To deter retail theft, Sacramento County sheriff is putting up 20 billboards. Will it help?

Reality Check is a Bee series holding officials and organizations accountable and shining a light on their decisions. Have a tip? Email realitycheck@sacbee.com.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office latest attempt to fight retail theft: buying billboards along freeways and major thoroughfares.

“Retail theft! Comes with free bracelets,” reads one electronic billboard on westbound Capital City Freeway. Other campaigns — some of which include Sheriff Jim Cooper making a stern face — are located on websites such as USA Today and exercise website Shape, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The money to place billboards around Sacramento comes after the California Board of State and Community Corrections awarded $9.4 million to the Sheriff’s Office in September 2023. A portion of the grant money must address retail theft beyond the typical enforcement and highlight the efforts deputies are taking to combat theft, said Sgt. Amar Gandhi, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office.

Gandhi noted a survey issued by the Sheriff’s Office gauged whether residents know of the problems posed by retail theft. People were surprised to hear that deputies were conducting undercover operations, and the survey showed billboards helped to raise awareness of the existence of retail theft, he said.

The Sheriff’s Office plans to have 20 total physical and digital billboards launched by December. At least some of them are already up, including near Folsom Boulevard and 65th Street, along the Capital City Freeway and along Watt Avenue.

However, experts said the most hardened criminals will not be deterred by billboards to stop theft.

“Based upon my background in criminology and policing, the ... literature suggests that billboards will have an extremely limited effect in deterring retail theft in Sacramento,” said Blake Randol, a criminal justice professor at California State University, Stanislaus.

But the advertisements may leave an impression and still aid investigators — if not in deterring theft, then at least in making arrests.

A “crime reporting fatigue” prevents residents from consistently reporting property crimes. The campaign may motivate residents to report thieves or document evidence for police, said 32-year-old law enforcement veteran Jim Dudley, a professor of criminal justice at San Francisco State University who hosts a podcast called “Policing Matters.”

“I think it’s just terrific,” Dudley said.

Retail theft: ‘Profoundly disappointing’

A two-prong approach guides the Sacramento deputies to stop retail theft: public awareness and deterring crimes through enforcement measures, according to the Sheriff’s Office grant application.

Numerous thieves have pushed fully-loaded shopping carts out of The Container Store in the Howe Bout Arden shopping center, according to a letter included in the grant from Rob Garfat, a corporate loss prevention manager with the business. There have also been fraudulent returns and shoplifting, Garfat said.

“Despite our staff’s efforts to deter these thefts and numerous calls to 911, we rarely receive a prompt law enforcement response within two hours of the incidents,” Garfat said.

He noted employees file police reports online and pursue prosecution. However, their work has often been in vain due to “the state and city’s emphasis on high-value and violent crimes,” Garfat wrote.

“The Sheriff’s department has been unable to allocate sufficient resources to work on our cases before the statute of limitations expires,” Garfat wrote. “This has been profoundly disheartening for The Container Store, our staff, and myself.”

Retail theft has sprung many conversations in the Legislature about effective policies. Crime statistics show shoplifting grew in 2023 by 28% when compared to 2019, while commercial burglaries dropped last year by 9% year compared to 2022, according to an analysis by the Public Policy Institute of California.

But commercial burglaries are 6% above pre-pandemic years, according to the analysis.

Retail theft increased in most counties, but four counties drove the higher rates: Sacramento, Alameda, Los Angeles and San Mateo, the PPIC analysis said.

Sacramento deputies have ramped up their enforcement efforts through conducting operations combating shoplifters since December. The latest operation included citing and arresting 50 people last weekend at Target, 5001 Madison Ave., in Old Foothill Farms, deputies said.

A contract with ClearChannel, an advertising company, will last from May 2024 until May 2025. In total, the Sheriff’s Office will spend $250,000 on the digital, physical and mobile ads.

Randol said there’s only so much law enforcement can do to stop retail theft. Property crime is the least reported crime, and the least likely crime in which an arrest will be made, Randol said.

Businesses have posted signs about video surveillance, increased lighting and hired security guards. But these measures don’t impact minor crimes — like property crimes — and are more effective in stopping major crimes, he said.

Randol compared how electric billboards with slogans seeking to deter DUIs have helped to reduce impaired collisions, along with a police presence.

But “for some reason” retail theft has a very “negligible effect” when messages are spread regarding enforcement, he said.

Dudley said the billboard will have a little effect on hardened criminals, but perhaps could motivate residents who believe there are no consequences for the crime to stop.

But witnesses may be encouraged to document the crime after seeing retail theft as an issue, Dudley said.

Where are the billboards?

Here’s where the physical and digital billboards are or will be placed through the county:

The campaign also appears on the following websites:

▪ nbcsports.com

▪ rollingstone.com

▪ aol.com

▪ shape.com

▪ usatoday.com