SACRAMENTO, Calif — Governor Gavin Newsom released his plan to tackle retail theft in California. It comes as more than 100 lawmakers gathered at the Capitol to express their concerns about the growing issue.
"When the largest retailers abandon an area because of theft and growing cost of retail crime, it also impacts locally owned businesses as well," said Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Hollywood).
Sacramento is ranked seventh in the nation for cities most impacted by organized retail theft, according to National Retail Theft Federation.
The report also found shoplifters are becoming more violent, leading to public safety concerns.
"Business owners fear for their livelihoods, workers fear for their well-being, and members of the public worry that it may no longer be safe or convenient to frequent their neighborhood stores," said Chavez Zbur.
Governor Newsom released a statement call for action.
"Building on California's existing laws and record public safety investments, I'm calling for new legislation to expand criminal penalties for those profiting on retail theft and auto burglaries. These laws will make California safer and bolster police and prosecutor tools to arrest and hold professional criminals accountable," Newsom said.
He released a framework saying the legislation should crack down on professional thieves by increasing felony penalties and prison time. He wants the new bill to give law enforcement the tools to arrest suspects of retail theft, even if they didn't witness a crime in progress and also allow law enforcement to combine the value of multiple thefts to reach the threshold for grand theft.
He wants the bill to address auto burglaries as well by increasing penalties for the possession of items stolen from a vehicle with intent to resell, regardless of if the vehicle was locked. Other suggestions include strengthening the law to increase penalties for large-scale resellers of stolen goods.
Some experts said the real solution is rolling back Prop 47, which re-classified prosecuting shoplifting as a misdemeanor crime when the value of items stolen was less than $950. It was approved by voters in 2014.
Recently, Democratic Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua, of Stockton, announced plans to introduce a referendum aimed at addressing concerns related to Prop 47.
"This is a statewide national issue that we are trying to solve," said Villapudua.
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