San Mateo County official seeks retail theft task force

San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa on Tuesday announced plans to form a retail theft task force to address the well-publicized problem, calling for more rigorous action — including changes to California’s landmark Proposition 47.

“What we are doing right now is not working,” Canepa said. “We need to turn the page and make sure that people are held accountable for their actions.”

Standing outside the Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo, Canepa called for a task force to be comprised of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, police chiefs in the county and all the Chamber of Commerce organizations who would then identify solutions. While he noted other areas have formed task forces to address the issue, Canepa wanted the new on to work differently to find new solutions.

“I want to make sure this task force works and operates differently, and we hold the people who commit these crimes accountable,” Canepa said.

The plans would include looking beyond large business retail theft and bringing small businesses into the discussion, as many are targeted in other parts of the Bay Area. Canepa will bring a resolution for discussion at the next county Board of Supervisors meeting Sept. 12, with plans to also issue letters to local assemblymembers and state senators asking for help to adjust state laws that hamstring the process, Canepa said.

The letter to state assemblymembers and senators would call for changes to state law, with Canepa at the press conference suggesting looking at changes to Proposition 47, a 2014 law that requires shoplifting under $950 worth to be punished as a misdemeanor instead of a felony. Canepa also called for looking at changes to bail for retail theft offenders.

San Mateo Police Chief Ed Barberini said he was willing to be on the task force and look for ways to collaborate with partners at the county level, although he noted there was already a large amount of collaboration between law enforcement agencies and other community partners.

“I would be open to exploring or leading any type of model that would address retail theft,” Barberini said.

Barberini said there had been 13 reported retail thefts at the mall since Jan. 1, with eight resulting in an arrest thanks to close collaboration with the mall and other law enforcement agencies in the East Bay and South Bay, with San Mateo police also maintaining a heavy presence at the mall. San Mateo police on Aug. 27 arrested four people who allegedly stole multiple bottles of fragrances from Sephora at Hillsdale Shopping Center and fled in a car in the parking lot of the mall. Officers arrested the four while they attempted to get onto Highway 101. The 26 bottles of fragrances found were valued at $3,509. Most retail thefts at the mall are smash-and-grabs from organized groups, with stores like Victoria’s Secret previously targeted several times.

Barberini said the police department works with the San Bruno and Daly City police departments on collaboration because each city has a large mall, with data sharing about recent thefts helpful in determining if police should be on alert.

Canepa originally planned to have a hotline number for people to call for retail theft reports but no longer felt it would be the best solution after calling a retail theft hotline in Los Angeles County and being told to call 911. Given the experience, he felt the hotline would not work in the format.