*Many neighborhoods are now witnessing firsthand, serial shoplifting, and the “smash and grab” phenomenon becoming normalized. The reasoning to reduce the prison population is understandable, but the California law classifying shoplifting of merchandise valued no more than 950.00 as a misdemeanor rather than a felony, is ludicrous.
It invites misconduct as we now see in retail outlets like CVS and Rite-Aid that do not hire trained/armed security guards to deter invaders. Many outlets have closed altogether, while others have resorted to locking up their products, increasing consumer wait time as store clerks (usually short-staffed) free up time to retrieve products for them.
Taking something that does not belong to you without the owners’ permission is still robbery; it’s still theft, no matter the value, and how it’s done. In the 1980s, there was the scandal of an investment banker who dominated the junk bond market and was sentenced to jail after pleading guilty to several securities and tax-related felonies. His crime was called “embezzlement” which is just a fancy white-collar word for robbery or theft.
According to California’s Proposition 47 text: The act of entering an open business with the intent to steal merchandise worth 950.00 or less, if convicted, carries a punishment of up to six months in county jail and a 1000.00 fine. If a thief enters a retail establishment in any way besides an open (for business) front door, it is considered a burglary that entails more stringent consequences. Prop 47 and the call to “defund the police” send the wrong message to both the citizenry and the police who swear an oath to protect and to serve.
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Those messages tend to embolden the mischievous conduct of the citizenry while demotivating the police challenged with a sense of powerlessness. The “defund the police” initiative should be conditional only for those law enforcement superiors who fail to do thorough background checks on unqualified officers like Sean Grayson, a White Illinois policeman who shot and killed an unarmed Black woman, Sonya Massey, in her home this past summer. Grayson was indicted for first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct. There are good cops and there are bad cops.
There was a “false” post on Facebook that was fact-checked by Charis Kubrin, a criminology professor at the University of California, Irvine. Her quote as reported in USA Today said, “What Prop 47 did was reclassify some low-level drug and property offenses as misdemeanors rather than felonies – still keeping them as crimes.”
A local supermarket manager who retains an alert armed security team says, “We have some instances of misconduct, but far less than some of our neighboring retailers because of our alertness and readiness.”
As CVS has closed over 200 stores nationwide, CEO Karen Lynch rakes in a salary of over 20 million dollars; an estimated 458 times the amount of the average CVS employee. The CVS policy is that shoplifting losses would be far less than a lawsuit brought on by an unarmed, general-purpose security guard who may mistakenly misuse their authority. However, that policy still leaves the company vulnerable to lawsuits by staff and customers who are subjected to potential harm by invaders who, instead of shoplifting from the shelves, may up the ante by demanding cash from the registers.
It’s been said, “So goes California; so goes the nation.” On Friday, October 18th, seven California CVS locations went on strike citing unfair labor practices; more are expected to follow. “Examples of unfair labor practices in the workplace include denying benefits or promotions to specific employees, discriminating against older workers, unequal pay, and many others, [including an unsafe work environment]. Discrimination is not only morally wrong; it is also illegal. You do not have to accept unfair labor practices at your job.” [Online source]
Voters will decide in November the same fate progressive San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin met – when he was voted out in 2022 because of his “soft on crime approach” – for Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon who some say is “cut from the same cloth.”
Larry Buford is a contributing writer. Author of “Things Are Gettin’ Outta Hand” and “Book To The Future” (Amazon). Email: [email protected]
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