In a move that has left many Californians scratching their heads, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law a bill ostensibly aimed at tackling organized retail theft. However, critics argue it’s yet another example of the Democratic Party’s misguided approach to crime in the Golden State.
The new legislation, AB 1960, sets a staggering $50,000 threshold for enhanced felony charges related to property damage or destruction. This high bar has many wondering: what about the countless small businesses plagued by daily “smash-and-grab” incidents that fall well below this amount?
Governor Newsom, in his typical self-congratulatory style, declared, “California already has some of the nation’s strictest retail and property crime laws.” He added, “There’s no need to return to the failed policies of the last century,” in what appears to be a thinly veiled reference to Proposition 36, a ballot measure that would modify the controversial Proposition 47.
Proposition 47, a Democratic initiative passed in 2014, has been widely criticized for its role in the surge of retail theft across the state. It reclassified numerous theft and drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors, effectively giving criminals a slap on the wrist for crimes that devastate small businesses and communities.
While the Democratic leadership pats itself on the back for this new legislation, they seem oblivious to the daily reality faced by store owners and workers across California. The $267 million in grants for local law enforcement feels like a drop in the bucket compared to the estimated billions in losses from organized retail crime.
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas claimed, “We must put an immediate stop to organized crime’s ‘sledgehammer crimes’ and flash mob attacks.” Yet, the Democrats’ solution sets such a high bar that it effectively ignores the vast majority of retail crimes plaguing the state.
This latest bill appears to be another example of the Democratic Party’s disconnect from the concerns of everyday Californians. As small business owners board up their windows and residents feel increasingly unsafe, the question remains: when will California’s leadership wake up to the realities on the ground and implement truly effective crime prevention measures?
As the debate over Proposition 36 looms and crime continues to be a top concern for voters, the effectiveness of AB 1960 will be closely watched. For many, it’s hard not to see this as another missed opportunity by the state’s Democratic leadership to address the crime wave that has left so many Californians feeling vulnerable and unheard.
