Posted on 05/14/2016 12:11:47 PM PDT by Leaning Right
Perry Lutz says his struggle to survive as a small businessman became a lot harder after California voters reduced theft penalties 1½ years ago.
About a half-dozen times this year, shoplifters have stolen expensive drones or another of the remote-controlled toys he sells (...). "It's just pretty much open season," Lutz said. "They'll pick the $800 unit and just grab it and run out the door."
Anything below $950 keeps the crime a misdemeanor — and likely means the thieves face no pursuit and no punishment, say retailers and law enforcement officials.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
And the police usually will not investigate misdemeanor thefts.
By the way, the old maximum was $400.
So he needs to price those goods as $999. with a sign that says speak to the owner about a discount.
Smart!
How much would it cost to print up cards with a picture of the item and a note “to purchase this item take this card to the cashier”?
When did we vote on that? I must not have been paying attention. Or did somebody go “Judge Shopping”, and had him decide for us?
That’s like “blaming” the speed limit for the speeder
You realize, I take it, that the use of the word “smart” is in itself a microaggression?
I’m going to California. I’ve got some shopping to do.
FYI, the ballot measure that did this was Proposition 47:
Who could have seen this coming?
You realize of course that randomly accusing people of microaggressions is in itself a microaggression ... :-)
California Proposition 47, the Reduced Penalties for Some Crimes Initiative, was on the November 4, 2014 ballot in California as an initiated state statute. The measure was approved.
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The initiative reduces the classification of most "nonserious and nonviolent property and drug crimes" from a felony to a misdemeanor.
The measure requires misdemeanor sentencing instead of felony for the following crimes:[1][2]
In January 2015, it was announced that as many as 1 million Californians may be eligible to change past felony convictions on their records under Proposition 47. [4]
The initiative was pushed by George Gascón, San Francisco district attorney, and William Lansdowne, former San Diego police chief.[5] Supporters referred to it as The Safe Neighborhood and Schools Act.
Following Proposition 47's approval in November 2014, inmate populations in prisons began to fall across California. In Los Angeles, which has the country's largest jail system, the inmate population fell from 18,601 in November to 17,285 in January 2015. According to Jody Sharp, a commander with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, narcotics arrests fell one-third and bookings fell by a quarter in January 2015 relative to the previous year.[6]
A February 2015 report from the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office claimed that although Gov. Jerry Brown's budget assumed a reduction of 1,900 inmates in 2015-16 due to Proposition 47, this is likely an underestimation of the measure’s effects. The report estimated that state savings would range from $100 million to $200 million beginning in the 2016-17 fiscal year. [7] The governor reduced his proposed annual budget by $73 million and cut the use of private prison beds in half because of earlier-than-expected reductions from Proposition 47. [8]
As a result of jail population reductions from the proposition, Los Angeles County was one of several counties that were able to end "early release," a practice implemented in response to realignment. [9] The Board of State and Community Corrections also credited the measure for a decreased early release trend statewide. [10] In other counties, such as Alameda County and Orange County, sheriffs have closed parts of jails after reductions.[11] Orange County was able to rent out empty jail beds the federal government for immigration detainees.[12] In San Joaquin County, a reduction in crowding allowed staff to focus more on rehabilitative programs in the county jail.[13]
Garrick Byers, President of the California Public Defenders Association, views Proposition 47 as working. He said, "It reduced the punishment for many crimes from an excessive punishment to a punishment that's more in line with what the crime is. They're still getting a criminal punishment, nobody's getting off free. But it is more commonly probation, more commonly a lower lock-up time, more commonly a punishment that is going to result in rehabilitation."[6]
U.S. Sen. and 2016 presidential candidate Rand Paul (R) praised Proposition 47 in June 2015. He said, "California’s actually done some good things. Proposition 47 about a year ago or six months ago took some of the minor drug felonies and made them misdemeanors and, from my understanding, you have more room in your prisons now for violent criminals. They’re not getting out early."[14]
Others view Proposition 47 as being short-sighted. Los Angeles City Councilman and former LAPD chief Bernard Parks noted that while drug-related arrests fell, thefts and residential burglaries rose.
For places like this? Thousands. Impulse purchases like expensive hobby drones depend upon the customer picking up and holding the item, that's half the sale there. Bringing a card to the cashier means you probably still have to work to sell the item.
Just ask Staples who saw a major drop in sales of items when they swapped to the 'bring card to cashier' methods. They still do it, but a whole lot of consumer purchases ended when they made the change.
Would that be $950 with or without my Costco card?
What does it matter? California can't afford to send people to prison.
The problem is not just with single big-ticket items, but also with multiple small items whose total value is less than $950.
Think about hitting a Wal-Mart for example, filling your cart with a bunch of small items, then out the door you go.
Proposition 47 was another assault on capitalism. Well designed, and the results are in. Now about changing that law.........
Ain’t gonna happen. The people aren’t businessmen/women, and are emotionally involved instead of cranially involved.
No, I have a SJW-approved and calibrated aggressometer that goes down to picoaggressions (with the optional-at-extra-cost aggressamplifer attachment) and can read into the picos.
"It's just pretty much open season," Lutz said. "They'll pick the $800 unit and just grab it and run out the door." Anything below $950 keeps the crime a misdemeanorSimple -- raises the price of everything in the story to $950; install full motion multipoint surveillance; install a double-door airlock style entrance with a 90 degree bend and a long enough corridor that there's plenty of time to trigger both the locks and the 911 call; prosecute, prosecute, prosecute.
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