SACRAMENTO, Calif — The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office is continuing its fight against retail theft. It conducted “Operation Bullseye” at the Target location on Madison Avenue over the weekend.
The sheriff’s office says it arrested 50 people over the two-day period and nine of them were teenagers. The suspects ranged in age from 15 to 54.
Detective Ryan Drummond with the Organized Retail Theft Task Force says $4,866 in merchandise was recovered.
“None of the items were necessities for everyday life like the narratives are saying. A lot of it was electronics, toasters, bed comforters, make up,” said Drummond.
He says the concerning part was the number of repeat offenders.
“I would say largely over 50% were repeat offenders. I would say 15 of the individuals were people my team specifically have arrested from previous operations,” he said.
According to the sheriff’s office, the Madison Avenue location is the hardest hit Target store for retail theft in the county. While each of the items stolen only qualified the suspects for misdemeanors, four people went to jail on outstanding warrants.
“All the warrants were theft-related. Many of these individuals we have caught multiple times from previous operations. Some of those warrants were specifically from my team and they just didn’t show up for court,” said Drummond.
Despite arresting some of the same people in a system that Drummond says lacks repercussion, he won’t let it deter him doing his job. The sheriff’s office is putting out an all call to businesses.
“If a business reaches out to us and they need help or they want help, we are here to help you. Call us. Let us know if you feel like nothing’s being done, we are trying to change that,” said Drummond.
Operation Bullseye was funded by a grant from the state. The grant also requires the sheriff’s office to raise awareness in the community about the issue and the county has put up billboards.
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