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Beware, Humboldt County shoplifters! As part of California’s “largest-ever single investment to combat organized retail crime” — a $267 million infusion to 55 local law enforcement agencies — the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office will soon receive a grant of more than $2 million, which DA Stacey Eads plans to employ by developing an Organized Retail Theft Prosecution Team.

Eads. | LinkedIn.

Eads tells the Outpost that this “ORTPT” will consist of a dedicated deputy district attorney, a D.A. investigator and an administrative analyst. Their task: to curtail organized retail theft within our community.

“We plan to develop community outreach and training programs designed to support local businesses in theft prevention and response, as well as information sharing and open lines of communication leading to thorough investigation and successful prosecution of organized retail theft crimes,” Eads said in an email.

Recent headlines across the state and beyond have highlighted “smash-and-grab mobs” that descend on luxury retailers, and numerous retail chains, including Whole Foods, Old Navy and Nordstrom, have closed their downtown San Francisco stores in recent years, with many citing crime as a key factor.

Rates of retail theft and robbery have risen across the state in recent years, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, though shoplifting has declined somewhat since hitting a peak in 2015. 

In a recent announcement about the grants, Governor Gavin Newsom unleashed some Grade A tough-on-crime rhetoric.

“Enough with these brazen smash-and-grabs,” he declared. “With an unprecedented $267 million investment, Californians will soon see more takedowns, more police, more arrests, and more felony prosecutions. When shameless criminals walk out of stores with stolen goods, they’ll walk straight into jail cells.”

Eads’ approach will be more nuanced, judging by the intentions she articulated in her email. Her team’s first task will be identifying the frequency of organized retail theft along with “the factors involved in commission of such crimes.”

And while she hopes this information will help protect the community, reduce recidivism and secure more successful prosecutions, Eads said she doesn’t plan simply to lock up all perpetrators. Rather, she intends to use some of the grand funds to develop a diversion program for low-level, first-time offenders.

The grant money, which comes from the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC), was mostly bestowed on local sheriff’s offices and police departments — 34 of them, to be exact. 

But California D.A.’s got in on the action, too. After a competitive grant application process, Eads’ office was one of 13 district attorney offices statewide to receive funding. Most received the same (or very nearly the same) amount as Humboldt County’s DA Office ($2,050,000), though a few received less.

The BSCC approved the funding recommendation amounts at a meeting last week, and the money is slated to be dispersed on October 1.

“As this is a new opportunity, we are very much in the early stages but eager to work hard to reduce organized retail theft within Humboldt County,” Eads said, adding, “I hope to share more as we move forward.”