Recognizing that theft and organized retail crime have become global issues, Milpitas Vice Mayor Evelyn Chua organized a community forum on retail theft prevention on March 21 to give residents and business owners insight into what’s being done locally to abate these crimes.
“By fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing, we can collectively strengthen the Milpitas community’s resilience against retail theft,” Chua told the 70-plus attendees at the forum, held at the Milpitas Season’s Marketplace.
The forum was intended to empower individuals and businesses with strategies to identify, prevent and respond effectively to instances of theft. It provided a platform to share current statistics on retail crimes and best practices for prevention, and to inform businesses and shoppers of the specifics of the city’s and the Santa Clara County District Attorney Office’s focus and actions.
Milpitas Police Chief Jared Hernandez emphasized how retail theft affects the entire community and not only the business owners but because stores closing and rising prices are direct consequences of the uptick in this crime. He said the police department is taking a threefold approach with effective crime prevention, deterrence and enforcement.
Hernandez reported a city-wide decrease in larceny/theft and property crimes from 2022 to 2023, the former dropping from 2,067 to 1,1997 incidents and the latter from 2,789 to 2,557. He said the decrease is likely higher, as the department changed its reporting system in October 2022.
The police department transitioned from the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system to the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS). While the UCR system often didn’t report thefts that took place during commission of a more serious crime, the NIBRS system logs multiple offenses that are reported under a single incident.
Hernandez said the Great Mall accounted for 35.1% of the city-wide thefts and 78% of all thefts reported at Milpitas shopping centers in 2023. It was followed by McCarthy Ranch with 6.1% of city-wide thefts and 13.5% of shopping center thefts. The Milpitas Town Center accounted for 2.3% and 5.1% respectively.
While the Great Mall had the most reported thefts by far, it also has the greatest number of businesses compared to other shopping center. In addition, the Great Mall is the most visited shopping center and carries goods with the highest resell value and demand, which makes it a prime target for organized retail crimes.
Hernandez said that in 2023, the police department would receive a call for service at a shopping center every 1.1 hours and engage in an officer-initiated activity every four hours. On average one theft occurred every 4.7 hours, one shoplifting incdent every 13.5 hours and one vehicle burglary every 3.8 days.
Assistant Police Chief Frank Morales told the audience that organized retail crime (ORC) involves two or more people, usually a criminal enterprise, conspiring to commit large-scale theft with the intention of reselling stolen merchandise for a profit. This differs from shoplifting, which involves an individual stealing something for their own personal use.
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Prosecuting organized retail theft falls under the jurisdiction of the DA’s Major Crime and Drug Trafficking team which was started in 2022 and currently has seven attorneys assigned.
“It will take all of us to fully address organized retail crimes,” said Santa Clara County Supervising Deputy District Attorney Edward Liang about the importance of the county’s collaboration with law enforcement, retail partners and community members. Liang said this collaboration extends outside the county to the Attorney General’s Office, other District Attorney’s offices, the California Highway Patrol and other outside agencies.
Milpitas Police Sgt. Peter Tachis shared strategies for retailers to prevent organized retail crime and protect their businesses, including installing and monitoring surveillance systems, leveraging data analytics and Artificial Intelligence, collaborating with other business owners and with law enforcement, and hosting targeted training for employees.