LOS ANGELES — Since California’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force launched in 2019, they’ve conducted almost 3,000 investigations, arrested more than 3,100 suspects and recovered nearly $46 million in stolen goods.

The state has invested $1.1 billion in such task forces to fight a persistent and growing retail theft crime problem in several “hotspot” cities, including Los Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco.

Spectrum News 1 went on a ride-along with the California Highway Patrol to see how undercover officers work from the ground up to stop large-scale retail theft operations.