FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 Law enforcement is stepping up patrols for the holiday season as Operation Christmas Presence officially kicks off in Fresno.<\/p>\n
The Fresno Police Department, Fresno County Sheriff\u2019s Office, and California Highway Patrol gathered at Fashion Fair Mall on Wednesday to launch the annual effort, which has been running since 1997.<\/p>\n
The goal is simple: curb theft and keep shoppers safe during the busiest time of the year.<\/p>\n
And this year, police say the numbers are moving in the right direction.<\/p>\n
According to Fresno Police Chief Mindy Casto, theft, including shoplifting and smash-and-grabs, is down 24% compared to last year.<\/p>\n
Auto burglaries have dropped between 27% and 30%, and car thefts are down 35%.<\/p>\n
Overall violent crime is also trending downward across the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheft was a huge problem in California, and Fresno was no exception,\u201d says Chief Casto. \u201cJust people walking into stores, those petty thefts, those smash-and-grabs, they create fear for people who witness them or hear about them. Bringing those under control is important, especially during Christmas Presence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chief Casto says Proposition 36 is playing a major role in holding repeat offenders accountable and giving officers more tools to make arrests. <\/p>\n
She also emphasized the importance of DUI enforcement during the holidays, noting the department\u2019s commitment to preventing crashes and saving lives.<\/p>\n
Small businesses, many of which rely heavily on holiday sales, are a major focus of the operation. <\/p>\n
Chief Casto says supporting and protecting them remains a priority for local law enforcement.<\/p>\n
Officers also introduced the department\u2019s newest therapy dog, who joined the chief for a close-up moment at the press conference.<\/p>\n
Operation Christmas Presence will continue through the holiday season with increased patrols at shopping centers, parking lots and major retail corridors across Fresno.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 Law enforcement is stepping up patrols for the holiday season as Operation Christmas Presence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71743,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-71742","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\/71742","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=71742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}