HomeMy WebLinkAboutAB 2943 (Zbur) Crimes - Theft - Letter of SUPPORT, IF AMENDEDCity of San Luis Obispo, Office of the City Council, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, CA, 93401-3249, 805.781.7114,
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May 14, 2024
The Honorable Rick Zbur
Member, California State Assembly
1021 O Street, Suite 4250
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 2943 (Zbur) Crimes: Theft
Notice of Support if Further Amended (As Amended on April 11, 2024)
Dear Assembly Member:
The City of San Luis Obispo supports if further amended AB 2943 (Rivas), which would make
several changes to retail theft, organized retail theft and shoplifting.
Specifically, AB 2943 (Rivas) would make the following changes to statute:
• Creates a new crime and penalty for retail theft including shoplifting, theft or
burglary, for those that are repeat offenders.
• Provides that charges may be filed in multiple jurisdictions.
• Allows for the aggregation of certain offenses.
• Increases the terms of probation from 1 year to 2 years.
• Clarifies the ability for police to arrest without witnessing the crime.
• Extends the sunset date on the organized retail theft statute until 2031.
The City of San Luis Obispo is in support of many of the provisions in AB 2943, but requests
however, the following clarifications in order for the measure to be as comprehensive as
possible (for the full set of amendments please see the attachment):
• Include provisions in the aggregation section which currently provides for a common
scheme or plan to be used to also reference the rule set forth in People v Bailey and
cases related to multiple thefts. As currently written, this section does not
adequately address the case law and therefore could result in the inability for
prosecutors to aggregate multiple offenses.
• Add an amendment to the ability to arrest section to include the ability for police to
use unsworn statements taken from one or more persons when these statements
demonstrate probable cause to believe that the person to be arrested committed the
violation.
• Clarifying amendment regarding the successful completion of probation to provide
that the completion should be determined by the probation-supervising court.
We would like to thank you for your leadership on this critical issue. The City of San Luis
Obispo looks forward to additional amendments and provisions to ensure that AB 2943 is as
robust as possible.
For these reasons, the City of San Luis Obispo supports AB 2943 if amended.
Sincerely,
Erica A. Stewart
Mayor
City of San Luis Obispo
cc. Senator John Laird
Assembly Member Dawn Addis
Dave Mullinax, League of California Cities, dmullinax@cacities.org
Meg Desmond, League of California Cities, cityletters@cacities.org