The Four-day CHP Crackdown on Criminality in the East Bay Has Come to an End!

A four-day operation that deployed 120 CHP officers to the East Bay to aid local law enforcement in their response to increasing crime has ended.

According to a news release from the governor’s office on Wednesday, the California Highway Patrol personnel were sent to Oakland and neighboring cities from February 5th through the 9th as part of an order from Governor Gavin Newsom to crack down on crimes such as auto burglaries, retail theft, vehicle theft, and violent crime.

After the operation, the governor’s office announced that 71 individuals had been apprehended and that 145 stolen vehicles had been recovered. Among the offences that led to the arrests were: felony gun possession, outstanding warrants, drug possession, DUI, and auto theft.

The CHP also confiscated four weapons associated with criminal activity during the operation. An unregistered weapon, also known as a “ghost gun,” was among the weapons, according to CHP spokesperson Jaime Coffee, who talked with SFGATE.

As part of the operation, a guy was apprehended for allegedly stealing fifty iPhones, with a combined worth of $49,230, from an Apple Store in Emeryville last week, according to the governor’s office. A hooded man rips iPhones from display tables while numerous alarms scream in a video that went viral during the theft.

Last week, CHP did not specify when the operation would conclude when it was initially disclosed. A representative from the Governor’s Office, Izzy Gardon, had previously informed SFGATE that “local law enforcement will be consulted” to determine the “length of the operation.”

According to Coffee, “unannounced surge operations” involving local law enforcement will bring CHP officers back to the area, even if the agency’s short-term effort concluded. Between forty and sixty-five CHP officers will be sent out during these potential surges.

“Expanded and visible presence” is how Coffee described CHP’s presence in Oakland. As of right now, 72 California Highway Patrol personnel are assigned to the greater Oakland region, as reported by the governor’s office.

Following up on the most recent operation, Coffee stated that the California Highway Patrol (CHP) can be of the most assistance to the Oakland Police Department in the areas of retail theft, heavy-handed traffic enforcement, and vehicle theft. Prosecutors in Alameda County will be tasked with prosecuting the cases involving the arrests, according to the governor’s office.

Governor Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta swiftly followed the announcement of the CHP surge by saying that deputy attorneys general would be assigned certain cases, increasing the ability to prosecute anyone apprehended in Alameda County.

There is just one source for up-to-the-minute California news, and that is the California Examiner.

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