Retail workers and advocates refuse to return to failed public safety approaches, demanding robust community investment
Special to the Vanguard
West Hollywood, CA — The Select Committee on Retail Theft and the Assembly Committee on Public Safety will convene a hearing tomorrow at West Hollywood City Hall to explore statewide solutions to the reported “retail crime” surge.
At the hearing, retail workers, professors, social workers, local city council members, and advocates will provide public comment disputing the narrative that California should further penalize low-level offenses in response to the misinformation-driven retail theft panic. They will call on local and state governments to center proven, non-carceral solutions to preventing harm.
“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,” said Rachel Reyes, former West Los Angeles retail worker and manager.
Viral social media videos have created a buzz around so-called ‘smash and grab’ robberies. “Everyone deserves to feel safe,” says Dax Proctor, Statewide Coordinator of Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB) and former Assistant Buyer at retail store Fred Segal. “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 8% 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.”
Ahead of the hearing, 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. “These ongoing efforts often distract us from the detrimental actions corporations are playing in this economy, including job cuts and price gouging,” Proctor continues. “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,” says Taina Vargas, Executive Director of Initiate Justice Action.
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. Community members warn that continued fear-mongering and funding around an exaggerated ‘retail theft wave’ 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. “We need solutions that address why people shoplift,” says Claire Simonich, Associate Director of Vera California. “It’s vital we support local businesses and improve in-person shopping experiences by investing in workers.”
