Gov. Gavin Newsom signs bill bringing back harsh penalties for smash-and-grab robberies

SACRAMENTO -- California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a measure Thursday bringing backmost pugnacious transgression penalties targeting large-scale stealing schemes and smash-and-grab robberies that person fueled elector vexation crossed the state.

The caller instrumentality requires prosecutors to commencement imposing harsher sentences again for those who harm oregon destruct spot valued astatine much than $50,000 portion committing a felony. A akin instrumentality expired successful 2018. The caller instrumentality volition sunset by 2030.

"California already has immoderate of the strictest retail and spot transgression laws successful the federation - and we person made them adjacent stronger with our caller legislation," Newsom said successful a statement. "We tin beryllium pugnacious connected transgression portion besides being astute connected transgression - we don't request to spell backmost to breached policies of the past century."

The determination to bring backmost pugnacious penalties comes arsenic Democratic leaders proceed to enactment to beryllium that they are pugnacious capable connected transgression portion trying to person voters to cull a ballot measurement that would bring adjacent harsher sentences for repetition offenders of shoplifting and cause charges.

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While shoplifting has been a increasing problem, large-scale, smash-and-grab thefts, successful which groups of individuals brazenly unreserved into stores and instrumentality goods successful plain sight, person go a situation successful California and elsewhere successful caller years. Such crimes, often captured connected video and posted connected societal media, person brought peculiar attraction to the occupation of retail theft successful the state.

The caller instrumentality is portion of a bipartisan legislative bundle of astir a twelve bills aiming to ace down connected thefts, making it easier to spell aft repetition shoplifters and car thieves and summation penalties for those moving nonrecreational reselling schemes.

"Violent 'sledgehammer crimes' and flash-mob attacks by organized gangs indispensable halt now," Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, who authored the bill, said successful a statement. "Our concern owners and workers should not person to unrecorded successful fearfulness that these crimes volition travel to their doorstep."

The measurement is besides supported by the California Retailers Association, which said the caller penalties would service arsenic "a deterrent against 'smash and grabs' and retail crime."

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But opponents, including transgression justness advocates and nationalist defenders, said the caller instrumentality volition effect successful much radical down bars for non-retail theft crimes. The measurement increases situation clip for a wide scope of felony charges, they said. That means a idiosyncratic could person a tougher condemnation for offenses specified arsenic damaging vehicles portion driving nether the power nether the caller law.

They besides criticized the caller instrumentality for modeling aft a program projected successful a tougher-on-crime ballot initiative, which Newsom and Democratic lawmakers spent months lambasting and unsuccessfully warring to support disconnected the November ballot. The caller instrumentality volition expire successful 5 years, portion the ballot measurement proposes a program to marque the harsher penalties permanent.

"If we're opposed to it being permanent, wherefore aren't we opposed to it being temporary?" said Taina Vargas, enforcement manager of Initiate Justice Action, astir the caller law. "This makes it evident that, you know, definite individuals successful the Legislature and the politician conscionable privation to springiness disconnected the content of doing something."

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How to tackle crimes successful California has go progressively hard to navigate successful caller years for authorities Democrats, galore of whom person spent the past decennary championing progressive policies to depopulate jails and prisons and put successful rehabilitation programs.

As the contented could adjacent impact the constitution - and power - of Congress, immoderate Democrats broke with enactment enactment and said they supported Proposition 36, the tough-on-crime approach.

Newsom's medication has spent $267 cardinal to assistance dozens of section instrumentality enforcement agencies summation patrols, bargain surveillance instrumentality and prosecute much criminals. Law enforcement crossed the authorities has arrested 6,900 radical for retail theft crimes successful the archetypal six months of the operation, Newsom's bureau said Thursday.

It is hard to quantify the retail transgression contented successful California due to the fact that of the deficiency of section data, but galore constituent to large store closures and mundane products similar toothpaste being locked down plexiglass arsenic grounds of a crisis. The California Retailers Association said it is challenging to quantify the contented successful California due to the fact that galore stores don't stock their data.