For the record :
4:31 p.m. Feb. 18, 2024 : A previous version of this article stated that Priya Bhat-Patel is mayor of Carlsbad. She is Mayor Pro Tem.
Local mayors and the county’s top law enforcement official gathered in Lemon Grove on Sunday morning to support a circulating petition that seeks to increase penalties for repeated drug use and theft.
Their target is Proposition 47 , a sweeping referendum approved by 59 percent of California voters in 2014. The law reclassified most nonviolent crimes involving property or drugs from felonies to misdemeanors. That includes shoplifting, theft, forgery and fraud if the value of items does not exceed $950, as well as most illegal drug use by individuals.
Supporters of the law, now finishing its first decade on the books, say it provides social justice for poor and otherwise-marginalized Californians. Those out collecting signatures this winter say it is responsible for a surge of lawlessness. Making so much bad behavior a misdemeanor, they say, is forcing stores to lock up everything from perfume to tube socks and taking away the tools that law enforcement needs to crack down on chronic repeat offenders.