« There has to be a hammer, » said Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper. « People just go in and take whatever they want because they know there’s no accountability. »
A California commission charged with delivering recommendations to the governor and state lawmakers next year on how to curb rampant retail theft, questioned claims that state criminal justice reforms are to blame for the troubling trend.
During its second hearing Thursday, the Little Hoover Commission, an independent state watchdog agency, heard testimony from retailers and law enforcement officials about the brazen store thefts and other crimes that have been regularly featured on newscasts and led to calls to reconsider criminal justice reforms.
“It’s getting worse,” said Lynn Melillo, vice president for asset management at Bristol Farms, Lazy Acres Natural Market and New Leaf Community Markets. “There is organized retail crime, but it’s also more than that. It’s so-called consumers coming in and loading a grocery cart up and bypassing the register, avoiding the check stands, knowing there’s no consequences.”
Republican lawmakers who have criticized criminal justice reforms advanced by Democrats to reduce prison overcrowding and address social justice concerns had asked the commission to look at the reforms’ impact on retail thefts. A reform often cited is Proposition 47, which voters approved in 2014 to reduce drug and property crime penalties.
But many of the commissioners — mostly Democrats — questioned the extent of the problem and whether Prop 47, backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, and other reforms are to blame.
“For a lot of people changing Prop 47 is a huge ask,” said Commissioner Janna Sidley of Los Angeles, a former prosecutor and Democrat appointed by former Gov. Jerry Brown.
Added Commissioner David Beier, a nonpartisan commissioner and Bay City Capital managing director from San Francisco, also appointed by Brown, “I want to go to a world where Prop 47 isn’t the target.
