SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom on March 11 announced that in 2024, the state’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force conducted a record-breaking 879 investigations which led to 1,707 arrests and the recovery of 676,227 stolen goods valued at $13.5 million.

“As public safety continues to be a priority for California, this ongoing retail theft crackdown shows the continuous work of our strengthened efforts on organized crime. I thank the California Highway Patrol for their work to protect and keep California communities safe,” said Governor Gavin Newsom.

Spearheaded by the California Highway Patrol, the Organized Retail Crime Task Force in January and February 2025 focused on 136 retail theft investigations leading to 209 arrests while recovering 24,510 stolen items worth an estimated nearly $2.2 million.  

During a notable operation in January through the Golden Gate Division, CHP officers executed a search warrant on a residence, resulting in the recovery of 1,619 items valued at over $183,000. Every seizure is cataloged and photographed, and if the retailer it was taken from can be identified, it is returned as soon as possible.

Since the inception of this task force in 2019, the CHP has been involved in over 3,600 investigations, leading to the arrest of more than 4,000 suspects and the recovery of over 1.3 million stolen goods valued at nearly $54 million.