UP seeks Los Angeles D.A.'s help in stopping cargo thefts

Union Pacific Railroad is stepping up efforts to address a spike in cargo thefts from its trains in Los Angeles.

Over the past several weeks, the thefts have left UP property littered with debris, the Class I reported in its Inside Track newsletter. The incidents involve criminals climbing onto trains and breaking into containers loaded with cargo packages and merchandise destined to warehouses across the country.

UP has 1,600 employees covering 275 miles of track at its nine facilities across L.A. County. The railroad has brought in more police to protect the targeted areas and implemented drone surveillance, special fencing and trespass-detection systems.

Since December 2020, the railroad has recorded an over 160% increase in criminal theft in the county, UP General Director of Public Affairs Adrian Guerrero wrote in a letter to L.A. County District Attorney George Gascon. In October 2021 alone, criminal rail theft soared 356% compared with October 2020.

Over the past 12 months, the criminal activity has cost UP about $5 million in claims, losses and damages. That value doesn't include the cost in customers' losses, nor does it capture the larger operating or commercial impacts to the UP network and L.A. area supply chain, the letter states.

Although the Class I is intensifying its own security efforts, more help is needed from local elected leaders and L.A. District Attorney’s Office, UP officials say. UP agents and local law enforcement have made hundreds of arrests, but less than half of the suspects are booked and some are released in less than 24 hours due to local criminal justice system policies.

"Without any judicial deterrence or consequence, it is no surprise that over the past year UP has witnessed the significant increase in criminal rail theft described above," UP's letter states.