Police Department

Taskforces

1. C.T.I.P.
2. Southwest Borders Team
3. T.R.A.P

C.T.I.P.

The Cargo Theft Interdiction Program (CTIP) is a multi-jurisdictional task force that was created in 1990 to combat the ever-increasing cargo theft problem in Los Angeles County, as well as throughout all of California. The success of the CTIP team has proven that the surveillance and the investigative abilities of a multijurisdictional team surpass that of a single agency. During 2009, the CTIP team recovered over $17,389,891.00 dollars in stolen cargo and recovered stolen vehicles. The team successfully arrested 51 suspects charged with the theft of stolen cargo and or vehicles.

Additional Police Department Resources:
General Information: Mission Statement Police Department Annual Report Job Opportunities Chief's Office Officer of the Year Memorial Page	Divisions & Bureaus: Administration Patrol Investigation Communications Records / Towing Jail	Specialized Units: Bike Team C.O.P. D.A.R.E. Professional Standards Task Forces Canine Team Motor Unit

Los Angeles County is a major cargo distribution center with it's two major ports handling over five and one-half million-cargo containers yearly. In addition, LAX annually handles more than one million tons of cargo, while at the same time the large rail system handles more than half a million cargo containers as well. Thousands of commercial businesses also ship and receive billions of dollars in merchandise on a routine basis. These factors, combined with a complex freeway network, makes Los Angeles County a prime target for the professional cargo thief.

The Vernon Police Department strongly believes in partnerships between private industry and law enforcement. When a partnership is created and the combined resources of a task force are directed toward one goal, it will be a successful endeavor. Working to meet this common goal, CTIP is able to conduct in-depth cargo theft investigations, electronic surveillance's, and successfully prosecute the criminals.

CTIP is currently staffed with personnel from:

The California Highway Patrol
The City of Vernon Police Department
The City of Los Angeles Port Police

The Vernon Police Department has a detective assigned to the team and is responsible for the investigation of cargo thefts, which occur in the City of Vernon. Through a team effort, CTIP has recovered many stolen loads of merchandise stolen out of the City of Vernon. During their investigations, numerous suspects have been arrested and over $1.5 million of dollars in merchandise has been recovered. The CTIP team can be contacted at (310) 513-7800.

Reporting Procedures: Should you or your company become a victim of a cargo related theft, the following reporting procedures should be followed:

• Notify the Vernon Police Department to file a police report as soon as possible and provide the responding officer with the license plate number or vehicle identification number to the trailer or chassis. Be prepared to provide any bills of lading, manifests, or invoices to assist in identifying the stolen merchandise, which was inside the trailer or container at the time of the theft.
• Notify the CTIP team using the above telephone numbers.

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Southwest Borders

The Southwest Border Initiative (SWBI) was established in December 1995. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) co-located a squad of agents and an FBI supervisor to the offices of the Los Angeles Field Division (LAFD). The enforcement priority of the SWBI entails a joint FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and local investigative strategy to target large-scale Mexico/Colombia-based drug trafficking organizations that utilitze the U.S. southwest border as an entry point and distribution center for narcotics shipments. Additionally, the SWBI identifies and targets other major Colombian and Mexican trafficking groups through the receipt of numerous leads from the Special Operations Division (SOD). The majority of the investigative resources are directed at Title III intercepts, with a focus on the command and control cells of the drug trafficking organizations operating within the United States.

Mission
Identify, disrupt, and dismantle large-scale Mexican and Colombian drug trafficking organizations involved in the transport and distribution of narcotics and narcotic proceeds along the southwest border of the United States.

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T.R.A.P.

The Taskforce for Regional Autotheft Prevention (T.R.A.P.) Is a multi-jurisdictional task force, comprised of law enforcement officers from 22 different Los Angeles County law enforcement agencies. T.R.A.P. was enacted in 1993 by California Legislators for the sole purpose of combating California's high auto theft crime rate.

In 1992, California led all 50 states in auto theft crimes, since the inception of T.R.A.P. in 1993 auto theft has declined over 50%. To get a better understanding of California's auto theft problem, in 1992 California had more vehicles stolen, than any other two states combined.

T.R.A.P. is funded by the State of California, the funds for which have been generated through the Department of Motor Vehicles. $1 from every registered vehicle in Los Angeles County goes to fund T.R.A.P.

T.R.A.P. Investigators specifically handle vehicle crimes, such as; chop shops, VIN switch's, insurance fraud and the purchases of vehicles by means of identity theft.

Chop shops:

Chop shops are very common in Los Angeles County, T.R.A.P. Investigators handle hundreds of chop shops each year. Most vehicles found in chop shops are newer model vehicles with SUV's being the most popular to auto thieves.

VIN switch's:

VIN switching is not as common as it was in the early 90's, but is still occurring mostly with mid 80's products (i.e. Oldsmobile Cutlass, Buick Regals, and Chevrolet Monte Carlos).

Insurance fraud:

Insurance fraud is occurring on a daily basis in Southern California. This
crime is one the most significant reasons auto insurance rates are so high in Southern California. This type of crime is common when consumers can no longer afford the automobile payments.

Identity theft:

This is up and coming crime of the future. This is relatively a new crime in which individuals obtain personal credit information. This is done by either purchasing the information off the Internet or bought off of other criminals. This new found information is then used to purchase goods i.e. vehicle, cell phones, computer, credit cards and even real estate.

If you want to obtain any information about T.R.A.P. or have information of any of the above listed crimes, Please contact Detective Villegas at 562-345-4265.