In late May, when Downtown Long Beach faced looting related to civil unrest and protests, the Long Beach Police Department created a Looting Task Force.
Since then, they’ve arrested 14 suspects for various charges related to looting or criminal activity.
Of the 14 suspects, only three are Long Beach residents. The others come from Moreno Valley, Los Angeles, Compton, Hawthorne, Hawaiian Gardens, Bellflower, Paramount and Wilmington.
In addition to these arrests, they’ve also obtained 28 arrest warrants and another 15 cases have been submitted to the district attorney for consideration of felony charges.
LBPD has also executed six search warrants and impounded 12 vehicles.
The task force itself is composed of detectives, officers and administrative staff with a primary focus on recent incidents of looting and criminal activity due to civil unrest.
The team has also utilized photo and video evidence collected through residential surveillance systems, social media, news coverage and submissions to LBPD’s online evidence portal.
Though most protests occurred in late May and early June, charges were made from May 31 all the way to July 1.
Many looting charges are accompanied by additional criminal charges, like commercial burglary and curfew violation. Others were charged with looting and unrelated charges, like driving with a suspended license and grant theft auto.
Nine out of 14 suspects were in their twenties. The youngest suspect was 19 years old and the oldest was 42.
“The task force will continue to work very closely with our Federal, State, and local law enforcement partners,” the LBPD said in a press release. “We promised our residents and business owners that the individuals who looted our businesses would be held accountable.”
