On Wednesday, Oct. 5, the Redlands Police Department received an award from California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Organized Retail Crime Association (Cal-ORCA) for the Organized Retail Crime Investigative Case of the Year.
Redlands Police Chief Chris Catren and Deputy Chief Travis Martinez accepted the award at the Cal-ORCA 2022 Conference at the Ontario Convention Center Wednesday.
RPD was honored for the department’s use of Automated License Plate Reader and GPS tracker technologies in a coordinated investigation that led to several arrests in a series of organized retail thefts in Redlands, Perris and Jurupa in late 2021 and 2022.
Working with retail management, law enforcement agencies, including RPD and the Riverside Sheriff’s Department, ultimately arrested six members of a crew that stole high end fragrances worth tens of thousands of dollars from Redlands stores on Dec. 9 and 16, 2021 and on Jan. 8, 2022.
Since 2013, Redlands Police have worked with local retailers in a highly successful effort to install GPS tracking devices in merchandise commonly targeted by thieves. The tracking devices alert police and the retailers whenever the merchandise is in motion and officers and dispatchers are able to track the device.