[NY Post] Busted thieves baffled by ‘new laws’ in California that make shoplifting a felony

lol, there's a new sheriff in town

Busted thieves baffled by ‘new laws’ in California that make shoplifting a felony, police video shows

https://nypost.com/2024/12/23/us-ne...affled-by-new-shoplifting-laws-in-california/

excerpt:

An accused California shoplifter was stunned to learn she might be slapped with a felony charge after “new laws” that crack down on low-level theft, police video shows.

The Seal Beach Police Department in Orange County published a montage of security, dash and body camera videos that show three women allegedly lifting more than $600 in merch from an Ulta Beauty before officers caught up with the gals, slapped them in cuffs and shoved them into a squad car.

That was when one suspect asks if they could be charged with a felony, to which her accomplice delivers the sobering news: “B—h, new laws. Stealing is a felony.”

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“This is Orange County, b—h. They don’t play,” lamented the alleged thief.

The new laws in question are Proposition 36 — a ballot initiative that went into effect Wednesday undoing soft-on-crime policies limiting law enforcement’s ability to crack down on lesser crimes like shoplifting.

Under one law passed in 2014, thieves could only be charged with a misdemeanor if the stolen items they were less than $950.

But that law coincided with a surge in retail theft, prompting an outcry from citizens and businesses alike and pushing politicians to finally reverse course.

Nearly 70% of voters cast ballots in favor of Prop 36.
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more at the link

 

Turley

“This Orange County…They Don’t Play”: California’s Tougher Shoplifting Law Receives Curious Endorsement

https://jonathanturley.org/2024/12/...shoplifting-law-receives-curious-endorsement/

excerpt:

One alleged shoplifter was shocked to find out some shoplifting offenses are now considered a felony in California.

“It’s a felony?” one of the women asks the other in the back of the patrol car.

“B—h new laws,” the woman responds. “Stealing is a felony and this Orange County b—h. They don’t play.”

That could well be the next slogan for tough-on-crime measures in the state.

I have previously written about the lack of deterrence for shoplifting in cities like San Francisco and New York.

The fact is that most criminals are rational actors who make a calculus of risk in the commission of offenses. The mobs hitting stores like Bloomingdales are organized gangs. Even shoplifters stealing from stores like Costco and Target are known to quickly sell the goods on the internet through fences.

In 1968, University of Chicago economist Gary Becker wrote his famous article, “Crime and Punishment,” in which he argued that criminals make calculations based on the certainty and the severity of punishment. If you increase the certainty or likelihood of punishment, you can achieve deterrence with lower levels of punishment. Conversely, if there is a low detection rate for crime, you can deter some crimes with higher levels of punishment.

This shoplifter seems to be working out that calculus of risk belatedly in the back of a patrol car.
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more at the link

 

that’s just an achingly dumb response, even for you