Commentary: Smash-and-grab thefts show Democrats’ failure to deal with criminals

The criminal ravaging of our once Golden State is no surprise; it has been a decade in the making. It began in 2011, when then-Gov. Jerry Brown declined to build more prisons and instead addressed the crowding issue with AB 109, shifting those deemed “non-violent” from state prisons to county jails. That, in turn, pushed lower-level criminals out of custody and back onto our streets.

In 2014, Californians passed Proposition 47, being told it would improve our communities, alleviate still overcrowded jails and prisons, and save the state hundreds of millions of dollars. Proponents marketed it as the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act. Opponents called it out for the crock it was, dangerously reclassifying many felonies as misdemeanors, and railed against what would be more accurately described as the Keep Criminals in Our Neighborhoods Instead of Jail Act. It was followed two years later by Proposition 57, billed as the Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act, that provided for early release and eliminated the consideration of an inmate’s entire criminal history in parole hearings, limiting it to only the most recent charge.

While the consequences of abysmal policies like these often take time to be seen and understood, less than two years into Proposition 47’s reign of terror, district attorneys and police chiefs were pointing to the reduced penalties and lack of jail time for repeat offenders as the cause for the spike in crimes they were experiencing.

But that has not deterred progressives who insist on showering criminals with compassion and victims with callous disregard. When the latest opportunity for a mass release of criminals, both non-violent and violent, presented itself, Gov. Gavin Newsom eagerly led the way. The pandemic was used as a continuation of Newsom’s desire to close prisons and put thousands of criminals back in California’s communities.

Fast forward to November 2021, and stores like Nordstrom on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and Louis Vuitton in San Francisco have lost thousands of dollars of merchandise in brazen smash-and-grab thefts. Not to mention the Target store on Mission Street in San Francisco reporting the loss of $25,000 a day to theft.

This has forced these Democrat-run cities to address the issue of crime and public safety. Yes, nothing says “Happy Progressive Holidays” like retail districts with a heavy police presence, early closing times, and restricted vehicle access — proposed by San Francisco Mayor London Breed — all while watching where you step because there is also human feces with which to contend.

And do not be fooled into thinking these are victimless crimes or without human cost. On Nov. 24, a security guard working with a Bay Area news crew covering the recent spate of robberies was shot in an attempted armed robbery and later died from his injuries.

Those of us who prefer public safety refer to keeping the public safe from criminal elements, as opposed to keeping criminal elements safe from public prosecution, and we are angered by these trends. Even California’s liberal electorate rejected the elimination of cash bail in 2020. And voters in Los Angeles County and San Francisco are organizing to recall their disastrously progressive district attorneys, George Gascon and Chesa Boudin, respectively.

The increasing danger in California’s cities has pushed traditional public safety to the forefront of the upcoming 2022 midterms. These elections will show whether that pendulum is swinging back, as pendulums are wont to do, toward common sense. But we also must hope voters recognize it is not enough to remove these individuals, only to replace them with other progressives touting the same criminal justice “reform” that has created this dumpster fire.

The campaigns will also show whether Democrats are listening to the outrage welling up across the state. They are good on rhetoric, as heard in a recent news report. “I have no sympathy or empathy for people smashing and grabbing, stealing people’s items, creating havoc and terror in our streets. None,” Newsom said. But they are extremely poor on follow through.

If a majority of Californians predictably return these same soft-on-crime politicians to power next year, criminals will have won — as Newsom and his ilk will certainly continue to allow them to inflict themselves on our businesses and neighborhoods — and my sympathies for those voters will have run out.