(ConservativeSense.com) – After several calls to the police over rampant theft, a Target in Sacramento, California, is now a target of the city, which threatened to issue fines to the business for being a “public nuisance.”
An anonymous tip to local reporters from someone close to the situation revealed that Sacramento officials threatened to issue fines at Target in Land Park for calling the police too many times over the last year. The source wished to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation, but a police spokesperson confirmed the Target’s location after reporters reached out.
When California lawmakers heard about the actions and similar incidents throughout the state, they added an amendment to Proposition 47 on retail theft that would outlaw threatening businesses with fines for contacting law enforcement for assistance.
Instead of pushing for more alterations to Prop 47, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, California Sen. Mike McGuire, and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas are backing a 140-bill package that will increase penalties for shoplifting, theft, and robbery. On Thursday, July 11, Newsom criticized the ballot measure to change parts of Prop 47 and said it would not address the root of retail theft. Newsom called the change a “drug policy reform,” at best. Prop 47, passed by voters in 2014, lightened penalties for theft and drug-related crimes and is generally considered one of the main factors for the spike in such crimes throughout the last decade.
Police data shows that the Land Park location and two other Target stores experienced a spike in criminal activity, from basic shoplifting to theft and robbery, in 2024. Between all of those stores, Sacramento police received 375 calls. The publication reported that data from the police department shows city law enforcement officials recorded an increase in theft, robbery, and shoplifting reports from the city’s three Target locations this year, compared to 80 such reports for shoplifting, theft, and robbery in 2023.
Voters will vote on Prop 47 reforms in November after petitioners managed to gather enough signatures to get the measure on the ballot. As Newsom tries to dissuade from that approach, stuck in the middle of the debate are the local business owners who are struggling to stay afloat.
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