{"id":201883,"date":"2026-03-03T07:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T07:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/201883\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T07:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T07:27:10","slug":"fresno-police-tact-team-targets-organized-retail-theft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/201883\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresno police tact team targets organized retail theft"},"content":{"rendered":"

FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 A specialized team, created to target organized retail theft, is driving down property crime and helping businesses recover stolen merchandise in the city of Fresno. <\/p>\n

The Fresno Police Department\u2019s Organized Retail Theft TACT team was formed after Proposition 36, also known as \u201cThe Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act,”<\/a> passed in 2024. <\/p>\n

The measure changed how some retail theft cases can be charged, allowing repeated thefts that once resulted only in misdemeanor charges to be combined and filed as a felony.<\/p>\n

A specialized team, created to target organized retail theft, is driving down property crime and helping businesses recover stolen merchandise in the city of Fresno. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The department received a grant to dedicate resources to combating organized retail theft, following the passing of the measure. and police say the city is seeing results. <\/p>\n

\u201cOn Wednesday (Feb. 25), the first two arrests that were made that day were both prolific or repeat offenders,\u201d Lieutenant Larry Bowlan, from The Fresno Police Department, said.<\/p>\n

Lieutenant Bowlan said the team works by identifying suspects and building cases through surveillance and coordination with retailers. <\/p>\n

Police reported that between 2023 and 2024,<\/a> Fresno saw a 9.5% increase in larceny, described as taking something without returning it to its owner. <\/p>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

Police reported that between 2023 and 2024, Fresno saw a 9.5% increase in larceny, described as taking something without returning it to its owner (COURTESY OF FRESNO POLICE DEPARTMENT). <\/p>\n

Since the TACT team was created last April, Lieutenant Bowlan said the department had a reduction in larceny by 21%. He also said overall property crime was reduced by 24% in 2025. <\/p>\n

“Our Sergeant and those 13 detectives, with their investigations combined, recovered over $1.2 million in merchandise just in 2025,” Lieutenant Bowlan said. <\/p>\n

Lieutenant Bowlan said the losses from retail theft ultimately affect the broader community. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The department received a grant to dedicate resources to combating organized retail theft, following the passing of the measure. and police say the city is seeing results (PICTURE: PHOTOJOURNALIST JOHN DWELLE).{ }<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout us working hand-in-hand with (retailers), we’re unable to prevent these tens of thousands of dollars of cost, which has to go back to somebody,\u201d Lieutenant Bowlan said.<\/p>\n

With Proposition 36 now in effect, police say the ability to combine multiple theft cases into a felony charge could deter repeat offenders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey think that, \u2018Hey if I just steal from the same place for only, you know $350 each time it’s just a misdemeanor if I get caught\u2019 and what we’re advising them after the arrest is, \u2018No we’re adding those three cases together now turning this into a felony{<}” Lieutenant Bowlan said. <\/p>\n

Lieutenant Bowlan said the team wrote more than 200 search warrants connected to retail theft in 2025.<\/p>\n

This year, the team has conducted five \u201cblitz operations,\u201d which were described as operations where officers were able to surround theft suspects in a parking lot. <\/p>\n

He also said agencies across California share information about suspects who cross into or commit crimes in multiple cities.<\/p>\n

If you have information to share regarding a retail thief, click HERE <\/a>for the Fresno Police Department contact information. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 A specialized team, created to target organized retail theft, is driving down property crime…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-201883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}