By Robert Salonga
Bay Area News Group
SACRAMENTO — After a visit across the state’s border with Mexico, Gov. Gavin Newsom touted California’s efforts from the past year to tackle organized retail theft and other property crimes that have driven overwhelming support for a ballot measure that would toughen penalties for theft and drug crimes.
The two issues are inextricably linked, as Newsom and his legislative allies have recently passed a package of anti-theft bills to undercut the purpose of Proposition 36, perhaps the most prominent statewide voter initiative on the Nov. 5 ballot
In a virtual news conference Monday, Newsom highlighted the latest results of a $267 million funding blitz for state and local law enforcement to tackle property crimes, including the organized retail thefts and smash-and-grab thefts that have captured wide attention through in countless viral videos. To date, the effort launched in September 2023 has yielded just over 10,000 arrests for retail, auto and cargo theft cases, according to Newsom’s office and the California Highway Patrol.
Local results highlighted by Newsom included a South Bay police effort, which included San Jose police, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office and Campbell police, to arrest more than a dozen people connected to a Home Depot theft ring. The county has seen another 16 people charged with organized retail crime and associated violent crimes using the state funds, according to the governor’s office.
In Oakland and the East Bay, the funding has supported 1,125 property crimes arrests, the seizure of 110 guns and the recovery of 2,123 vehicles, CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee said Monday.
But the broader direction of the news conference, once reporters were allowed to ask Newsom questions, pivoted back to Proposition 36, the ballot measure that aims to drive down serial theft by undoing the $950 threshold for a theft to be charged as a felony, and stiffen punishments for drug dealing that has fueled the fentanyl and opioid crises. It also would revive a drug court infrastructure that provides those arrested for certain kinds of drug possession with the choice to enter court-monitored rehab or face up to three years in jail.
The measure is receiving around 70% support from California voters according to multiple polls released over the past month, and looks headed toward a comfortable passage next Tuesday. Newsom acknowledged as much Monday, referring to “the prevailing wind,” but reiterated his opposition to the measure, calling it “a very lazy response to a serious issue and a complicated issue” that encompasses drug abuse and homelessness.
He echoed long-standing talking points for opponents of the measure, contending that it has no funding attached to it and that funding from Proposition 1 — passed by voters in March to add 6,800 beds to the state’s treatment capacity — can’t be easily cashed out to fulfill the pledges of Proposition 36.
“Those dollars were focused on specific strategies to address chronic mental illness,” Newsom said.
Supporters, who have the state’s electorate firmly behind them, assert that Proposition 47 — passed in 2014 to shift low-level offenders away from prison and toward diversion and rehabilitation programs — led to unchecked shoplifting and other property crimes motivated by drug use, and that Proposition 36 is a response to the ineffectiveness of current policies.
Monday, the official Yes on 36 campaign flexed what is close to the last of its nearly $14 million fundraising chest to launch a digital ad boasting the support of former Los Angeles mayor and Assembly speaker Antonio Villaraigosa and Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper and airs the message, “Smash and grab criminals caused stores to raise prices and lock up items and close their doors,” capitalizing on voters’ frustrations with the crime trends.
Newsom said at the news conference that he “can’t in good conscience support it,” and that “I hope people take the time to understand what they’re supporting.” He then pointed to a report by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office estimating that Proposition 36 would raise state costs by “several tens of millions of dollars” at a minimum, and up to “the low hundreds of millions of dollars” by increasing the prison population.
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