Between late March and mid-April 2025, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, along with several other agencies, undertook a targeted crime suppression effort named Operation Smash & Grab. This initiative focused on tackling retail theft in San Bernardino County.
Participating in the operation were investigators from the Sheriff’s Department’s Gangs/Narcotics Division and Rancho Cucamonga Station, as well as the San Bernardino County Probation Department, Homeland Security Investigations, California Highway Patrol, and the San Bernardino Police Department. The operation resulted in 15 felony arrests and 27 misdemeanor arrests, alongside the recovery of $12,466 in stolen property.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department became increasingly concerned about theft at retail stores as far back as November 2023, particularly due to organized crews engaging in robberies and vandalism. The operation aimed its efforts on various shopping districts such as Rancho Cucamonga, Apple Valley, Hesperia, Victorville, and Chino Hills, aiming to dismantle these retail theft crews through both conventional and unconventional investigative methods.
Funding for this operation was supported by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, which authorized financial assistance for county-wide crime suppression, enhancing law enforcement capabilities concerning quality-of-life issues.
A significant legislative background to this operation is California’s Proposition 36, known as “The Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act,” passed on November 5, 2024, and effective from December 18, 2024. This act reformed aspects of Proposition 47, credited with rising issues such as theft, by implementing new Penal and Health and Safety Codes. The proposition impacted three arrests made during the operation, allowing for enhanced sentencing and preventing some offenders from being released prior to their court appearances.
The operation has been informed about by the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department under Sheriff-Coroner Shannon D. Dicus.
Refer inquiries to the Public Affairs Division of the Gangs/Narcotics Division at (909) 387-3700.
