The San Joaquin County District Attorney’s office is back in the prosecution business.
In the first 170 days after District Attorney Ron Freitas took the oath of office:
*20 new assistant district attorneys have been hired to bring the department up to its funding level of 89.
*37 overall department vacancies — including essential support personnel — have been filled with another 24 in background checks.
*$200,000 in asset forfeitures — almost exclusively from drug crimes — have been distributed to community nonprofits throughout the county to fund youth programs to provide youth an alternative to gangs.
*Property crimes — ranging from theft to trespassing — are again being prosecuted.
*The charge rate — for criminal reports filed by law enforcement — has gone from 53 percent to 70 percent placing the county’s rate at above the current state average.
And perhaps the starkest factoid between the DA’s office today with Freitas in charge and the department that his predecessor Tori Verber-Salazar ran with a heavy emphasis on social justice talking points is this: There have been 45 jury trials and 133 preliminary hearings so far in 2023.
At that pace, the DA’s office will surpass what the DA’s office did in all of 2022 by the end of August.
Freitas was at the Manteca Boys & Girls Club on Wednesday to present a $25,000 check from asset seizures to help fund programs aimed at keeping youth on the path to being successful solid citizens.
Manteca Vice Mayor Mike Morowit noted the combined impact of retail crime and homeless crime issues that create unsafe streets not being addressed has cost San Francisco two hotels, Nordstroms, and a slew of other retailers. Left unchecked, Morowit believes similar losses could also happen to communities in the Northern San Joaquín Valley.
“It is what we need,” Morowit said of Freitas’ efforts.
And Freitas promises to step up the pace.
His department is now prosecuting rampant retail theft in a bid to prevent San Joaquin County from suffering the same fate of San Francisco with businesses throwing in the towel.
Freitas’ office is now packaging individuals crimes committed by “savvy” criminals that steal below the $950 threshold Proposition 47 established to make “shoplifting” a felony.
Instead of letting an individual get off scot-free by committing a series of misdemeanors — thefts below $950 — that might result in a fine, they are being packaged together to attain felonies status.
And judges that are having such “packaged” cases brought before them agree with the concept: The accumulative impact of the crimes qualify for felony status. That means harsher penalties including jail and prison time.
Freitas — who was elected DA in a two-way race a year ago this month but had to wait to assume office until January — noted there was a $3 million surplus when he took over.
Freitas said the fact there was money and under his watch how vacant jobs have been filled in fairly short-order, dispels that line that “there was a lack of candidates” his predecessor repeatedly shared regarding vacant DA positions
Manteca Police making
retail theft inroads
The DA’s effort dovetails into what Manteca Police is doing with a dedicated fulltime detective assigned to organized retail theft — one of the few departments in California that has such a position.
Freitas said Manteca Police essentially turn over case files that are virtually ready to prosecute.
That’s because the police department has worked with retailers, store prevention officers, conducted additional patrol officer training, and built strong communications with nearby jurisdictions to put in pace place a process that makes it easier to nab offenders.
Manteca Police Chief Steve Schluer provided two examples that demonstrate how it is paying off for the city.
He indicated Ulta Beauty in the Stadium Retail Center — was debating whether to close the Manteca store until the organized retail crime effort was put in place.
And because Manteca Police has an organized retail crime with a successful track record, The Boot Barn indicated that is why they opted to open a store in Manteca in the Target shopping center.
Thanks to the police department’s organized retail crime procedures coordinated by a fulltime detective, even when the detective is off-duty, store personnel will alert police when groups of suspected or known retail theft criminals enter a store.
On that call, Manteca Police will start rolling units that — more often than not — are available.
What happens is Manteca Police officers are pulling up just as — or before — “shoplifters” exit the store.
That is why Manteca is enjoying more effective retail crime enforcement than many other jurisdictions.
It also helps that store loss prevention personnel — thanks to police department training — handle all of the paper report for the smaller cases and forward them to the department. That frees up police resources to deal with the more egregious retail theft criminals.
At the same time, however, it also builds cases up against those that could become egregious retail thieves.
And its not just about retail theft.
Because many of those that commit retail theft support felony activities, the department’s organized retail theft efforts has led to the arrest of those with warrants out for everything from attempted murder to drug crimes.
To contact Denis Wyatt, email dqyatt@mantecabulletin.com
