Governors of CA & NY announce plans to combat organized retail theft /*Newsom signs bill package

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Governor Newsom Calls for Legislation Cracking Down on Property Crime​

Published: Jan 09, 2024




WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Governor Newsom is calling for the creation of new laws to crack down on professional thieves — expanding criminal penalties to hold criminals accountable and bolstering police and prosecutor tools to combat theft and take down suspects who profit from smash and grabs, retail theft, and car burglaries.

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SACRAMENTO — Building on partnerships with law enforcement and the Legislature, successful efforts to fight crime, and record-level investments to strengthen public safety, Governor Gavin Newsom today called for new legislation expanding criminal penalties, bolstering police and prosecutor tools to combat theft and take down professional criminals who profit from smash and grabs, retail theft, and car burglaries.
The Governor’s legislative framework calls for the creation of new laws and expanding criminal penalties to crack down on professional thieves — those who profit from stealing goods for resale — bolstering law enforcement’s ability to arrest suspects, creating a new crime addressing organized auto burglary committed to resell stolen property, eliminating the sunset provision for the organized retail crime statute, and exploring increased penalties for high-volume resellers of stolen goods.
WHAT GOVERNOR NEWSOM SAID: “Building on California’s existing laws and record public safety investments, I’m calling for new legislation to expand criminal penalties for those profiting on retail theft and auto burglaries. These laws will make California safer and bolster police and prosecutor tools to arrest and hold professional criminals accountable.”
Proposals within the framework include:

1) CRACKING DOWN ON PROFESSIONAL THIEVES: Creates new penalties targeting those engaged in retail theft to resell, and those that resell the stolen property — increasing felony penalties and prison time.
2) INCREASING ENFORCEMENT TOOLS: Bolsters existing law to ensure police can arrest suspects of retail theft, even if they didn’t witness a crime in progress.
3) AGGREGATING THEFT AMOUNTS: Clarifies that the penal code allows law enforcement to combine the value of multiple thefts — even across different victims — to reach the threshold for grand theft.
4) FIGHTING AUTO BURGLARY: Creates new penalties for professional auto burglary, increasing penalties for the possession of items stolen from a vehicle with intent to resell, regardless of whether the vehicle was locked.
5) ELIMINATING ORC SUNSET PROVISION: Eliminates the sunset date for the organized retail crime statute. The law, which has been effectively used by CHP and others in the Organized Retail Crime Task Force, is set to expire on January 1, 2026.
6) INCREASING PENALTIES FOR RESELLERS: Explores strengthening the law to increase penalties for large-scale resellers of stolen goods.

Today’s announcement builds on the Governor’s Real Public Safety Plan – which focuses on strengthening local law enforcement response, ensuring perpetrators are held accountable, and getting guns and drugs off our streets. In 2023, the Governor announced the largest-ever investment to combat organized retail crime in California history, an annual 310% increase in proactive operations targeting organized retail crime, and special operations across the state to fight crime and improve public safety. Since 2019, the state has invested $1.1 billion to fight crime and improve public safety.
California law provides existing robust tools for law enforcement and prosecutors to arrest and charge suspects involved in organized retail crime — including up to three years of jail time for organized retail theft. The state has the 10th lowest threshold nationally for prosecutors to charge suspects with a felony, $950. 40 other states — including Texas ($2,500), Alabama ($1,500), and Mississippi ($1,000) — require higher dollar amounts for suspects to be charged with a felony.

 

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Governor Hochul Announces New Initiatives to Fight Crime and Improve Public Safety​

Jan 9, 2023


Cracking Down on Retail Theft

Governor Hochul is proposing a comprehensive plan to tackle property crime, provide relief to small businesses, and bring peace of mind to New Yorkers while they shop. Across the state, property crime has risen exponentially since the pandemic. From January to June 2023, larceny in New York City was up 12 percent over the same period in 2022 and up 58 percent compared to the first six months of 2017. In the rest of the state, although 2 percent down from 2017, larceny has risen 3 percent year over year, trending upward. As a result, business owners and retail workers are facing increased stress and financial strain, and New Yorkers are concerned and frustrated running simple errands at a local pharmacy, grocery story or retail shop.

Governor Hochul’s plan includes:

• Introducing legislation to establish criminal penalties for online marketplaces and third-party sellers that foster the sale of stolen goods and increase criminal penalties for assaulting retail workers;
• Launching the Retail Theft Joint Operation to coordinate through our network of Crime Analysis Centers the response of law enforcement agencies and prosecutors, modeled on the successful intra-state task force on gun trafficking, but focused on combatting organized retail theft crime;
• Deploying a dedicated New York State Police team to build cases against organized retail theft rings;
• Setting up a New York State Police Smash and Grab Enforcement Unit.
• Expanding the work of the 11 Crime Analysis Centers (CACs) by providing a centralized intelligence gathering and evidence collection strategy across the State designed to receive intelligence from retailers victimized by organized crime theft. These data, intel and evidence would be collected by the CACs and shared with local law enforcement to enhance the investigation and prosecution of these crimes across state jurisdictions;
• Establishing a Commercial Security Tax Credit to help business owners offset the costs of certain store security measures;
• Providing funding for dedicated teams in District Attorneys’ offices throughout the State focused on property crime, primarily organized retail theft;
• Funding for the DAs and new SP units to allow for an increased use, enforcement and prosecution of Trespass Affidavits and other legal strategies to assist small businesses in combatting this retail theft;

 

[DEAD7]

 

[the cac mamba]

stealing a car should be an automatic 5 years in prison car insurance is skyrocketing because of these pieces of shyt, and it's a terrible thing to do to a person. fukk car thieves

 

[CouldntBeMeTho]

They literally just decriminalized it lol

 

[Absolut]

Can’t make it up. Sounds like the @bnew initiatives are leaving folks out to dry. Who would have thought

https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/sf-supervisor-introduces-resolution-calling-for-reversal-of-fillmore-safeway-closure/

 

[Godless Socialist CEO]

We still pushing this nonsense after companies have admitted to lying about this shyt

 

[MajesticLion]

 

[UberEatsDriver]

Let the store handle it

 

[the cac mamba]

We still pushing this nonsense after companies have admitted to lying about this shyt

caping for organized retail thieves

 

[Freedman]

Let the billionaire corporations handle their own problems

 

[SNYC]

• Expanding the work of the 11 Crime Analysis Centers (CACs) by providing a centralized intelligence gathering and evidence collection strategy across the State designed to receive intelligence from retailers victimized by organized crime theft. These data, intel and evidence would be collected by the CACs and shared with local law enforcement to enhance the investigation and prosecution of these crimes across state jurisdictions;

Seeing CAC used in an official way always make me

 

[DatNkkaCutty]

We still pushing this nonsense after companies have admitted to lying about this shyt

Anything to target the impoverished, and disenfranchised, instead of fixing the root causes.

Gotta keep those numbers and money flowing to the prison pipelines. Incarcerated boomers dying, or coming out. Gtta refill the ranks.

 

[DonRe]

Yup. Like ya mentioned. This is all to protect big business with our tax dollars. The gall to mention small businesses when its the billion dollars bytchin and lobbying the most.

 

[Voice of Reason]

Don't trust the surveillance aspect.