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SACRAMENTO (April 23, 2025) – Today, the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) released the first annual report for the Organized Retail Theft (ORT) Grant Program, marking the significant accomplishments of the law enforcement community in battling organized retail theft with 18,382 arrests and 14,133 referrals for prosecution in the first year of the grant, and millions worth of goods recovered.

Initiated by Governor Newsom in 2022 with strong support from the Legislature, the ORT Grant Program is made up of two separate, competitive three-year grants:  ORT Prevention and ORT Vertical Prosecution.  The ORT Prevention Grant provided 38 law enforcement agencies with over $242 million in funding for purchasing new equipment, launching enhanced enforcement operations, hiring new staff, and establishing partnerships with the retail community. The ORT Vertical Prosecution Grant funded an effective prosecution model that allows a prosecutor to focus on an ORT case from beginning to end, providing victims and law enforcement a single point of contact. Over $24 million was provided to 13 district attorneys’ offices.

Recent ORT Prevention Grantee highlights:

• Recovery of $1.2 million of stolen property and $400,000 seized by the Fresno Police Department. The department also credits the grant funding with lowering their auto theft rate by 38%.  License plate reader equipment purchased through grant funding assisted police in locating a suspect in a carjacking incident that included the safe recovery of a three-year old child sitting in the vehicle when it was stolen.
• San Francisco Police Department arrested eight individuals suspected of participating in 23 ORT incidents, responsible for the theft of $84,000 of stolen goods from various Walgreens.
• San Ramon Police Department conducted target investigations that led to warrants for two women responsible for over $42,000 in thefts from ULTA Beauty and Sephora stores, as well as three individuals connected to over $100,000 in losses at multiple ULTA locations.

“The ORT Grant has led to phenomenal results in Fresno.  We have been able to build relationships and trust with our retailers, and work closely with our partner law enforcement agencies -we are now sharing intelligence across the entire Central Valley,” said Fresno Police Department Deputy Chief Michael Landon. “When you are able to give talented people the resources they need to get the job done, it’s a real game-changer in solving crime.”

Recent ORT Vertical Prosecution highlights:

• Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office identified multiple ORT suspects as a direct result of working with retailers and the Santa Rosa Police Department through grant-funded technology, resulting in the arrests of two suspects for jewelry theft, leading to the recovery of $16,000 worth of jewelry in less than 96 hours. The county now has monthly “blitz” operations.
• Yolo County District Attorney’s Office launched a new innovative Direct-to-DA retailer reporting program designed to dramatically expedite the investigation and prosecution of retail crimes. The "FastPass to Prosecution" program was launched in the Fall of 2023 and led to successful prosecution of organized retail theft crimes.
• Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office developed a successful public education strategy, along with a single point of contact for retailers and law enforcement agencies with bi-monthly meetings. The stronger partnership has led to an increase in the number of arrests for theft, with some retailers reporting 90% reductions in losses, in addition to drastically improved employee morale.

“The Vertical Prosecution Grant has been a catalyst for enhancing communication and empowering our community, from retailers to law enforcement,” said Sonoma County Chief Deputy District Attorney Scott Jamar. “It has allowed us to concentrate our efforts using technologically assisted analytics to identify suspects, often in real-time, and build prosecutable cases.  This is smart law enforcement.”

In addition to the first-year report, the BSCC also launched dashboards displaying quarterly progress report data for the ORT Prevention (link dashboard) and ORT Vertical Prosecution (link dashboard) grants moving forward.

The BSCC provides services to county adult and juvenile systems through inspections of county jails and juvenile detention facilities, technical assistance on local issues, promulgation of regulations, training standards for local correctional staff, review of in custody death investigations, and the administration of a wide range of public safety, re-entry, violence reduction, and rehabilitative grants to state and local governments and community-based organizations.

For more information, please visit the BSCC webpage at www.bscc.ca.gov, or contact Communications Director Jana Sanford-Miller at jana.sanford-miller@bscc.ca.gov.

 

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