Governor Newsom signs landmark bill to combat retail crime and property theft

California law already gives law enforcement and prosecutors robust tools to arrest and charge suspects involved in organized retail crime — including up to three years in prison for organized retail theft. The state has the 10th highest hurdle in the country for prosecutors to charge suspects with a crime: $950. Forty other states — including Texas ($2,500), Alabama ($1,500) and Mississippi ($1,000) — require higher amounts for suspects to be charged with a crime.

Today's signing includes the adoption of the following measures that will help strengthen California's existing laws:
• AB 1779 by Representative Jacqui Irwin – Theft: Jurisdiction
• AB 1802 by Representative Reggie Jones-Sawyer – Crime: Organized Theft
• AB 1972 by Representative Juan Alanis – Regional Task Force on Property Crimes
• AB 2943 by Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zbur and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas – Crime: Shoplifting
• AB 3209 by Assemblyman Marc Berman – Crimes: Theft: Injunctions for Shoplifting
• SB 905 by Senator Scott Wiener – Crime: Theft from a vehicle
• SB 982 by Senator Aisha Wahab — Crime: Organized Theft
• SB 1144 by Senator Nancy Skinner — Marketplaces: Online Marketplaces
• SB 1242 by Senator Dave Min — Crime: Fires
• SB 1416 by Senator Josh Newman – Increased penalties for selling, exchanging or returning stolen property
• Although not included in today's announcement, Governor Newsom is also expected to soon sign AB 1960 from Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas.

Local support in the fight against organised retail crime
Governor Newsom has invested $1.1 billion since 2019 to fight crime, help local governments hire more police officers, and improve public safety. Today's action builds on the Governor's Real Public Safety Plan, which focuses on strengthening local law enforcement response, ensuring offenders are held accountable, and removing guns and drugs from our streets, including by deploying the California Highway Patrol in hot spots like Oakland, Bakersfield, and San Francisco.

As part of the state's largest investment to combat organized retail crime, Governor Newsom announced last year that the state had distributed $267 million to 55 communities to help local communities combat organized retail crime. These funds have enabled cities and counties to hire more police officers, make more arrests, and obtain more charges against felony suspects.

Nationwide efforts to combat shoplifting and organized crime
Last year, the California Highway Patrol reported a 310% year-over-year increase in proactive operations against organized retail crime, as well as special operations across the state to combat crime and improve public safety. And as of January 2024, the CHP's Organized Retail Crime Task Force is on track to exceed its 2023 workload, making 884 arrests and recovering more than a quarter million stolen goods valued at over $7.2 million.