San Ramon Police Arrest Theft Suspects, Recover $3k in Merchandise

The San Ramon Police Department announced an arrest in a theft in progress on that resulted in the arrest of two female suspects.  The incident occurred on Friday, July 12 at City Center.

According to San Ramon police, Officers immediately converged on the area and located two female suspects who had stolen over $3,000 in merchandise. Both suspects were booked at the county jail on multiple felony charges, including grand theft, burglary, and organized retail theft with intent to sell the merchandise.

• April 2024 – CHP: $326K Recovered in Organized Retail Crime Operation

San Ramon Crime Data

San Ramon Police Department Total Calls For Service

• 2023 – 72,808 (526 arrests)
• 2022 – 63,525
• 2021 – 67,584
• 2020 – 70,521
• 2019 – 80,602

Response Times (Priority 1)

• 2023 – 4:24 minutes
• 2022 – 4:11 minutes
• 2021 – 4:21 minutes
• 2020 – 4:10 minutes
• 2019 – 4:27 minutes

Carlson explained they have to get to calls during an emergency which means they have pulled investigators and placed them in patrol while also reducing school resources officers from 4 to 2.  The community will not see the reduction in service, but they see it internally in other departments that public does not see which he called a “challenge”.

Crime Data

They have now replaced the UCR (Uniform Crime Reporting) and now using NIBRS (National Incident Based Reporting System) – much more comprehensive reporting. Like other agencies, its impacted crime data numbers. For example, if multiple crimes occur in an incident, all crimes are reported instead of the single incident.

“You will see a huge increase in aggravated assault from 36 to 88. The difference in that is now an attempted or threat of an aggravated assault is now counted in NIBRS which is why you see that significant increase. It’s not just the act having occurred, it’s the threat of within an activity,” explained Carlson.

Carlson also shared catalytic converter theft data where in 2022 they had 148 thefts, however, in 2023 they had just 23 thefts—showing how legislation can make a difference (it increased fines and consequences on metal recycling businesses) for accepting stolen goods. He says it took away the ability to sell these or put them once stolen.

Crimes per 1,000 residents:

• 2023 – 11.54
• 2022 – 12.62
• 2021 – 11.15
• 2020 – 10.14
• 2019 – 13.84
• 2018 – 10.56
• 2017 – 13.61
• 2016 – 11.03
• 2015 – 11.85
• 2014 – 10.18

Note – 2014-201 the data was using UCR vs. NIBRS

Organized Retail Theft (since Nov 2023)

• 72 cases investigated ($93,782 in losses)
• 41 arrests with $27,854 in recoveries

New Cameras & Drones

• 10 new license plate reader cameras are coming to San Ramon (+40 cameras current) and anticipates over 100 cameras within the city in the future.

Overall, they have 44 situational cameras with 46 ALPR Cameras for 100 total cameras.

2023:

• 330 criminal investigations
• 72 stolen vehicles recovered
• Instrumental in solving Heller Jewelers robbery case

“There is no way we would have solved the Heller Jewelers robbery case without the cameras,” stated Carlson. “It’s an incredibly vital component to identifying the individuals.”

Since August 2020

• 1000+ criminal investigations
• 220 stolen vehicles recovered
• Evidentiary value linked to 200+ arrests.

Behavior Health Response

Since the response program with the partnership with 988/Contra Costa Crisis and the firefighter response, they have had 26 calls handled since October 2023 (25.5%) with 19 included firefighter response.  Chief says the 2024 involuntary holds were down roughly 34% in comparison to 2023.

“One of the goals of this was to find alternate destinations and focus on the care of the individual in the crisis,” stated Carlson. He called it very encouraging to turn these calls into medical calls versus enforcement calls to ensure people got the help they need.