California issues $267 million in grants to combat epidemic of retail and other thefts

More than $267 million in state grants will be distributed to law enforcement agencies and prosecutors in 51 cities and counties to help crack down on brazen retail, motor vehicle, catalytic converter and cargo thefts.

Amid an epidemic of such thefts, many organized on social media and carried out by flash mobs, the California Board of State and Community Corrections on Thursday, Sept. 14, unanimously approved the allocation request from Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Among recipients slated for funds that will begin flowing next month are the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Los Angeles Police Department, which will each receive more than $15 million.

Additionally, district attorney’s offices in Orange and Riverside counties each have been awarded $2 million to dedicate at least one prosecutor solely to organized retail theft cases.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, which sits at the epicenter of some of California’s most recent high-profile smash-and-grabs, did not apply for funding for the portion of grant funds available to prosecutors.

“This grant was named specifically for law enforcement agencies to apply and receive funding, not local prosecutors’ offices,” the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in an email. “We are pleased that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will be a recipient of a portion of these funds. We look forward to continuing our partnership with them and the Los Angeles Organized Retail Theft Task Force on this important issue.”

Eric Siddall, vice president of the Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys, said District Attorney George Gascón’s failure to seek a grant is baffling.

“George Gascón’s failure to secure additional resources from the state to combat smash-and-grab robberies is just another example of his negligence and inability to lead,” said Siddall, a candidate to unseat Gascón in 2024. “As criminals carry out these brazen robberies, the district attorney’s office should be utilizing every tool to put a stop to these crimes. Once again, Gascón didn’t even show up. His incompetence failed all Angelenos.”

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said he is grateful the state recognizes the devastating impact that smash-and-grab thefts have on retailers, law enforcement and the community at large.

“These are not crimes of opportunity. These are carefully calculated and planned attacks by organized criminals who have exploited the loopholes in California’s laws to steal billions of dollars in goods from retailers every year,” Spitzer in a statement. “Our judges and our Legislature have failed us by ensuring that there are no consequences for committing crimes – and that’s exactly why there are people with five, six, and nine strikes breaking into our homes and businesses instead of serving time behind bars.

“The criminals are getting a strong message — the reward is far greater than the risk — and crime literally pays in California.”

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office will use grant funds to create a specialized prosecution unit and invest in technology to track patterns and analyze data across multiple devices employed by criminals engaged in organized retail theft.

In recent months, Southern California businesses have been plagued by a spate of brazen smash-and-grab heists.

Among the most recent was a Wednesday evening larceny at a Rite Aide in Brea committed by two men and a woman, who filled multiple trash bags with vitamins, medicines and health supplements before threatening an employee with pepper spray and then fleeing, according to police.

In an effort to combat such crimes, the Los Angeles Police Department will use grant funds to implement Project Blue Light, which aims to improve investigations and increase cooperation with business owners and communities. LAPD officials did not immediately respond to a request for more specific information about the project.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department plans to use its grant allocation to create a fully staffed and equipped investigative unit to focus on organized retail theft, cargo theft and automobile and auto accessory theft.

Additionally, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department will use grant funds to implement a real-time operations center that will increase awareness by encouraging residents to take action to reduce the opportunity for thieves.

The OCSD also aims to install cameras on the county’s busiest roads to analyze theft patterns and implement a catalytic converter etching program.

The Board of State and Community Corrections also issued grants from $1 million to $6.1 million to Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s Jurupa Valley Station and police departments in Anaheim, Beverly Hills, Brea, Garden Grove, Costa Mesa and Irvine.

Newsom said the grant funds will provide law enforcement agencies added resources to lock up criminal suspects.

“California is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to crack down on organized crime and support local law enforcement,” he said in a statement. “Enough with these brazen smash-and-grabs — we’re ensuring law enforcement has the resources they need to take down these criminals.”