in 2019, the CHP has been involved in 1,469 investigations, resulting in 853 arrests, and the recovery of stolen merchandise valued at over $28 million dollars.
Information on AB 331 on organized retail thefts is here.
