Some liberal California mayors who in the past have supported the changes to prosecution and sentencing guidelines contained in Proposition 47, as our editorial board and a large majority of California voters did a decade ago, are now coming out in support of changes to the law in hopes of getting them on a new ballot measure in November, The Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act.
I’m not sure if they really support the changes to the 2014 law, which has in great part been successful in reducing our bloated prison population, or if they are just interested in getting re-elected. Because there’s no doubt that there is a perception among many Californians that our state is in the midst of some massive crime wave, whatever the real statistics may be.
So it’s good politics to support the proposed changes, insofar as good politics is keeping yourself in a job.
Target and other large retailers are also supporting the drive for a new ballot measure. As CNN reported, the chain donated $500,000 in support of the measure, though it would not respond to “repeated requests for comment,” CNN says. That may well be because perception is not necessarily reality.
Because, “on a broad scale, the numbers don’t necessarily support retailers’ outcry on this issue. The National Retail Federation, a lobbying organization that represents big retailers, reported that shrink — losses due to external and internal theft, damaged products, inventory mismanagement and other errors — has remained about the same, between 1 and 1.5% of sales, since 2016. Target on Tuesday reported shrink declined in the fourth quarter.”
Just as politicians can find themselves in trouble, and need to deflect, bricks-and-mortar retailers are in a tough business environment, including from inflation as well as petty thieves. and find it convenient to blame others. Porch pirates aside, it’s hard to shoplift from Amazon.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed is one of the Democratic mayors supporting the reform proposal. And it’s clear her ability to remain in office is in trouble. The San Francisco Chronicle took a poll that showed just 28% of likely voters approve of Breed’s performance, “even though crime in San Francisco is down in recent years.”
Breed is joined by San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, all of whom are up for re-election this year. Santa Monica Mayor Phil Brock in February became the first Los Angeles County mayor to support the proposed new ballot measure. “There’s no doubt that we need to reform (Prop 47),” Brock told the Santa Monica Lookout. “I believe the (proposed) measure is essential.”
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I don’t believe the proposed measure is essential. I believe to weaken Prop. 47 is to get on a slippery slope back to a time when tens of thousands more Californians are in prisons, which is like sending them to crook school. Bad company.
But like other Californians of good will, I’m anti-theft, and I think a lot of us have become confused about the non-correlation between the smash-and-grab robberies seen on the TV news and the reforms of Prop. 47. Purloining tens of thousands of dollars of jewelry from a glass case is just as illegal and punishable as it ever was.
I do support the recent move by members of the Legislature to allow police to combine the value of multiple thefts to exceed the $950 threshold set by Prop. 47. And I do support the Legislature’s and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s calling for additional penalties for thieves who sell or intend to resell stolen items.
Let’s keep up the good work while ensuring John Law still has our support in fingering thieves.
Larry Wilson is on the Southern California News Group editorial board. lwilson@scng.com.
