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California leads in organized retail crime fight, recovers 8,500 stolen items in 9-day nationwide blitz

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Aug 18, 2026

California leads in organized retail crime fight, recovers 8,500 stolen items in 9-day nationwide blitz

What you need to know: California participated in a nationwide organized retail crime enforcement blitz from August 1–9, where officers recovered more than 8,500 stolen items—valued at over $1 million—and arrested 97 suspects.

SACRAMENTO – Through Governor Gavin Newsom's leadership and investments, California has spent the last seven years building one of the nation's most comprehensive fights against organized retail crime. Now, during a nationwide enforcement blitz, California is showing what sustained investment and coordination can deliver.

From August 1 through 9, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) joined more than 100 law enforcement agencies nationwide for the National Organized Retail Crime Blitz — recovering more than 8,500 stolen items valued at over $1 million and arresting 97 suspects.

For California, the nine-day blitz was not the beginning of the fight. It was a demonstration of a model the state has been building since 2019.

We've been doing the work for seven years – we didn't wait for a national headline to start taking organized retail crime seriously. We've built the partnerships, invested in the personnel and gave law enforcement the tools to go after the networks behind these crimes. And the results speak for themselves.

Governor Gavin Newsom

California established the CHP Organized Retail Crime Task Force that year to bring law enforcement agencies, retailers, and prosecutors together to target organized theft networks that operate across city, county and state lines.

Since then, the task force has been involved in more than 4,700 investigations, resulting in more than 5,300 arrests and the recovery of more than 1.6 million stolen items valued at more than $76.6 million, as of July 30.

The nationwide blitz put that infrastructure to work — and demonstrated how quickly coordinated law enforcement can disrupt organized theft when agencies share intelligence, target offenders, and operate across jurisdictional boundaries.

California's experience offers a clear lesson for the national fight against organized retail crime: coordination works, sustained investment works, and following the networks behind the theft works.

During the August 1–9 blitz, CHP officers conducted coordinated enforcement operations at businesses, shopping centers, and retail stores across the state, working with local and regional law enforcement partners to identify and apprehend suspects involved in organized retail theft.

"The proactive operations conducted during the blitz are a snapshot of the work the Organized Retail Crime Task Force is committed to doing every day," said CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee. "We will continue to do our part year-round to identify problematic areas, reduce retail theft and make California a safer place to work, live and visit.

The results build on California's year-round enforcement effort. In the first seven months of 2026, CHP made nearly 350 retail theft arrests, investigated more than 360 incidents, and recovered more than 72,500 in stolen goods worth an estimated $6.7 million in stolen goods.

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Notable operations

On August 3, 5, and 7, CHP Border Division officers conducted a series of proactive blitz operations targeting organized retail theft throughout the San Diego area, which resulted in 34 arrests and the recovery of 174 retail items stolen, with a combined estimated retail value of $7,720.39.

On August 1, 5, 7, and 8, CHP Central Division officers conducted a series of proactive blitz operations targeting organized retail theft throughout the Bakersfield/Turlock area, which resulted in 23 arrests and the recovery of 3,887 retail items stolen, with a combined estimated retail value of $723,175.53.

On August 4, 5, and 6, CHP Golden Gate Division officers conducted a series of proactive blitz operations targeting organized retail theft throughout the Bay area, which resulted in 11 arrests and the recovery of 128 retail items stolen, with a combined estimated retail value of $54,569.21.

On August 5, 6, 7, and 8, CHP Southern Division officers conducted a series of proactive blitz operations targeting organized retail theft throughout the Pasadena, North Hills, and City of Commerce areas, which resulted in 17 arrests and the recovery of 4,270 retail items stolen, with a combined estimated retail value of $263,405.80.

On August 4, 5, 6, and 7, CHP Valley Division officers conducted a series of proactive blitz operations targeting organized retail theft throughout the Roseville, Lodi, and Stockton areas, which resulted in 12 arrests and the recovery of 42 retail items stolen, with a combined estimated retail value of $1,454.63.

Seven years of building the model

California's organized retail crime strategy is built around sustained, coordinated enforcement — not one-off operations.

The task force works closely with local police departments, sheriffs' offices, district attorneys, retailers and regional law enforcement partners to identify and dismantle organized theft networks operating across jurisdictions.

The nationwide blitz shows what California has learned over seven years: organized retail crime does not stop at a city line, a county line, or a state line — and neither can the response.

California's leadership on organized retail crime is part of a broader public-safety strategy that is delivering results across the state.

According to California Department of Justice data, between 2024 and 2025:
  • Homicide decreased 18.6%
  • Robbery decreased 19.9%
  • Property crime decreased 14.3%
  • Motor vehicle theft decreased 25.8%
  • Violent crime decreased 10.2%

California recorded its lowest homicide rate since statewide data collection began in 1966, with every major statewide crime rate declining in 2025.

Since Governor Newsom took office, California has also seen declines across every major crime category, including a 20% decline in the homicide rate, 31% decline in robbery, 24% decline in property crime, 19% decline in motor vehicle theft, and 3% decline in violent crime.

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The organized retail crime crackdown is one component of the state's broader public-safety strategy — one that combines sustained investment with targeted enforcement and partnerships at every level of government.

California has been doing the work since 2019. The nationwide blitz showed what that work can accomplish in just one week.

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