SACRAMENTO (aiexpress) – Governor Gavin Newsom is taking action to tackle the increase in property crimes by advocating for the implementation of new laws. These laws aim to crack down on professional thieves and hold them accountable for their actions.
The proposed legislation seeks to expand criminal penalties, giving law enforcement and prosecutors more power to combat theft. This is especially important in cases of smash and grabs, retail theft, and car burglaries.
The comprehensive plan entails the development of fresh legislation and the expansion of criminal penalties, with a specific focus on professional thieves who profit from selling stolen goods.
The proposed laws will specifically target organized auto burglary aimed at reselling stolen property, remove the sunset provision for the organized retail crime statute, and consider imposing harsher penalties on individuals engaged in high-volume reselling of stolen goods.
Governor Newsom emphasized the significance of the suggested measures, highlighting the need to take action against those who profit from retail theft and auto burglaries. He stated that these new laws will not only enhance public safety in California but also provide law enforcement agencies and prosecutors with stronger tools to apprehend and bring professional criminals to justice.
The proposals within the legislative framework include the following:
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- Cracking Down on Professional Thieves: Introducing new penalties targeting individuals engaged in retail theft for resale, including increased felony penalties and prison time.
- Increasing Enforcement Tools: Strengthening existing laws to ensure law enforcement can arrest suspects involved in retail theft, even without witnessing a crime in progress.
- Aggregating Theft Amounts: Clarifying the penal code to allow law enforcement to combine the value of multiple thefts, across different victims, to reach the threshold for grand theft.
- Fighting Auto Burglary: Proposing new penalties for professional auto burglary, including increased consequences for the possession of items stolen from a vehicle with intent to resell, irrespective of whether the vehicle was locked.
- Eliminating ORC Sunset Provision: Recommending the elimination of the sunset date for the organized retail crime statute, which has been effectively utilized by the Organized Retail Crime Task Force.
- Increasing Penalties for Resellers: Exploring options to strengthen the law and impose higher penalties on large-scale resellers of stolen goods.
