You may have seen this sign in retail stores or the billboard on Highway 65.
Placer County District Attorney’s Office received a $2 million grant from the State of California for a new RETAIL THEFT VERTICAL PROSECUTION PROGRAM. It will be used for an organized retail theft prosecution unit with a dedicated full-time deputy district attorney, investigator, and crime analyst.
This program is aimed at the organized thieves who are brazenly and repeatedly smashing and grabbing merchandise from stores. The vertical prosecution structure allows for cases to be handled by the same investigator and prosecutor from case filing through adjudication. This will promote improved collaboration and communication with local law enforcement and retailers across jurisdictions to ensure effectiveness and collaboration across agencies. In addition to the thieves, they will be prosecuting the “fences” who are selling the stolen merchandise.
The National Retail Federation estimates retail theft has cost retailers $112 billion in losses. That cost trickles down to consumers left paying an estimated $500 more a year on purchases. Roseville has seen its share of organized retail theft with an 82% jump in the last three years.
Proposition 47 is blamed for a theft under $950 to be a misdemeanor which means no jail time. A new proposition on the November ballot is likely to change that.
Deputy District Attorney Tiffani Thomas – prosecutor for Retail Theft Program, described the program and how it operates at the April 11th NW Community Safety Event. To view a video of the event and hear her speak visit SCLHWatch.org – click on Annual Community Safety Event – she begins speaking around the 22 minute mark.
Link to Placer Retail Theft Initiative Program.