What the Attorney General Candidates are Saying About Smash and Grab, Organized Looting, Shoplifting, and Personal Theft Crimes

California makes international news almost every day.  In the past it was mostly about Hollywood, Silicon Valley, the great weather, or some wacky new trend like intimate suntanning.

But now the Golden State is known worldwide as a place to visit at your own peril, as Jamie McBride, head of the L.A. Police Protective League, warned tourists against visiting.  

The relatively recent changes in how laws are enforced – or not, as the case may be – has not only shifted the state’s image but seriously impacted the lives of every Californian.  Of course, if you are rich enough to have private security, a personal staff, and literally everything delivered to your home you can ignore the problems and keep shoveling money to putative “reformers” while facing no consequences of your actions, but who are we to judge?

Since current Attorney General Rob Bonta has not seen fit to answer any questions in this series we have daily referenced his positions – or lack thereof – at the end of each piece.  This time, though, we’ll be taking care of that at the outset:  his inactions speak far, far louder than our words ever could.

That being said, here is today’s question:

Smash and grab organized looting, shoplifting,  and personal theft crimes have risen dramatically in California recently.  Why do you believe this is so and what can an Attorney General do about the problem?

Eric Early:

California has become a Criminals’ Paradise.  Our elected officials have created a culture, through their attitudes, laws, failure to enforce other laws, and various public statements that have led criminals to believe that crime actually pays in California.

The Attorney General can do a lot to combat this:

1. Change the Narrative and Pro-Criminal Culture in this state by making it very clear in many ways, that crime no longer pays.

2. Fight to keep criminals incarcerated for as long as possible.

3.  Support and use the death penalty.

4. Openly and repeatedly support our brave men and women of law enforcement.

5. Work to repeal Propositions 47 and 57.

6. Work to institute cash bail in most instances.

7. Work to lock up the prison cells again (including taking steps to build more prison beds).

8.  Support our Second Amendment rights.

9. Deal directly with other systemic failures in our criminal justice system such as the watering down of good time credits.

Nathan Hochman:

The current “spiral of lawlessness” emanates from Prop 47’s misguided changes to the property crimes laws. Coupled with soft-on-crime District Attorneys refusing to prosecute such crimes or to insist on bail once arrested, one unpunished theft of $950 from Walgreens has led to two such thefts from CVS has led to 80 thieves running out a Nordstroms to escalating smash-and-grab robberies and follow-home robberies.

As Attorney General, I will set the tone from the top that crimes have consequences –  I will go  into counties where such laws are not being enforced and enforce them and I work with the state legislators to reverse or modify or create a work-around (ex: a serial theft felony) of Prop 47.

Anne Marie Schubert:

Prosecutors have lost tools to hold thieves accountable. The correlation between Prop 47 and the rise in crime is undeniable. As California’s next Attorney General, I will advocate for changing the law so criminals are held responsible for their actions.

Daniel Kapelovitz:

What causes crime rates to fluctuate is more complex than some people think.  Poverty and drug addiction contribute more to any rise in theft crimes than, say, a couple of progressive district attorneys.  As Attorney General, I would work to get at the root of these problems so we can prevent crimes from happening in the first place.

Attorney General Rob Bonta: See above.

And we will be back tomorrow for the final installment in the series – thanks for reading!

Read all of the articles in this series HERE.