SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Facing pressure from retailers, law enforcement and lawmakers, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced plans for more than $300 million in spending to combat retail theft, gun violence and drugs in California.
The governor, joined by Attorney General Rob Bonta, said the plan is in response to a recent spate of “unacceptable” organized smash-and-grab robberies seen in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.
“These organized retail mobs are not only increasing and heightening the anxiety that people are feeling, but more importantly, are expressing themselves in a way that has a profound impact on our feelings of safety,” Newsom said during a news conference in the Bay Area city of Dublin.
This isn’t the first action Newsom has taken on retail crime this year. In July he signed Assembly Bill 331, extending an organized crime crackdown started under former Gov. Jerry Brown.
But it could be months until Newsom’s newest plans are put into action.
The proposed $335 million in crime prevention spending introduced Friday is a preview of the budget the Democratic governor will formally present in January. He will need the Legislature to allocate the funds for next year’s spending plan, which will take effect July 1.
Under the proposal announced Friday, the state would provide millions in grants to law enforcement and district attorneys to go after criminals. The plan also proposes creating a full-time team at the Department of Justice devoted to prosecuting retail theft, and $20 million in grants for small businesses that are the victims of crime.
It would also provide $20 million to combat illegal drugs at the Mexican border, and $25 million to support local gun buyback programs.
At the news conference, Newsom and Bonta spoke forcefully about the need to “double down” and “crack down” on crime, a shift in tone from recent years, when Democrats have emphasized lowering incarceration rates and reducing sentencing for nonviolent offenders.
“I have not met anyone who wants to be a victim of crime,” Bonta said. “Republican, Democrat, it doesn’t matter. ... So public safety is the No. 1 job.”
Critics blame Democratic policies for the recent spike in organized retail theft, including California’s Proposition 47, a 2014 initiative voters passed that reduced sentencing for some nonviolent crimes, including thefts where the value of the stolen goods is less than $950.
Newsom said the organized thefts have nothing to do with Proposition 47 and that California can improve its criminal justice system while still holding criminals accountable.
“I’m just sick and tired of this ‘either/or’ debate, which I think is rather lazy and unfortunate,” he said. “And as long as I’m here, I’m going to try to drive to improve public safety and a lot of these reforms have actually enhanced public safety.”
Assembly Bill 331, signed this summer, created felony and misdemeanor charges for people who coordinate with others in retail theft and the coordinated sale of stolen retail goods, punishable by up to one year in county jail.
The law also created a task force, coordinated by the California Highway Patrol and the Department of Justice, to help local law enforcement agencies in areas with a lot of organized theft.
Democratic Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer of Los Angeles, who is the chairman of the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee, introduced the original law and the extension bill.
The proposal Newsom announced Friday will increase funding for the task force to $20 million from $5 million. The additional money will enable the task force to expand to new parts of the state, Jones-Sawyer said.
He said the law has proven successful in the last three years.
“We have a tool and a vehicle to really address it,” he said of organized retail theft. “And hopefully as law enforcement starts to bring these individuals in and interrogate them we can find the crux of what’s really going on. That’s part of the consternation for all of us, is we don’t know what this is as it’s increased.”
Democratic Assemblyman Phil Ting of San Francisco applauded Newsom’s proposals and said he looks forward to working on crafting an effective strategy to stop shoplifting rings.
“Californians are scared and afraid to go out. That’s no way to live,” Ting said in a statement. “We must do more to protect businesses and make our communities safer.”
Newsom’s plans to crack down on crime were met with skepticism from Republicans who said Democrats have a history of encouraging “soft-on-crime” policies.
“The Democrats’ relentless push for their ‘criminals first’ agenda has turned this once-majestic state into a sanctuary for criminals,” said State Senate Republican Leader Scott Wilk, a Santa Clarita Republican.
“It shouldn’t have taken increasing homicide rates, widespread news reports of smash-and-grabs, and pleas from Californians for Democrats to come to this realization. ... It is no surprise criminals feel empowered here. Time will tell if today’s announcement is about meaningful action or just more political grandstanding.”
Assembly Public Safety Committee Vice Chair Tom Lackey, a Palmdale Republican, said the plan was “too little, too late.”
“While Democrats around the state are scrambling to evade the fallout from a decade of pro-criminal policies, they can’t hide from their record of zero bail, defunding the police and pathetically light sentences for criminals who repeatedly prey on innocent Californians,” he said in a statement.
Conversely, the head of the California Retailers Association praised the budget package as a “big first step toward eliminating (organized retail crime).”
“We are pleased to support the Governor’s retail theft package and we look forward to working for its passage in the Legislature,” association President and CEO Rachel Michelin said in a statement.
The California Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jennifer Barrera also applauded Newsom’s plan.
“The budget package announced today by Governor Newsom designates significant resources for improved public safety and prosecutorial efforts. This is welcome news,” Barrera said in a statement. “We urge the Legislature to approve this budget package so the problems created by these organized theft rings can be most effectively addressed.”
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(Wes Venteicher of The Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.)
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