17 people arrested as San Francisco police crack down on shoplifting

As part of a determined effort to curb retail theft, the San Francisco Police Department arrested 17 adults on suspicion of shoplifting in a one-day operation, the agency said Thursday afternoon. On Wednesday, the department announced the arrest of a 14-year-old girl accused of stealing more than $30,000 in goods from local stores.

The department said the latest bust is part of special operation “Blitz ’23,” which is aimed at cracking down on organized retail crime. The arrests of the 17 individuals was conducted Tuesday at a retail store on the 700 block of Mission Street, which has reported a high number of thefts. Target and the Metreon mall are located on this block. SFPD spokesperson Robert Rueca wrote in an email that the department could not name the store as it could compromise future efforts.

The 17 individuals are all adults and range in age from 23 to 60 years old. The majority are San Francisco residents, but one individual is from South Lake Tahoe, another Antioch and another San Lorenzo, police said. Two of the people “had outstanding arrest warrants,” police said. The arrests were made onsite at the store, Rueca said.

San Francisco police said Thursday morning that the 14-year-old girl was tied to a retail crime ring of adults and minors; SFPD did not say whether  any of the 17 adults are associated with this group. 

In October, SFPD announced it was putting more resources toward curbing retail theft and setting up undercover enforcement operations at local stores. The effort is funded by a $15.3 million state grant.

“Our city will not tolerate criminals ransacking our businesses,” Chief Bill Scott said in a news release issued when the new operations were announced on Oct. 6. “Not only are these crimes devastating to our business community and local economy, too often we’ve seen these crimes escalate into violence. I want to thank our hard-working officers who are making sure our city is a safe place for businesses and shoppers.” 

A new report from the Council on Criminal Justice examining shoplifting data in major U.S. cities found that San Francisco shoplifting incidents in the first half of 2023 are down 35% compared with the first half of 2022. This marks the largest percentage drop among the 24 cities included in the study over the same time period. What’s more, SF’s shoplifting rate has gone down by 5% from January 2019 to June 2023, according to the report.