Business owners, consumers, and employees are facing unprecedented risks to their belongings and their safety because of shoplifting crimes affecting local California communities, with a law enacted by voters nearly a decade ago playing a key role, experts suggest.
Passed in 2014, Proposition 47 changed the threshold for felony theft, raising the bar from $400 to $950 per incident enabling thieves to steal just under the upper limit and risk only a misdemeanor.
The policy has had grave consequences, according to experts.
“After Prop 47 passed, we saw repeat offenders going into stores and constantly stealing,” Rachel Michelin—President and CEO of the California Retailers Association, which represents businesses across the state—told The Epoch Times. “Theft has increased because there are no consequences.”
Recent media reports point to a study released in March 2022 by the Center on Juvenile Criminal Justice—a nonprofit based in San Francisco with a focus on incarceration reduction—suggesting the law did not result in an increase in property crime, and potentially saved the state $600 million in prison costs.
Critics say the study’s methodology was flawed, calculating the law’s success based on less recidivism and incarceration for theft.
With fewer arrests under the law, they say, the decrease in imprisonment was a mathematical certainty.
Audits are currently underway by the Joint Audit Committee, studying two Southern California counties to measure the impact of the legislation, as requested by Assemblyman James Ramos (D-Highland) in March and undersigned by 24 representatives.
The review will analyze the effects in Riverside and San Bernardino counties by assessing crime and recidivism rates before and after the law was passed nearly a decade ago.
Property Crime, Violence Increasing
The closure last month of Whole Foods in downtown San Francisco—where thieves reportedly stole 250 shopping carts in less than a year—and a host of other stores shutting down locations, including CVS and Wal-Mart leaving some metropolitan areas due to high crime, suggests that retail establishments are not waiting for the audit’s findings to make business decisions.Recent incidents have some worried that violence is escalating along with the thefts, after a Home Depot employee in the Bay Area city of Pleasanton was shot and killed April 18 while trying to stop a female shoplifter.
Some shoppers and employees say they’re faced with dangerous conditions and are frustrated they’re not getting help from local lawmakers.
“We’ve been hit more times than I can count,” Cindy Nguyen—a grocery clerk in San Francisco—told The Epoch Times. “Sometimes it’s just random people stealing, but the worst is when they come in groups and just take what they want.”
Policymakers in the city have de-prioritized property crimes, so it’s not even worth the time to report the incidents, she said.
“The police won’t even respond, and if they do, they make no effort to actually catch anyone,” Nguyen said. “Everyone knows this here, especially the criminals.”
Family-owned stores like the one where Nguyen works are those most affected by shoplifting, according to experts.
“For every big business you see hit, there are probably five or six small businesses, and they can’t absorb the cost,” Michelin, with the retailer’s association, said. “They can’t pay to lock up items, they can’t hire security, and theft hits the bottom line.”
Measures taken by merchants to mitigate thefts, including securing certain items behind cases and removing merchandise from sales floors, are making the retail experience even less enjoyable, according to some shoppers.
“Now I have to wait for someone to unlock items that used to be on a shelf I could grab,” hospitality worker Monica Valdez of the Bay Area told The Epoch Times. “It’s an inconvenience, it takes even longer to shop, and I just want to get home after work.”
The later it gets in the evening, the more anxiety she feels on the streets, she said.
Crime Keeping Consumers Away
Fear for personal safety is causing some to choose e-commerce options instead of visiting local businesses.“Since the crime has gotten out of control, I now order almost everything I can online,” John Williams, a retired business manager from Los Angeles told The Epoch Times. “My wife and I are elderly, and we feel it’s not worth the risk of being robbed or in a store when these maniacs come in and steal everything.”
Shoppers moving to the web for more purchases aligns with the recent push by many retailers to focus on their web offerings, according to experts.
Looking for Solutions
In response to what’s being termed a public safety crisis, legislators have repeatedly attempted to bring proposals to the floor of the Capitol for a vote, only to have their bills sidelined by the Assembly Public Safety Committee.The California Retailers Association, in collaboration with the League of California Cities—representing the majority of the Golden State’s 482 cities—sponsored Assembly Bill 1708, introduced on Feb. 17 by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrence) and subsequently killed by the committee April 18.
The bill, which seeks to increase penalties for petty theft, was since granted reconsideration and has been amended by the authors, though there is no date for a new hearing.
In a joint effort in 2022, the retailers’ association, the California Hotel and Lodging Association—a trade group representing businesses in the industry—and Muratsuchi proposed Assembly Bill 2390, which would aggregate petty thefts and lead to felony charges for those stealing more than $950 in combined merchandise.
The bill was introduced in February 2022 and died months later in the safety committee.
With little legal progress being made, and no consequences for criminal actions, some say there is no incentive for shoplifters to stop their destructive behavior.
“Until the legislature, particularly the Assembly Public Safety Committee, the attorney general, and all of the [lawmakers] are ready to have the difficult conversations needed to fix this problem, it’s going to continue to get worse,” said Michelin.
