HomeMy WebLinkAboutAB1779, AB1794 Aggregation of Retail Theft and Jurisdiction - Letter of SUPPORTCity 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 Jackie Irwin
Member, California State Assembly
1021 O Street, Suite
Sacramento, CA 95814
The Honorable Kevin McCarty
Member, California State Assembly
1021 O Street, Suite 5610
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: Retail Theft Aggregation and Multi-Jurisdictional Legislation
Dear Assembly Members:
One of the City of San Luis Obispo’s priorities is to address crime and retail theft, organized retail
theft and shoplifting. Our city is pleased that both houses of the Legislature have made this issue a
priority in 2024. As such, City of San Luis Obispo would like to identify a few bills that we believe
would help to address the issue of aggregating multiple retail theft offenses across a multi-
jurisdictional area.
As you may know, retail theft continues to be a problem in nearly all California communities. For
example, commercial burglary is at the highest rate since 2008. In fact, according to the PPIC,
commercial burglary increased statewide since 2020, especially in larger counties with an increase of
13% among 14 of the 15 largest counties. To address rising theft, city officials need additional tools
to reduce crime and improve the safety of their neighborhoods.
It has become common for offenders to try to avoid higher charges, such as grand theft, by stealing
small amounts of items they know are under $950 across several retail businesses. Current law
provides that multiple thefts can be aggregated to one charge if these incidents can be proven to be
“one intention, one general impulse, and one plan.” Unfortunately, this law is limited in scope and
the City of San Luis Obispo strongly believes it needs strengthening.
Improved aggregation laws for multiple incidents of theft will not be helpful without active
prosecution of cases across several jurisdictions. Expanding coordination and abilities of District
Attorneys to work together to prosecute theft offenses that occur in several counties will ensure
offenders are held accountable.
Therefore, we support the following bills:
AB 1779 (Irwin) Theft: Jurisdiction.
(As Amended on 4/25/2024)
AB 1794 (McCarty) Crimes: Larceny
(As Amended on 4/11/2024)
These bills propose several methods of ensuring and clarifying the process of multi-jurisdictional
prosecution as well as aggregation of multiple theft incidents with several victims.
For these reasons, the City of San Luis Obispo supports both AB 1779 (Irwin) and AB 1794 (McCarty).
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