Thursday, June 23, 2016

CAGOP: CLOSING THE PROP 47 LOOPHOLE

Assemblymembers Tom Lackey and Scott Wilk introduced legislation to protect small businesses from organized shoplifting that has become a problem under Prop. 47.

  • People are able to shoplift anything less than $950 an incident
  • These criminals often steal multiple times a week because they know there are no consequences

Prop. 47 has created a get out of jail free card for many – prompting a rise in property crimes

  • “But along with the successes have come other consequences, which police departments and prosecutors refer to as the “unintended effects”: Robberies up 23 percent in San Francisco. Property theft up 11 percent in Los Angeles. Certain categories of crime rising 20 percent in Lake Tahoe, 36 percent in La Mirada, 22 percent in Chico and 68percent in Desert Hot Springs.” – ◼ Read More

Prop. 47 was supposed to save taxpayers money, but the costs have simply shifted to local governments and Californians.





...Shoplifting, in particular, has exploded under the new sentencing rules. While some consider it a minor crime, retail theft has real consequences for its victims. This is especially so for small, locally owned businesses, which already face a razor-thin profit margin. Right now, as long as a shoplifter only steals $950 worth of goods at a time, they cannot be charged with a felony. Organized crime groups have figured this out, sending low-level criminals on multiple shoplifting trips with little fear of a lengthy jail sentence if caught....



The Legislative Analysts Office (LAO) usually does A+ work. But even the best makes a mistake. In this case, whether or not Prop.47 has “saved” tax dollars is a gigantic mistake. The question is simple, when asking if a system or policy saved money, you need to take all the factors into account. The LAO just noted a small portion of the equation—fewer people in jail or prison means less correctional costs. Not included in the COST of the added crime, thefts, insurance pay offs, hospital and funeral bills—plus the cost of the public buying guns and ammunition, paying for weapons training, lock boxes, etc…to protect yourself from the Prop. 47 savings.

“It has been a colossal failure. It should have been entitled the “Make Our Neighborhoods and School Less Safe Act” which is the sole and inevitable reality of deliberately releasing known criminals onto the street. Prop 47 is a cost-shifting shell game. Innocent people are incurring heavy costs –physical and emotional – while criminals are reaping the rewards due to a lack of punishment and no incentive to abide by the law or be well-functioning members of society. The only beneficiary of this proposition were thieves and drug offenders.” READ the ADDA President Comments on Legislative Analyst’s Office Prop. 47 Report
Marc Debbaudt, Association of Los Angeles Deputy District Attorneys, 2/12/16 at the link.