As the holiday shopping season nears, San Jose is gearing up to fight retail theft.
The city has received a multimillion-dollar grant from the state to help crack down on organized retail theft.
The goal is to make sure holiday shoppers can spend and relax without worrying about smash and grabs, a problem that's on the rise, up 25% in 2022 compared to the year before.
Mayor Matt Mahan says now the city can do more to fight organized retail theft thanks to the state grant.
“This grant allocates millions of dollars to fight retail theft that will put more officers and district attorneys on the case and expand our automatic license plate reader program,” said Mahan.
Chris Patterson Simmons, who owns a boutique in San Jose, welcomes the crackdown.
“Unfortunately, I was a victim of retail theft. They smashed my door, and I had theft of my property,” he said.
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SJPD will use its grant money to form an organized retail theft detail that will beef up patrols of malls and help them identify hot spots.
“Through close collaboration with our law enforcement allies and the DA, we will work to bring down networks and lead to a successful prosecution of those involved,” said Paul Joseph, the assistant SJPD chief.
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The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office will dedicate a criminal investigator to focus on organized retail theft so shoppers can focus on gifts, not thefts, this holiday season.
