OAN’s Taylor Tinsley
4:11pm – Friday, April 19, 2024
In California, more than 900,000 people have gathered signatures to repeal a decade-old law known as Proposition 47. Many residents and state leaders say Prop. 47 is accelerating the state’s homelessness and crime crisis.
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Californians For Safer Communities announced that it has collected significantly more signatures than the 546,651 signatures needed to get the Proposition 47 amendment on the November ballot.
The bipartisan coalition is backed by several major retailers, including Target, Walmart and Home Depot, and hopes to increase criminal penalties for theft and drug charges.
Proposition 47 was approved by nearly 60% of California voters in 2014 and aimed to reduce incarceration levels for nonviolent offenders and reclassify certain crimes from felonies to misdemeanors.
“Right now, people can walk into a store and steal up to $950 with virtually no repercussions. This shuts down businesses,” said Leanne Lewis, a community activist in San Francisco. Told. “We’re seeing so many companies leave the Bay Area and we’re very concerned about the future.”
The initiative, called the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act, is backed by 14 of San Diego County’s 18 mayors, as well as more than a dozen elected officials and law enforcement members from across the Golden State. Supported by
The California Highway Patrol’s Organized Retail Theft Task Force announced Wednesday that it has arrested 474 suspects and recovered 160,000 stolen items worth nearly $4.2 million in the first three months of 2024.
CHP said this is more than half of the stolen goods recovered by the task force in all of 2023.
Despite recent data showing a slight decline in crime in some counties, local businesses still want the bill to pass.
“While overall crime is down about 2 percent, theft, theft and drugs are up and will continue to go up,” San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephens said.
The coalition was able to collect enough signatures, but the initiative still needs to be verified to officially appear on the November ballot.
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