California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bipartisan package of 10 bills on Friday aimed at addressing smash-and-grab robberies and property crimes. The new legislation targets repeat shoplifters and auto thieves, while increasing penalties for those involved in professional reselling schemes.
The move comes as Democratic leaders aim to demonstrate their commitment to combating crime while persuading voters to reject a ballot measure that would impose harsher sentences for repeat offenders of shoplifting and drug charges.
While shoplifting has been a persistent issue, large-scale, smash-and-grab thefts—where groups of individuals brazenly rush into stores and steal goods in plain sight—have become a significant crisis in California and other states in recent years. These crimes, often captured on video and posted on social media, have drawn significant attention to the problem of retail theft in the state.
The legislation includes significant changes to address retail theft. It allows law enforcement to combine the value of goods stolen from different victims to impose harsher penalties and permits arrests for shoplifting using video footage or witness statements.
“This goes to the heart of the issue, and it does it in a thoughtful and judicious way,” Newsom said of the package. “This is the real deal.”
The package received bipartisan support, though some progressive Democrats did not vote for it, citing concerns that some measures are too punitive.
The legislation also targets cargo thefts, closes a legal loophole to make prosecuting auto thefts easier, and requires marketplaces like eBay and Nextdoor to collect bank accounts and tax identification numbers from high-volume sellers. Retailers can also obtain restraining orders against convicted shoplifters under one of the bills.
“We know that retail theft has consequences, big and small, physical and financial,” said state senator Nancy Skinner, who authored one of the bills. “And we know we have to take the right steps in order to stop it without returning to the days of mass incarceration.”
Earlier this year, Democratic lawmakers, led by Newsom, spent months unsuccessfully attempting to keep a tougher-on-crime initiative off the November ballot. Proposition 36, the ballot measure, would make it a felony for repeat shoplifters and certain drug offenses. Democrats worry the measure would disproportionately criminalize low-income individuals and those with substance use issues rather than targeting ringleaders who orchestrate large-scale theft operations to resell stolen goods online. The new legislation allows prosecutors to combine multiple thefts at different locations for a felony charge and increases penalties for smash-and-grabs and large-scale reselling operations.
Newsom initially proposed putting a competing measure on the ballot but withdrew the plan a day later. Proposition 36 is backed by a coalition of district attorneys, businesses, and local officials, including San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.
At a press conference in a Home Depot in San Jose, Newsom, alongside a bipartisan coalition of state lawmakers, business leaders, and local officials, argued that the ballot measure would be “a devastating setback” for California, drawing parallels to the 1980s war on drugs and mass incarceration.
Addressing crime in California has become increasingly challenging for state Democrats, many of whom have spent the last decade promoting progressive policies to reduce jail populations and invest in rehabilitation programs. Newsom’s administration has also allocated $267 million to help local law enforcement agencies increase patrols, purchase surveillance equipment, and prosecute more criminals.
The issue has reached a boiling point amid mounting criticism from Republicans and law enforcement, who highlight viral videos of large-scale thefts where groups of individuals brazenly steal goods in plain sight. Voters are also concerned about what they perceive as a lawless California, plagued by retail crimes and drug abuse amid a homelessness crisis.
Crime data indicates a steady increase in shoplifting in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles between 2021 and 2022, according to a study by the non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California. However, the state attorney general and experts note that crime rates in California remain low compared to past decades.
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