HENDERSON (KTNV) — Retail theft is up around the country, and the Las Vegas Valley is not excluded from the trend.
Det. Jamie McGeahy with the Henderson Police Department says "this time is busy time for us."
The time between Thanksgiving and the end of the year is one where police departments around the valley have additional eyes and ears on the ground and in retail stores.
The Henderson Police Department is no exception, calling their efforts a "blitz" operation and recently catching thieves in action.
"We were able to watch them on video in the store and then catch them as they were coming out," McGeahy explained.
So far, the operation has hauled in 40 arrests, with more than $6,400 worth of merchandise recovered and returned to retailers.
"This time of year, it's pretty busy inside the stores," McGeahy said. "It's easier for these guys to blend in and hide, and harder for loss prevention to see them on cameras and in the stores."
Nationally, the holiday theft trend has taken an even larger turn.
"We've seen a trend around the country where we see these big groups of people coming into stores," McGeahy said, though the detective notes that "we have yet to see that in our specific area."
We spoke to Natasha Charlesworth a few months ago after thieves hit her local store, Trading Labels.
"I mean, things get stolen every day, and you don't know until you're doing inventory," Charlesworth told Channel 13.
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When we caught up with her again on Thursday to see how the holiday season is shaking out, Charlesworth said she was prepared with more employees to keep a better eye on potential thieves.
"Having more eyes on the floor helps immensely, and that's really all you can do to thwart that," Charlesworth said.
Police aren't just monitoring an increase of retail theft crimes. Valley-wide, property crimes are up 10% from this time last year, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department statistics show.
