Countywide 'Fast Start' app presented to Manteca council to streamline retail-theft reports

Representatives from the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce demonstrated the countywide Fast Start app at the Manteca City Council meeting on April 1, 2025, and urged local businesses and residents to download it to help document and report retail theft.

Frank, a representative of the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce, said the program is a countywide initiative that “empowers businesses, residents and the taxpayers against retail theft.” Christina, also with the chamber, walked the council through the app workflow: take a photo or video from a safe distance, identify whether the media shows a suspect or vehicle, add subjective details, confirm or adjust the date/time, and submit. The app defaults to anonymous reporting but allows users to volunteer contact information and agree to be a police witness.

The presenters described merchant accounts on FastStart.com that let businesses compile received submissions, add sales-loss totals and receipts, and generate a PDF to attach to police reports. They said merchant-account approvals typically take about 24 hours. According to the presentation, any incident with a reported loss greater than $950.01 will automatically be sent to the police and copied to the district attorney’s office that has worked with the program.

The presenters emphasized safety: users are advised to photograph or record from a safe distance and not to confront suspects. They said the design aims to increase prosecution success by improving community evidence collection for stronger police reports.

Mayor Gary Singh thanked the presenters and the council added that the city will consider sharing information about the app on its social-media channels.

Evidence excerpt from the meeting shows the presenters’ explanation of the app’s functions and the merchant portal, and a city speaker noting that the jurisdictional law‑enforcement partners, including a detective identified as Ragsdale during the meeting, helped shape the program.

The presentation did not include specific local enforcement protocols, charges, or data on anticipated case referrals from Manteca; the presenters said the district attorney’s office is a partner but did not give a local contact name during the presentation.

The city did not take formal action on the presentation; council members were asked to promote the app and consider outreach to businesses.

For businesses: presenters recommended completing a merchant profile at faststart.com, compiling incident submissions into a report, and saving/printing the generated PDF to attach to a formal police report.