As crime continues to escalate in California, a new bill would repeal most of Proposition 47, the law that has lessened penalties for many offenses, including classifying theft of less than $950 as a misdemeanor.
The legislation, AB 1599, would get to the root of the problem, which is that Proposition 47 essentially decriminalized retail theft and certain drug violations, the bill’s sponsor, Assemblymember Kevin Kiley, R – Rocklin, told the Northern California Record.
“Proposition 47 has basically said you can't be charged with a felony if you steal anything that's worth under $950 – it doesn't even matter if you're a repeat offender – and that's tied the hands of law enforcement,” Kiley said. “And it's put retail stores in a position where basically they're having to give their merchandise away for free; they're now withdrawing from major cities like San Francisco.”
When they don’t face consequences, in many cases people who commit the crimes go on to higher-level offenses, Kiley said.
“So my legislation would overturn Prop 47,” Kiley said, “Or, more specifically, it would give voters that opportunity; it would put it on the ballot for this year, so that voters can render a judgment: do we want to continue with this failed policy, or do we want to chart a new course.”
The crimes themselves and the relentless images of smash-and-grab robberies have produced a chilling impact in residential and commercial areas.
“We've seen this epidemic of theft across the state – we've seen homicide rates we haven’t seen in decades and people feel unsafe in their communities, they feel like their kids are not safe in their communities,” Kiley said. “Business owners feel like they cannot even operate in a safe manner, and this is completely unacceptable.
"Californians should not have to live in a world where criminals go about targeting them with no repercussions.”
Kiley noted that even as the pandemic has shed new light on the problems with Proposition 47, the problems began not long after it was passed in 2014.
Proposition 47, which was titled the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, was supported by then-San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón and William Lansdowne, former San Diego Police Chief. Still, the ballot initiative was opposed by many police organizations and prosecutors.
Kiley said its passage factored in his decision to run for the California Legislature, to which he was first elected in 2016.
“I worked as a prosecutor, and I saw firsthand the disastrous consequences of Proposition 47,” Kiley said. “One of the reasons I ran was to reverse this dangerous trajectory California was on, which completely liberalized our criminal laws, and unfortunately, we have continued to go down that road. But I think now people have had enough, that we’ve reached a breaking point, and it’s time for the pendulum to swing back the other way, where we respect our law enforcement and we keep our communities safe.”
If AB 1599 passes the Legislature, the measure would then go before voters as a ballot initiative, as was Proposition 47.
“I’m just hopeful with Prop 47 that we give voters a chance," Kiley said. "That's what I'm asking my colleagues in the Legislature – let’s give voters a chance to decide whether they want to continue with this.”
Restoring public safety is also a cornerstone of Kiley’s run for Congress, in California’s newly drawn District 3, which includes portions of El Dorado, Yuba, and Sacramento counties in addition to Alpine, Inyo, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, and Sierra counties.
“In many ways the problems we see in California have become national problems; they have started to spread to other parts of the country,” Kiley said. “And I think we're seeing with the current administration and the Congress that there has not been the respect for law enforcement and concern for public safety that there needs to be.”
The movement to defund the police, for example, has been damaging to communities across the country, Kiley said.
“So that is absolutely something that I will take with me to Congress, is a commitment to making sure that we don't continue to make the mistakes there that we made in California,” Kiley said. “We need someone to fight against policies that have been incredibly harmful to our state and country, and I think that I’ve proven over my time in the Legislature that I'm someone who will fight.”
AB 1599 is now before the Assembly Committee on Public Safety.