Port Hueneme--The City Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office to join the Ventura County Organized Theft Task Force (VCOPTTF) during its Tuesday, April 2 meeting.
Ventura County was named the safest large County in California in December 2023, which law enforcement officials attribute to the collaborative working relationship among local law enforcement agencies.
Chief Michael Federico was joined by Captain Ron Chips and Assistant Sheriff Vic Fazio and said the partnership has provided another opportunity in the form of the County Organized Retail Theft Task Force.
“Retail theft has become a crisis in many areas across the State and Country and was estimated to cost over $110 billion across the Country last year,” he said. “Ventura County Law Enforcement Agencies are proactively proposing development to join a task force to address this issue.”
Chips said the Sheriff’s Office applied for and was awarded a $15.6 million grant to focus on organized retail theft, auto theft, and auto part theft.
“So, like the catalytic converters and also cargo theft,” he said. “With that grant money, we created a multi-agency task force addressing the nearly $10 million loss in Ventura County each year due…
