In another effort to be perceived as “doing something about the problem,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a $267 million initiative to combat organized retail crime.
“Enough with these brazen smash-and-grabs,” Newsom said. “With an unprecedented $267 million investment, Californians will soon see more takedowns, more police, more arrests, and more felony prosecutions. When shameless criminals walk out of stores with stolen goods, they’ll walk straight into jail cells.”
To put it delicately, that’s a load of crap.
First of all, police have to catch the criminals. While they apprehend some of them, most get away. And even when arrests are made, good luck seeing many of these criminals at trial when their bail is a joke or even non-existent.
As far as prosecutions are concerned, you have to have state’s attorneys willing to enforce the law and put these people in prison. But we know that’s not going to happen. So even if they’re convicted, the chances of the thieves going to prison are small. Instead, the criminals will be back on the streets preparing for their next payday.
Related: A Very Bad Week for Civilization in California
Individual sheriffs offices and police department will be awarded over $23 million each in funding to be used for creating “fully staffed retail theft investigative units, increase arrests, install advanced surveillance technology, train loss prevention officers, create new task forces, increase cooperation with businesses and the community, target criminals in blitz operations, as well as crack down on vehicle and catalytic converter theft.”
The Organized Retail Theft Prevention Grant Program will partner with law enforcement agencies in seven counties and 34 cities across the Golden State.
Is organized retail theft — or shoplifting — really that much of a problem? Popular Information doesn’t think it is.
2023 data from most major California cities, however, does not reflect a significant increase in shoplifting or organized retail crime. In San Francisco, larceny-theft, which includes shoplifting, is down 5.6% year-to-date. Burglary in San Francisco is down 6.8% year-to-date. In San Jose, burglary and larceny are both down nearly 20% year-to-date. In Los Angeles, burglary has decreased 2.7% year-to-date, but theft has increased 14.1% year-to-date.
Taken as a whole, the available data suggests organized retail crime does not appear to be a growing problem in the nation or California. So is combating organized retail crime the best use of $267 million in taxpayer dollars?
What matters far more than dollars and cents on this issue is the perception that retail smash-and-grab thefts are out of control and something needs to be done.
The videos of these robberies are terrifying. Shoppers are thinking twice about going into a brick-and-mortar retail store. Hence, Newsom’s totally useless program that looks good on the nightly news but doesn’t do a darn thing to change the situation.
Robberies won’t stop until store owners make it too difficult for the thugs to steal from them. Whether its armed guards or putting merchandise under lock and key, store owners will figure it out eventually.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member