By Rena Abdusalam
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA – To explore overarching solutions to the reported retail crime surge, the Select Committee on Retail Theft and the Assembly Committee on Public Safety will hold a hearing at West Hollywood City Hall, but community groups charge the issue is overblown.
Californians United For A Responsible Budget (CURB), retail workers, professors, social workers, local city council associates, and other advocates said they will “provide public comment disputing the narrative that California should further penalize low-level offenses in response to the misinformation-driven retail theft panic.”
The organization said in a statement participants will call for “local and state governments to center proven, non-carceral solutions to preventing harm” and demand “robust community investment.”
Rachel Reyes, former West Los Angeles retail worker and manager, said, “Instead of increasing funds for police or adding harsh punishments for retail crime, legislators should look to solutions like raising wages, offering full-time roles (that come with benefits), offering professional development, and shortening store hours.
“Viral social media videos have created a buzz around so-called ‘smash and grab’ robberies,” declared the organization. However, other sources, such as NBC News, the New York Times, and the Public Policy Institute of California, reported that crime rates are not rising, especially within retail theft, despite what the public thinks.”
“Everyone deserves to feel safe,” says Statewide Coordinator of CURB and former Assistant Buyer at retail store Fred Segal, Dax Proctor.
“But when lawmakers are crafting public safety solutions, it’s important they look at the data. Crime is not rising nationally. Shoplifting in California is down eight percent from pre-pandemic levels. The National Retail Federation publicly retracted its claim that ‘organized retail theft’ made up for nearly half of inventory losses in 2021,” added Proctor.
According to CURB, “community members share that the outsized focus on retail theft reinforces ‘tough on crime’ efforts that are seeking to end or reverse progress on criminal justice reform.”
Proctor continued, “These ongoing efforts often distract us from the detrimental actions corporations are playing in this economy, including job cuts and price gouging. Allocating more money to law enforcement and imprisonment rather than care and support fails to address the root causes of our social problems.”
“Lengthy prison sentences do not prevent or deter crime…they drain resources from the measures that create real public safety. If we want to reduce theft, we must address poverty, gaps in our social safety net, and the runaway profiteering and wage theft committed by big corporations,” said Executive Director of Initiate Justice Action, Taina Vargas.
“Facing a budget deficit of at least $38 billion, Newsom’s 2024-25 proposed budget allocates $267 million, the largest-ever investment to ‘combat organized retail crime,’ $15.6 million of which was recently awarded to the LA County Sheriff’s Department, whose annual budget tops $4 billion,” reports CURB.
CURB adds the community warns that fear-mongering and funding surrounding the retail left “leads to fatal consequences, increased surveillance and jailing of Black and brown communities, and cuts from budget priorities like climate change, transportation, workforce development, and healthcare that would better address public safety concerns.”
“Community leaders stress the importance of focusing on real solutions that actually address poverty and homelessness, as well as efforts that prioritize small businesses and their customers who have experienced retail theft or violence,” CURB said.
“We need solutions that address why people shoplift. It’s vital we support local businesses and improve in-person shopping experiences by investing in workers,” argued Associate Director of Vera California, Claire Simonich.
