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CoCo County Deputy DA Wants Local, State, Federal Takedown Of Organized Retail Crime

WALNUT CREEK (KPIX) -- As smash and grab robberies and violence continue throughout the Bay Area, many are wondering how and when the crime spree will end.

KPIX asked current Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton to be part of this conversation but she declined our request for an interview.

Mary Knox, who is a lead prosecutor in the District Attorney's office and running against Becton says she has some ideas on how to end violent robberies.

"There's violence going on in our retail centers that has never been in Contra Costa before. We've had a very significant change and shift in the criminality in our county that has to be addressed," Knox says.

From the smash and grab at the Nordstrom's in downtown Walnut Creek, to an incident where 9 men armed with hammers stormed into a jewelry store at Sun Valley Mall, District Attorney candidate Knox insists just arresting the thieves will not be enough to put a stop to these crimes.

"This violence in our communities has just got to stop and in conjunction with addressing the actual boosters in our stores, we need to take down this organized criminal enterprise," says Knox.

Knox says dismantling the organized crime ring is going to take federal, state and local agencies to work together at the regional level. Closer monitoring of social media platforms by investigators and companies will also be key, where most of the planning for the crimes occur.

But it also falls on the consumer to know what they're buying online.

"The public needs to become part of the solution," says Knox. "If there is no demand for these stolen items anymore, then the criminals move on to some other money making enterprise."

In the Nordstrom case, 2 of the 3 suspects arrested were originally released on bail. Since then, one suspect has been taken back into custody, but Knox says more has to be done to keep suspects behind bars by increasing the bail amount and making sure the bail money hasn't been obtained fraudulently.

She says, "We need to use all of these tools at our fingertips to effectively keep people in custody and to charge them appropriately."

Some of the things that Knox mentioned are already starting to occur. There was a large meeting just last week with investigators from throughout the state to work on cracking down on these retail crimes. Knox would also like to see larger volume thefts prosecuted federally.

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