Kudos to a local television reporter in Vacaville, California, for doing some investigation, and exposing something that might shock the politicians - but comes as no surprise to average citizens.
Julie Watts with CBS13 discovered that the rate of what is called “dash and grab” theft is on the rise in Vacaville, but that the rate of arrest is down. Then, upon further digging, she found out that this is the trend across the state – ever since the passage of a law decreasing the penalty for theft.
After searching police reports and arrest records, CBS13 found that while the rate of these grab and dash crimes is on the rise, the rate of arrest is down. We turned to law enforcement and the retail industry for answers. Both blame a California law intended to make ‘neighborhoods safe.’
The law is called Prop 47.
Prop 47, known as the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, passed in 2014. It was intended to keep non-violent criminals out of crowded prisons. And, among other things, the law more than doubled the amount a suspect could steal before facing a felony from $450 to $950.
Of course, the term “non-violent” is slightly misunderstood here. Stealing is a form of violence. It’s not violence against the body of a person, but violence against property, which is philosophically understood as violence against one’s sustenance, and, therefore, still a violation of the principle of non-aggression.
Instead, California politicians decided that their prisons were crowded with people who were being imprisoned for “non-violent” offense of theft. In response, they raised the threshold for "felony theft" from $450 to $950. The move prompted a predictable response from people who might want to, oh, engage in theft that they know will now only be considered a misdemeanor.
Thieves have been thieving a lot more, and police aren’t arresting them as often as in the past.
Since 2014, police records show the annual loss to retail theft in Vacaville has more than doubled. Records show reports of organized retail theft in Vacaville, crimes with multiple suspects, are up 40 percent this year compared to before Prop 47. FBI crime data also shows retail theft state-wide is up. The California Police Chiefs believe it’s because the penalties have gone down.
Of course, some argue that just because the threshold for felony theft has been raised, this isn’t necessarily causative.
Thomas Hoffman, a retired police chief and former parole director for the state, represents the group that sponsored Prop 47. He noted that misdemeanors are eligible for up to six months of jail time.
But, despite the “eligibility,” it appears that many local district attorneys are forgoing prosecution, and, instead, issuing fines for the new misdemeanor theft suspects – all to open up the justice system for those seen as more “violent” criminals.
Which indicates that, perhaps, state and local governments in California aren’t managing their increasingly vast tax treasure very well. Perhaps they’ve been showering it on other things – like high speed rail – instead of handling their prison and justice systems to get violent people away from potential prey.
Of course, as a matter of case law, U.S. Supreme Court Justices have already ruled that government has no obligation to protect anyone. This despite the fact that you, the taxpayer, are obligated to pay or those government folks will come to put you in the jail they use your tax money to create – the jail which judges have said they need not use to hold real criminals who might try to hurt you.
If Prop 47 and its aftermath reveal anything about California, they tell us that politicians in the state don’t understand what “violence” is, because theft is violence. And the situation also appears to indicate just how little the politicians care about property theft. But perhaps that makes sense, since the only way the government of California can operate is by continually taking more of other people’s money – even as it allows on-the-street theft to skyrocket.