California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed a bill to crack down on smash-and-grab thefts.
FILE - Police vehicles are stationed at Union Square following recent robberies in San Francisco on Dec. 2, 2021.
Assembly Bill 1960 classifies these crimes as felonies with tougher penalties. It requires courts to give a bigger sentence for suspects who take, damage, or destroy property valued at over $50,000. “California already has some of the strictest retail and property crime laws in the nation — and we have made them even stronger with our recent legislation. We can be tough on crime while also being smart on crime — we don’t need to go back to broken policies of the last century. Mass incarceration has been proven ineffective and is not the answer – we need true accountability and strategies that enhance our nation-leading efforts to address crime.
“Retail thieves feared no jail time or even arrest before this legislation," said Alabama Retail Association President Rick Brown. “The sheer volume of goods walking out of stores without being purchased was driving up the cost of goods bought legally and causing stores, small and big, to consider closing or moving elsewhere.
The law also allows retailers to file charges directly from their stores meaning they no longer have to go to a clerk's office. The law also provides training for prosecutors and law enforcement agencies.some Democrats and criminal justice advocates opposed Virginia's organized retail theft law arguing that it could ensnare people who resort to stealing to survive, including low-income people, the homeless and those struggling with addiction.
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