Operation Fade to Black Friday a Success

On November 22 and 23, the Mesa Police Department partnered with our local retailers to address holiday shoplifting. “Operation Fade to Black Friday” was a combined effort by the Mesa Police Department and local retailers to reduce shoplift crimes this holiday season. This type of theft negatively impacts retailers as they attempt to keep affordable merchandise on the shelves for their customers. The Superstition Patrol District of the Mesa Police Department identified that over the previous two years, the month of December has seen an approximate 25% increase in shoplifts when compared to other months in the year.

In an effort to reduce this crime trend, the Mesa Police Department assigned ten detectives to the operation with a goal of identifying repeat offenders and retail theft rings. The Maricopa County and the City of Mesa prosecutor's offices are closely working together with the police department in the prosecution of the arrested subjects. We partnered with several local retailers to include CVS Pharmacy, Target, Wal-Mart, Kmart and Home Depot among others. Michael DeAngelis, Public Relations Director from CVS Pharmacy, provided the following statement:

“Shoplifting is an industry wide issue that affects all retailers. CVS/Pharmacy is committed to cooperating with law enforcement and other retailers to prevent shoplifting in our stores and to apprehend suspects. We appreciate the efforts of the Mesa Police Department to curb shoplifting incidents during the busy holiday season. Our efforts to prevent shoplifting are designed to help keep products available and affordable for customers to purchase.”

Mesa Police and our partners believe Operation Fade to Black was a success. This holiday season, the partnership plans to conduct similar operations in Mesa and other locations in the Valley. To our shoppers, know that we are out there watching over you. To those who would seek to victimize our shoppers or retailers, the Mesa Police Department is serving handcuffs, jail cells and cold sandwiches this holiday season.

The past weekend's operation resulted in a total of sixteen arrests. Of these subjects

• three had a past history of shoplifting;
• three had active warrants for their arrest;
• three were in possession of drugs;
• one individual was released from Arizona Department of Corrections five days before their arrest;
• $1,863.00 worth of merchandise was recovered or thwarted from being stolen from retailers;
• $696.00 was the largest shoplift apprehension;
• three new investigations were begun due the operation.