The five years since 2020 have seen a significant increase in retail theft – burglary, shoplifting, embezzlement, vandalism and robbery committed against retail businesses – all across California, including here in San Ramon. In light of this, the San Ramon Police Department (SRPD) has established programs and procedures that aim to strengthen both preventative and responsive approaches to keeping the community safe.
“It’s not just stopping the crime,” San Ramon Police Chief Denton Carslon said, “but it’s also that sense of safety that we want to instill in the community, knowing they can go where they want and not feel like their safety’s being jeopardized.”
While San Ramon is considered to be one of the top 10 safest cities in California, the city is not entirely free of illegal activity. Recent robberies, including the $1 million jewelry heist at Heller Jewelers on Sept. 22, received extensive coverage in local news. Due to these instances, the SRPD endeavors to take a more proactive approach in stopping these incidents.
“This is where our focus is going to be, and we’re not going to stop until we bring the responsible people to justice,” Carlson stated.
Carlson also oversaw the investigation of a jewelry heist at the same location in March 2023. Since then, the police force has undergone multiple changes, including the application of a $5.6 million grant from the state of California for the prevention of Organized Retail Theft (ORT). This grant has funded multiple projects, including the Drone as First Responder Initiative, which aims to utilize the maneuverability of drones to survey areas and improve response time. Carlson believes that the drones were “instrumental” in the arrest of four suspects on the day of the Sept. 22 incident at Heller Jewelers.
“[The drones] saw what was going on at Heller and were actually providing information to our patrol officers 30 seconds before the first 911 call was received,” he revealed. “It’s a huge success story for the Drone as First Responder program,” Carlson explained, “and it’s really why we wanted to put the program in place: so that we can be more proactive in suppressing crime as it’s taking place.”
Apart from the Drone as First Responder program, the theft prevention grant also resulted in the creation of the ORT Suppression Team, consisting of four members – a sergeant, a corporal and two officers.
“It’s two parts. Part of it is investigating the incidents after they occurred, and the other part is preventing,” Lieutenant Leysy Pelayo of the SRPD Investigations Department said.
According to Pelayo, the ORT suppression team is “constantly looking at statistics.” They look into when retail theft is more likely to take place and patrol high-risk areas during those times. The goal is that, when there are signs of theft taking place, the team can use their close proximity to the suspects to “detain them, investigate them and ultimately arrest them if they have committed a crime.”
“We make sure we do a very thorough job and do everything we can to present a strong case to the district attorney’s office,” Pelayo explained.
Carlson also commented on the SRPD’s ongoing efforts to prevent crime before it occurs in the first place. One strategy they have employed is to increase police visual presence, stationing patrol cars and officers in areas that have seen retail theft in the past in attempts to deter would-be robbers.
“We never know the crimes that we stop, but if we take that approach, we know that we’re doing the best that we can to prevent them instead of being reactive,” he asserted.
In hopes of responding quickly when preventative measures fail, Pelayo mentioned how the SRPD works with neighboring police forces across the Bay Area in anticipation of retail theft.
“Oftentimes, [the suspects] are known to a different agency because they’ve arrested them or they live in their jurisdiction,” she explained.
In the case of the Heller Jewelers heist, the SRPD, FBI and police departments from neighboring cities have all collaborated to investigate similar burglaries in the Bay Area, which they believe may involve the same group of suspects. It was information from Dublin police that prompted the SRPD to deploy drones above Heller Jewelers the day of the robbery, collecting information as the crime was happening.
“There’s a lot of communication going on between all these law-enforcement agencies that has been instrumental in identifying suspects and solving all of these incidents,” Pelayo said.
Carlson hopes that, when the community sees the results of the police investigations and work, they understand that the police are taking crimes, including the instance at Heller Jewelers, very seriously.
“When we have things that take place of this nature, that are more of a violent crime, it’s all hands on deck to try to solve it and to hold people accountable for their actions,” Carlson said.
As Carlson is retiring at the end of 2025, bringing to a close 18 years with the SRPD and three years as police chief, he emphasized the role of the police in protecting the community.
Should civilians witness or experience ORTs or other property theft, Carlson encourages them to protect themselves first rather than attempting to intervene.
“I will tell people until I’m blue in the face to remember: they’re only stealing property,” he said. “Just let them have the property. Don’t put yourself in jeopardy trying to stop them – that’s what we’re here for.”
