When you make felonies into misdemeanors, you need to expect more crime. Prop. 47 allows you to steal up to $950 worth of goods from a car and only get a ticket, if caught. In San Luis Obispo, 2016 saw a 52% increase in thefts from cars. The only surprise is that it was not higher.
““We’ve been hammered with thefts,” said Sheriff’s Capt. Keith Behlmer on Friday. The increase, he said, is mostly due to Proposition 47, legislation passed by California voters in November 2014 that reduced the penalties for a variety of drug and theft crimes.
Many crimes that used to be felonies are now misdemeanors and, instead of being arrested, people committing these crimes usually only get a ticket, Behlmer said.
“With everything being decriminalized there’s no real reason not to commit crime,” he said. Before Prop. 47 was passed, drug addicts would at least be picked up and put in jail a few days to detoxify and come down from the drug, he said.
You hear that, ““With everything being decriminalized there’s no real reason not to commit crime,” he said.”. Government, the voters, are the co-conspirators of many of these crimes. Without Prop. 47, Californians would be safer—but we voted to make ourselves victims.
Photo credit: Michael Coghlan via Flickr
Thefts increased in Napa County last year
MARIA SESTITO, Napa Valley Register, 3/31/17
Napa County isn’t known for having a lot of major crimes, but it still has its problems, including an increase in theft reports.
According to statistics from both Napa Police and the Napa County Sheriff’s Office, reports of theft increased between 2015 and 2016. Thefts increased by more than 10 percent in Napa and more than 8 percent in unincorporated Napa County.
“We’ve been hammered with thefts,” said Sheriff’s Capt. Keith Behlmer on Friday. The increase, he said, is mostly due to Proposition 47, legislation passed by California voters in November 2014 that reduced the penalties for a variety of drug and theft crimes.
Many crimes that used to be felonies are now misdemeanors and, instead of being arrested, people committing these crimes usually only get a ticket, Behlmer said.
“With everything being decriminalized there’s no real reason not to commit crime,” he said. Before Prop. 47 was passed, drug addicts would at least be picked up and put in jail a few days to detoxify and come down from the drug, he said.
Behlmer predicted that because of Proposition 47, thefts are going to continue to increase.
In American Canyon, although crime was down in most categories last year, auto thefts went up significantly. There were 56 reports of vehicles being stolen last year compared to 44 in 2015 and only 31 in 2014, according to the police department’s annual report.
Police Chief Tracey Stuart recently told the City Council that her officers sometimes catch the same car thief two or three times because they keep getting off now that auto theft is a misdemeanor, not a felony, in California.
“I think we’re seeing the same crooks over and over again who used to go to jail” for their crimes but are now on a “repeat probation cycle,” said Stuart.
Reported motor vehicle thefts actually decreased in the city of Napa from 154 in 2015 to 134 in 2016. Motor vehicle thefts in unincorporated Napa County increased from one to two.
Napa Police Lt. Chase Haag said that the only substantial increase he’s noticed is in robberies, which increased from 31 reports in 2015 to 47 in 2016.
“It’s a 50 percent-plus increase,” he noted. Burglaries increased, too, but only by 22 percent from 359 reports to 439.
More than 90 percent of the burglaries were classified as unlawful entries without force. That means that someone entered a structure, home or storage shed that was unlocked, Haag said. Depending on the amount of valuables taken, he said, individuals going into unlocked vehicles may also fall under this category.
Between June and August last year, there was an average of at least one car break-in, burglary or other motor vehicle-related theft reported per day. Police said that most of those thefts and burglaries were from unlocked cars.
Other than burglaries and thefts, Haag said that he didn’t see any significant deviations in crime rates.
About Stephen Frank
Speak Your Mind