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UP has its own police with full law enforcement powers. I would be curious to know if that force has been downsized. They did abandon the police headquarters building at the western edge of the LA yard.

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They can arrest but they cannot prosecute. The state needs to try the suspects and enforce any penalties. UP police cannot do the latter -they can only arrest.

Maybe they can seek trial in a different locale if the railroad right of way has different jurisdiction.

That's the same as the normal LA police. The prosecutor is a separate department altogether.

The only other option the UP police have is asking a federal prosecutor to take the case. And that's only if there's some credible evidence of a federal law violation.

I'm not generally one for expanding federal jurisdictional reach, but there's a much clearer federal connection for: internationally imported shipping containers leaving a federal port facility on a (primarily) federally regulated mode of transportation devoted (primarily) to interstate commerce... than there is for 90% of what legally gets classified today as federal jurisdiction.

Is there no theft laws at the federal level?

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