One California police department released video of two shoplifters learning about a new state law the hard way. Proposition 36 , a California ballot measure turning some shoplifting crimes into felonies, with nearly 70% of the vote in November 2024.
It reverses a 2014 measure which downgraded some shoplifting offenses to misdemeanors. Supporters pitched the move as a cost-saving measure and an opportunity to focus on treatment instead of sending people to prison.
But since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, shoplifting rates are rising in California. Statewide, the rate of theft of goods worth up to $950 went up by 28 percent over the past five years, according to research from the Public Policy Institute of California.
Local police departments, including the Seal Beach Police Department who released the shoplifting video, backed restoring the felony punishment for the shoplifting offenses.
However, Democratic state leaders and criminal justice reform advocates aren’t so sure.