We’ve all been there. You stop by the store to buy shampoo, some razors, maybe a pair of fingernail clippers … it’s a stop you’d expect to take just a couple of minutes. But it requires more planning than went into the D-Day invasion because each of those items, typically, is locked up behind plexiglass to keep them from being easily grabbed by organized retail thieves.

Stanislaus County District Attorney Jeff Laugero has made it a priority to go after retail thieves. And a Fresno woman, who was arrested here on theft charges, summed up the DA’s progress rather succinctly: “I should not have hit up this county; it takes way too long in court.”

That’s precisely the point. There are no more slaps on the wrists here. If you steal in Stanislaus County, you will be arrested, and you will end up in front of a judge.

“It’s going well here … very well,” said Laugero. “The big thing for us is the reduction in crime, but it’s also the reduction in losses that the businesses suffer.”

The issue of retail theft in California is really the tale of two propositions: Prop. 36, passed by voters in 2014, and Prop. 47, passed 10 years later.

Essentially, Proposition 47 made most types of retail theft totaling $950 or less a misdemeanor. And authorities could not aggregate the totals, meaning you could steal $950 worth of goods on Monday, and then do it again on Tuesday — both misdemeanors.

It turned shoplifting into an ATM for criminals.

Proposition 36 passed with 68 percent of the vote, providing stricter punishments for repeat offenders, those committing smash-and-grabs, and organized rings. Perhaps equally important, Prop. 36 incentivized treatment for defendants suffering from addiction by creating the treatment mandated felony, offering treatment as an alternative to incarceration.

Laugero sees that as a key component.

“Say you’ve got a person that has a substance-use disorder, and they’ve got two prior convictions; they’re arrested a third time and now we can charge a felony,” the DA explained. “Before (Prop. 36), they could do a couple of days in jail, make an appearance in court, and then be released. But with treatment mandated felonies, they choose between a longer period of incarceration or treatment. There’s an argument that you can’t force people into treatment. Well, yes you can.”

And if treatment is effective, Laugero reasons, the need to steal is eliminated.

Large chain stores such as Target, Dick’s, Kohl’s, and Ulta, factor in what they call “shrinkage” — an amount they expect to lose due to typical shoplifting. But most chains don’t make those figures public. 

“That’s closely held information, but they’re reporting double-digit improvements in shrinkage,” the DA said. “Shortly after we started the organized retail theft enforcement blitz operations, and really being out there enforcing it, they started to hit their shrinkage numbers. And now they’re beating their shrinkage numbers. And some of them are significantly beating their shrinkage numbers.”

Stanislaus County received a $1.56 million grant in October 2023 to specifically target organized retail theft. Any of California’s 58 counties could apply for the grant and make it a priority to stop retail theft — just like Stanislaus County.

“Over the past two years retailers are losing 16 percent less,” said Cameron Cromwell, the DA investigator assigned to organized retail crime. “Stanislaus County is outpacing three other counties in the area based off comparable store count. The hard work is paying off.”

Detective Nate Urban of the Turlock Police Department is the tip of the spear for local retail theft prevention in town. The efforts in Turlock are contributing heavily to the county’s overall success.

“At the end of the year we talked to one of our retailers, and they had 62 arrests in their Turlock store,” said Urban. “Among major retailers, that put us No. 1 in California, and there are so many bigger cities than Turlock. It shows the tremendous effort and cooperation that is going into this. And none of this would be possible without the cooperation of all these agencies.”

During 2025 blitz operations, Turlock PD made 93 arrests and recovered more than $15,000 in merchandise.

“That does not cover arrests made outside of blitz operations,” Urban said.

It’s clear that Stanislaus County’s tough-on-retail-theft reputation is deserved.

“This is not where you want to do it,” said Laugero. “Somebody gets arrested and then tells two friends, and then they two tell friends … stay out of Stanislaus County; there are plenty of other places you can go. Sorry to say that to all the other counties, but, hey, it’s been a problem here.”