On Thursday afternoon in front of gathered media from across Los Angeles County, District Attorney George Gascón announced that "approximately 200" organized retail theft cases involving adult and juvenile defendants have been filed by the office.
"Organized retail theft is not a victimless crime, it harms our community’s sense of security while shopping at these retailers, and the ability for local businesses to succeed," Gascón said. "When we saw a rise in organized retail theft crimes, I committed to holding these individuals accountable. Through my partnership with the Organized Retail Theft Task Force, we have been able to track down many of the offenders and bring them to justice."
These cases were filed in 2023 through the efforts of the organized retail task forces, which are composed of regional law enforcement agencies and the District Attorney’s Office partnering together to prosecute these crimes.
"We've had a number of partners that we've been working with … They've been instrumental in our success in bringing these suspects to justice … I want to specifically thank the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the Glendale Police Department, the Beverly Hills Police Department, Burbank Police Department, Torrance Police Department and the Santa Monica Police Department for allowing us to integrate their personnel into our task force, assisting us throughout the county and addressing these crimes throughout the region," said Alan Hamilton, Deputy Chief, Los Angeles Police Department.
From January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023, the District Attorney’s Office has filed at least 200 cases involving adult and juvenile cases, majority involving multiple defendants, under Penal Code 490.4. This code makes it a felony for an organized group of two or more persons to steal goods from a merchant with the intent for resale. This applies to online merchants and physical store retailers.
According to Hamilton, as of January 29, 2024, the task force has 33 active cases and has assumed investigative responsibility for 263 crime reports throughout the region involving organized retail crimes in multiple jurisdictions.
Rob Peacock, Acting Captain of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Major Crimes Bureau, said, "Since inception of our task force, we have arrested 438 suspects related to retail theft and 309 cases have been successfully filed. We are not only focused on the individuals responsible for the thefts, but those that are in the criminal chain — the getaway drivers, those that harbor them, and those that sell the stolen merchandise."
Hamilton also said that 16 firearms had been recovered in the course of the task force’s investigations.
In response to a question fielded by the Daily Press regarding the crime rate in Santa Monica and the need to hire in third party security, Peacock said, "We applied for a grant with our task force, we received a $15.6 million grant from the state. So that allows us money to do operations and we've offered our services throughout all of Los Angeles County.
"I know Santa Monica did get part of that grant, but we're more than willing to come in and assist, be a force multiplier and help them. We do blitz operations and they're very successful. We arrested probably over 100 people just doing blitz operations. So it shows that we're being proactive and … we’re here to help other cities and the invitation is there," he said.
"It's gonna take a group effort. It's not just a police problem. It's not just a DEA problem. The retailers have to take ownership, some of them have to harden up their locations, more security, make it more difficult to steal items. We have to continue to be aggressive with arresting people, and then once we arrest them, they need to be held accountable," Peacock said.
"Some people just get out and they reoffend and reoffend and reoffend, and the problem isn't solved. So people see real consequences from their actions and when they get arrested, if they're put in a position where they can't commit these crimes, meaning being in jail, that may help solve the problem."
While some cases are pending, sentences can range from probation to state prison, and can include charges such as: organized retail theft, grand theft, robbery, second-degree robbery, conspiracy and receiving stolen property.
In addition, the task force has worked to recover millions of dollars in stolen goods which have been returned to retailers. According to the DA’s Office, $188,000 in merchandise has been returned to Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills, $250,000 in recovered goods has been given back to Kevin Jewelers and hundreds of thousands of dollars has been returned to Target and CVS.
