$267 Million vs. $31 Million? Will Newsom’s Crime Reduction Plan Work?

Governor Newsom is allocating $267 million to a new grant program he’s touting to combat the pandemic of department store thefts in the state’s larger cities.

“Enough with these brazen smash-and-grabs,” Newsom said last week in a statement about the grants. “We are ensuring law enforcement agencies have the resources they need to take down these criminals.”

Since 2019, law enforcement officers in California have arrested more than 1,250 people and recovered $30.7 million in stolen merchandise. The grants, to be distributed over the next three years, will help local agencies create investigative units, increase foot patrols, purchase advanced surveillance technology and equipment, and crack down on vehicle and catalytic converter theft (an issue that has become rampant in the Bay Area).

The money would also help fund units dedicated to prosecuting these crimes, the governor’s office said. But unless Newsom cracks down on California DAs that refuse to prosecute robbers and thieves if the take is less than a thousand dollars, spending $267 million to fight a $30 million problem seems like a game trick.

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