Proposition 36, approved by nearly 70% of voters, restored prosecutors' ability to charge repeat petty theft and drug offenders with felonies. The law took effect in mid-December and reverses part of a 2014 reform that had made most thefts under $950 misdemeanors. Bay Area prosecutors filed more than 1,200 felony petty theft cases in the law's early months, with San Mateo County filing 365 cases — the highest regional rate at 50 cases per 100,000 residents. Local prosecutors, law enforcement and retailers say the stricter penalties help combat retail theft. Researchers say available data remain insufficient to judge the law's impact on overall crime trends.
Bay Area prosecutors have filed more than 1,200 felony petty theft cases under a tough-on-crime measure California voters overwhelmingly approved last year - but charging rates vary widely across the region as some counties more aggressively employ the new penalties. Frustrated by viral smash-and-grab robberies, store closures and locked-up merchandise in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 70% of voters backed Proposition 36, which carried majorities in each of the state's 58 counties.
"We don't have data yet that can seek to determine whether Prop. 36 has had any effect on retail theft," said Magnus Lofstrom, a policy director with the Public Policy Institute of California, which closely tracks crime data across the state. Proposition 36, which took effect in mid-December, empowers prosecutors to bring felony charges against repeat petty theft and drug offenders. It reversed a key facet of a landmark crime reform measure voters passed in 2014 that had reduced simple drug possession and most thefts of less than $950 to misdemeanors, which generally carry little jail time.
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