Fresno TACT Team Drives Down Retail Theft Amid Prop 36 Prosecutions

River Park, once a prime target for smash-and-grab incidents, now reports a more than 50 percent drop in retail theft as Fresno Police Department’s Organized Retail Theft (ORT) TACT team operates daily and prosecutors pursue new felony cases under Proposition 36. Fresno County prosecutors reviewed 335 potential felony theft cases in the first seven months after the law took effect; 287 resulted in formal charges and the law has produced 84 convictions, county officials report.

Chief Mindy Casto credited the TACT team and evidence-gathering at shopping centers for the shift. "We take crime seriously, we put resources towards it and we will arrest you," Casto said, noting the department “actually have a tactical team that operates every day, during the day, for retail theft in progress.” At River Park, Fresno police officers have real-time access to dozens of cameras around the property, and Casto added, "It's important because if we don't make good cases, the district attorney can't prosecute. That additional evidence that the cameras provide is invaluable."

District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp framed the prosecutions as a change in consequences for repeat offenders. "Victims now can say that the person who robbed them, stole from them, vandalized their property, actually have consequences," Smittcamp said, and she pointed to new in-house training to "look back at priors" for theft and drug convictions as part of charging decisions. Smittcamp also reiterated the local impact: "That's 287 people that are now facing felony charges that were before, simply running amok."

The Fresno Metropolitan Area Organized Retail Task Force, funded by a state grant, aims to cut organized retail theft by 15 percent each year during the grant period. Fresno City Council approved plans that the grant would fund hiring 25 additional Fresno police officers and purchase 75 automated license plate readers from Flock Safety. Chief Paco Balderrama told the council, "We focus on violent crime, and that's the highest priority, obviously. But we also have to take care of our business community." City Manager Georgeanne White called the fully state-subsidized addition of officers "too good to be true."

Fresno PD’s intensified effort follows a hand-count of ORT incidents during the grant application that found 23 incidents in 2020, 95 in 2021 and 196 in 2022; the department said the application "observed a staggering 752% increase in ORT between 2020 and 2022." Lt. Bill Dooley acknowledged in email correspondence that the department had not specifically tracked organized retail theft before applying for the grant, prompting analysts to hand count incidents for the three-year period.

Neighboring Clovis has pursued parallel enforcement. Clovis Police announced that detectives arrested 37-year-old Sean Byer of Clovis during a search warrant and are seeking another suspect in two ongoing ORT cases. "Employees at the store fully cooperated and handed over almost $20,000 in confirmed stolen goods that the suspects had sold to them," Clovis Police wrote, and the department reported that during the first half of 2025 it investigated 333 ORT cases and made 247 arrests. Clovis Police advise calling 911 for emergencies or (559) 324-2800 for non-emergencies.

Fresno officials say the combined strategy of daily tactical enforcement, upgraded prosecutions under Prop 36 and technology investments through the grant will continue as the task force pursues its 15 percent annual reduction goal and retailers keep weekly meetings with police at River Park to coordinate prevention and evidence sharing.