In response to growing crime and lack of effective legislation to prevent it, a new coalition of business, neighborhood, and victims’ groups launched last week to impress upon lawmakers the importance of taking action.
The goal of Californians Against Retail and Residential Theft (CARRT) is to educate residents and meet with legislators in Sacramento and in their districts, to help ensure that perpetrators will face arrest and reverse the decrease in prosecutions resulting from Proposition 47.
While there are pieces of legislation about certain criminal penalties, CARRT members held an online news conference on May 18 to communicate concerns that nothing has yet been passed, or lacks effective prevention methods.
Politicians could be recalcitrant in an election year but the longer crime goes unchecked, the worse it’s getting. Surveillance video of brazen thefts from grocery stores, shown during the CARRT news conference, are only a small portion of what continues to go on, Richard Wardell of the California Grocers Association, said.
“The reality is I get 200 notifications a day that this is happening – 1,400 of those a week,” Wardell said. It’s a safety issue for workers who, when asking the suspects for receipts, have experienced further altercations.
With the losses from the theft, Wardell noted that consumers end up paying more for products, especially difficult for lower-income families and directly contributing to inflation.
Julian Cañete, president and CEO of the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce talked about what businesses are seeing.
“The theft is becoming a much larger problem,” Cañete said. “The National Retailers Association survey of businesses found a nearly 60 percent increase in losses due to theft over the past year. This is an important issue to Hispanic business, to all small business here in California.”
CARRT spokesperson Matt Ross noted that San Francisco has seen a 25 percent increase in larceny theft compared to the same period last year.
“It's time to put an end to retail and residential theft on Main Street and in our neighborhoods," Ross said. "That starts with a series of discussions in the Capitol and our neighborhoods to identify realistic solutions to the growing theft problem."
David Kusa, a board member with the Automotive Service Councils of California, spoke about the growing theft of catalytic converters from parked cars, as well as smash-and-grabs and the need for legislation to prevent it from happening.
“We are seeing a huge effect on our customers and clients,” Kusa said. “There are anecdotal stories of vehicle owners confronting someone stealing their catalytic converter from in front of their home from their car, and getting hurt or even end up being in the hospital because they’re trying to stop the people.”
More than 35 organizations have joined CARRT so far; meetings with lawmakers and constituents are to be scheduled in the next few weeks and months.