THEY GOT WHAT THEY VOTED FOR

Surprised? CA residents concerned about violent crime - and it spells bad news for "progressive" DAs

 

By Jenna Curren 

Law Enforcement Today

Oct 17, 2024

 

LOS ANGELES, CA - In the last 10 years, residents have seen an increase in crime in many neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles and neighboring areas, and now many of them are raising their concerns about the very criminal justice form they voted for, hoping it would lead to a more equitable system and help end mass incarceration.

According to the Associated Press (AP), one of those residents, Alley Bean, joined the 3.7 millions Californians who voted for the measure that downgraded many nonviolent felony crimes to misdemeanors, such as petty shoplifting and drug use. Now, she says that she has seen an increase in crime in her Venice neighborhood, with some homes being robbed in broad daylight. 

She said that many of the sidewalks are occupied by tents of homeless people and dotted with people passed out from drugs. The opioid crisis is personal to her, as she lost her 25-year-old granddaughter, Zelly Rose, to fentanyl poisoning. She said, "I thought there was going to be rehabilitation," with the criminal justice reform. Bean, a lifelong Democrat, added, "I didn't think there was going to be no consequences."

Nearly 10-years after Proposition 47 passed, Bean's grievances are increasingly shared by Californians, with smash-and-grab store thefts captured on videos on a pretty regular basis. Then, those videos go viral on social media, feeding a sense that the state has become lawless. Now, more and more, voters are pinning the blame for these incidents on efforts to advance criminal justice reform, Proposition 47, and progressive district attorneys.

The issue has resulted in some tight races this past year up and down the predominately blue state for Democratic and progressive members of Congress, mayors and district attorneys who are up for reelection. Also on the ballot is Proposition 36, which would partly roll back the 2014 law across the state. Critics of criminal justice reform claim that it has been a "failed social experiment."

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón, who co-authored Proposition 47 and won the election in 2020 after protests that spanned the entire country following the death of George Floyd, now faces a stiff competition from a former federal prosecutor who calls himself a "hard middle" candidate. At their recent debate, Nathan Hochman said, "Mr. Gascón has been one of the greatest gifts for gangs," as he lambasted him for not pursuing a gang sentencing enhancement in the high-profile killed of "General Hospital" actor Johnny Wactor.

Gascón has come under a lot of scrutiny since taking office, including for his office's policy on not trying juveniles as adults. Critics of that policy point to cases a recidivism among those youth. Some of the incidents include a man who at the age of 16 took part in a 2018 gas station robbery and was later released from a youth detention facility, only to be arrested and charged this past April in connection with a homicide. 

In another incident, a 17-year-old gang member in 2019, who admitted to a double homicide and could have faced life in prison, was released in February 2023 and arrested just months later in connection with a new killing. Gascón continues to defend his record, saying that the use of gang enhancements is historically tinged with racial bias and a special committee makes decisions on them on a case-by-case basis. He said that his office has prosecuted over 100,000 "serious crimes" in the last four years, a rate comparable to the previous decade.

Frustration over the retail theft has pushed Governor Gavin Newsom to champion a slate of bills that would crack down on serial offenders and auto thieves, but stopping short of making retail crimes felonies again. Proposition 36 goes even further, making theft of any amount a felony of a person already has two theft convictions. It would also lengthen some theft and drug felony sentences, make fentanyl possession a felony, and require people with multiple drug charges to complete treatment or else serve time. 

In 2020, voters rejected a similar initiative, but this time around there is a bipartisan coalition backing Proposition 36. Over 180 Democratic elected officials, including 64 mayors, signed onto a campaign supporting the initiative. The measure has also been endorsed by the California Chamber of Commerce and major retailers such as Walmart, Target, and Home Depot.

A recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found that 71 percent of likely voters said they would vote yes. Jennifer Barrera, president of the California Chamber of Commerce said, "It's hard for businesses and communities who are really on the front line of it. I think that it will likely increase incarceration ... but I do also hope and expect that it certainly will have an impact on reducing crime."

Opponents of Proposition 36, including Governor Newsom and Democratic legislative leaders, say it will take the state back to the policies of prosecuting a failed war on drugs and locking up tens of thousands of people, mostly Black and Hispanic, in overcrowded prisons. Newsom said, "I know people are frustrated. I know people are angry. I am too. But, this is not the way of solving it."

Many business owners say that the current situation is unsustainable. Aaron Cardoza, who owns Mobil Fits, used to run an affordable clothing shop in a historically Black neighborhood of Del Paso Heights in Sacramento. He closed it down and switched to online sales out if a van after the store was broken into six times in two months. He said that he does support Proposition 36.