CENTRAL COAST — In downtown Salinas on Aug. 19 — joined by several dozen Central Coast elected officials, law enforcement leaders, business owners and local and state lawmakers — Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas championed historic new retail theft laws that will protect business owners, improve safety for shoppers and workers and hold criminals accountable.
“Today, we’re done with smash-and-grabs. We’re done with products being locked up. Today, law-abiding citizens — not criminals — make the rules,” said Rivas, who represents communities across San Benito, Santa Cruz, Monterey and Santa Clara counties, while also leading the Democratic Assembly Caucus in Sacramento’s State Capitol.
Retail crime and theft have plagued California in recent years.
At last month’s event, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen described how large criminal gangs “armed with pepper spray and sledgehammers” have attacked and injured employees and made off with tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise and items.
“These are not your father’s shoplifting cases,” Rosen said.
Nationwide, retail theft costs retailers an estimated $120 billion annually, according to Rosen.
Rivas’ package of new legislation, which was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Aug. 16, provides new tools to stop this problem. The laws create a new felony charge to target organized criminals, allows prosecutors across different counties to work together to stop thieves, and cracks down on online marketplaces that sell stolen items.
Newsom has referred to the laws as “the most significant legislation to address property crime in modern California history.”
Rivas agreed, saying, “These powerful new laws give leaders the tools they need to protect hard-working business owners and keep their workers and customers safe.”
The bipartisan, comprehensive legislative package reflects input from public safety groups, businesses and community leaders and was developed over a year-long process that included several hearings by the Assembly’s Select Committee on Retail Theft, which Rivas founded when he came into office.
“I am grateful to Speaker Rivas for making retail theft a priority,” said Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, who serves as chairman of the Select Committee on Retail Theft. “By working together with various stakeholders, we crafted a balanced solution that disrupts retail crime rings while maintaining crucial criminal justice reforms. This law is a significant step toward making our communities safer and stronger.”
Fellow Assemblymember Juan Alanis, a Republican from Modesto who authored one of the new retail-theft laws and served for three decades in law enforcement, said on Aug. 19 he “looked forward to continuing to work” with his Assembly colleagues on public safety issues.
“For too long, retailers and businesses around the state have endured pain while making their employees and workers safe,” Alanis said.
Business and community leaders collaborated with Rivas and the Assembly to deliver the new laws.
Rachel Michelin, who serves as president of the California Retailers Association, called the policy “comprehensive” and said the laws address retail theft from “many different angles.”
“We would not be here if not for the leadership of Speaker Rivas,” Michelin said.
Ron Fong, president of California Grocers Association, described Aug. 19 as “a historic day” and said supermarket and grocery owners are deeply concerned about crime at their businesses.
“The number one issue is safety of employees and customers because of retail theft,” Fong said.
Mike Molinar operates several supermarkets, including a Food 4 Less in the Central Coast, and he said these retail-theft solutions “couldn’t have come soon enough.” He also thanked Rivas for taking the time “to understand what it’s like to run a grocery store,” saying that retail theft was the thing “that kept him up at night.”
Law enforcement supports the legislative package, including Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna, who earlier this year said he was “proud to support this effort that will not only protect our large corporate retailers, but will also protect our small private business owners.”
In Salinas on Aug. 19, Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto said she is eager to see continued work on the issue.
“My hope is this legislation is just the beginning,” Nieto said. “Speaker Rivas, we want to thank you for this start.”
Rosen noted how retail theft leads to perilous outcomes, even in rural and non-urban parts of California, when pharmacies or “mom and pop” stores are targeted, and “vulnerable communities lose access to food and medicine.”
Going forward, Rivas reinforced his commitment to keeping Californians safe.
“Our work is not done,” he said, “and we will continue next year and beyond, and I appreciate all of you for moving forward with me together.”
The new retail theft and public safety laws include:
- AB 2943: Creates new retail theft felony crime;
- AB 3209: Authorizes courts to impose a Retail Crime Restraining Order;
- AB 1779: Restores cross jurisdictional charging;
- AB 1972: Expands CHP property crimes task forces to support increased levels of cargo theft;
- AB 1802: Makes permanent crime of organized retail theft and the operation of the CHP property crimes task force;
- SB 1144: Disrupts the sale of stolen goods on online marketplaces by requiring that third-party sellers be certified, and bans sellers suspected of criminal activity from operating through online marketplace platforms;
- SB 905: Removes the locked door loophole for automotive property thefts;
- SB 982: Cements the work California has done on organized crime by making the law on organized retail theft permanent;
- SB 1242: Requires courts to impose higher penalties on criminals who create fires in order to engage in retail theft;
- SB 1416: Increases penalties on professional organized retail theft in particularly significant large-scale resale schemes;
- SB 1320: Requires health plans to develop a mechanism to reimburse providers who provide primary care and behavioral health integrated services; and
- SB 1385: Supports navigators in hospital emergency departments and in the criminal justice system to ensure patients and justice-involved individuals are connected to evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder and to ongoing treatment services.
