The San Ramon Police Department released its 2024 annual brief on organized retail theft prevention grant project.
According to the results:
- $418,787.38 total losses
- $163,956.52 in stolen goods recovered
- 105 total arrests
- 54 Ramey Warrant written
- 34 search warrants written.
According to Lieutenant L. Pelayo, just 8 of the 105 arrested individuals have a residence in the City of San Ramon. Just 3 of the 105 are juveniles, while 1 individual was arrested 6 times.
Meanwhile, 103 cases were sent to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office. It is not clear how many cases they prosecuted.
Top 5 Stores Impacted by Theft:
- Ulta Beauty
- Sephora
- Target
- Home Depot
- Safeway
Top Categories of Stolen Goods:
- Fragrances and cosmetics
- Alcohol (e.g., wine, whiskey, tequila)
- Heavy-duty power tools
- Various types of medicine (e.g., allergy, cough, and cold medications)
- Household cleaning items
Pelayo explained how statistics were tracked.
“Each ORTS team member tracks their cases and forwards the specifics to Catherine, who compiles and organizes the data into spreadsheets. This allows her to analyze and report on arrests, the value of goods stolen and recovered, and the number of warrants issued during investigations,” said Pelayo.
According to San Ramon Police, in 2023, San Ramon Police launched the Organized Retail Theft (ORT) Prevention Program, funded by a three-year grant award from the Board of State and Community Corrections. The program established a dedicated ORT Suppression Team, currently consisting of four members.
The grant enabled the police department to implement a comprehensive strategy that combines proactive law enforcement initiatives with community engagement and education. These grant funds are going towards the following key components:
- Increased staffing to establish a dedicated team focused on suppressing and preventing organized retail theft.
- Enhancements to our citywide camera network through additional automated license plate readers and situational cameras.
- Enhancements to our drone program and establishing a Drone as a First Responder (DFR) program to reduce our response times and increase situational awareness for officers as they respond to incidents occurring within the City of San Ramon.
- Increased community engagement to improve our educational programs related to organized retail theft prevention throughout the City of San Ramon.
- Increased data and analytical capabilities to improve our response to and the prevention of incidents associated with organized retail theft.
2024 Headlines:
- Aug 23 – San Ramon Police Help CHP Recover $450k in Stolen Retail Items
- July 16 – San Ramon Police Arrest Theft Suspects, Recover $3k in Merchandise
- April 26 – CHP: $326K Recovered in Organized Retail Crime Operation
- April 23 – 2023 San Ramon Crime Data
