Last Updated on August 19, 2024
In response to 50% of retail stores in San Francisco closing their doors, Democrat Gavin Newsom has signed a series of mild laws obliquely aimed at handling California’s retail crime wave.
On Friday, the governor, who has essentially dodged the retail theft wave for nearly a decade, signed bipartisan legislation for stricter criminal penalties and additional tools for felony prosecutions.
Unsurprisingly, Newsom had no comment on 2014’s Proposition 47, known as “Californians for Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.” Voters were largely misled by the title, which set the stage for almost no accountability for these theft crimes. Prop. 47 reduced many felonies, including drug, sex and other violent crimes, into misdemeanors.
Proposition 36, the “Increase Drug and Theft Penalties and Reduce Homelessness Initiative,” is the proposed rational amendment to Prop. 47, which Newsom and Democrats intend to kill this November.
WATCH: @CARetailers President & CEO Rachel Michelin on @CAGovernor Newsom’s multi-pronged approach and comprehensive efforts to combat organized retail theft:
“The Governor has been our biggest advocate for years now.” pic.twitter.com/9R4ME06XXv
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) August 16, 2024
The California Globe claimed that the Democrats’ motive to embrace this 10-bill crackdown was plainly the wasteful spending to defend criminals for the sake of “social justice.”
In January, Newsom desperately pushed legislators to enact cooperation assistance for law enforcement and prosecutors. The ten new public safety laws supposedly enhance law enforcement’s tools, targeting smash-and-grab robberies, property crimes and auto burglaries.
Key Points
- There are now adjustments to mandated sentencing for large-scale operations with felony charges and additional time in the brig.
- Police can arrest retail theft suspects with probable cause, regardless of whether the officers witnessed the crime.
- The felony threshold of $950 (10th highest) remains untouched, but now the value can tallied through the aggregated total stolen. This carries across different counties and victims.
- New and increased penalties are linked to vehicular thefts, particularly with the intent to resell.
- The Organized Retail Crime Task Force is now renewed to bolster law enforcement efforts.
Back in 2019, Newsom threw $1.1 billion at this historic crime wave. The additional funding, primarily for a more mounted defense, utilizes California’s Highway Patrol (CHP), targeting Oakland, Bakersfield and San Francisco.
In 2023, Newsom spent another $267 million on 55 specific communities affected by organized retail crime in an attempt to boost police presence.
CHP is mainly at the helm of operations after its presence skyrocketed in 2023. It is on track to bump up its numbers even more, with 884 arrests and over $7.2 million in stolen items, according to the governor’s office.
Still, this doesn’t resolve the core problem, which is Prop. 47. The Yes on Proposition 36 Campaign sounded off on Newsom’s halfmeasure in a press release.
… These newly passed legislative bills are half measures, failing to address the fundamental issues of habitual repeat theft, the fentanyl epidemic, and the ongoing homelessness crisis, which remains unaddressed due to the lack of strong incentives for drug treatment.
Proposition 36 is the comprehensive and compassionate solution California needs. It directly tackles these challenges with strong incentives for drug treatment, which will reduce homelessness and provide our communities and small businesses with the accountability and consequences necessary to curb repeat offenders. This is why Proposition 36 has strong bipartisan support—it is the real change California needs.
Californians appear to be waking up to the problematic Prop. 47 after a decade of trying to endure. According to a Los Angeles Times/UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll, 56% support Prop. 36, including 69/70% of conservatives, 66% of moderates, 47% of somewhat liberals and 29% of the strongly liberal.
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It’s widely known to law enforcement, such as San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow, who told the Globe that “Prop. 47 was dangerous, it was too soft on crime, and that the voters want it to be reformed.”
