California steps up effort to stop retail crimes during holiday shopping season

Shoppers across California may notice a heavier law enforcement presence in and around shopping centers across the state. Work has been underway to stop smash-and-grab robberies and other brazen forms of retail theft. “It’s a lucrative enterprise and there’s a large market for resale," said California Highway Patrol Captain Jason Daughrity, who helps oversee the state's organized retail crime task force. Daughrity said the stepped-up law enforcement presence includes marked and visible patrols around shopping plazas, undercover operations and the monitoring of heavily trafficked shopping areas by aircraft.