HomeMy WebLinkAboutAB1802, AB1972, SB982 - Organized Retail Theft Legislation - 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 Reggie Jones-Sawyer
Member, California State Assembly
1021 O Street, Suite #6320
Sacramento, CA 95814
The Honorable Juan Alanis
Member, California State Assembly
1021 O Street, Suite #4640
Sacramento, CA 95814
The Honorable Aisha Wahab
Member, California State Senate
1021 O Street, Suite #7330
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: Organized Retail Theft Legislation
Dear 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, the City of San Luis Obispo would like to identify a few bills that we believe
help to address the critical issue of organized retail theft.
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.
Specifically, regarding organized retail theft, there are a handful of bills that seek changes to existing
law to help address the increase in smash and grab robberies and other organized efforts that
continue to happen at an alarming rate in our communities statewide. These bills confront the issue
of organized retail theft by requiring the Regional Property Crimes Task Force assist railroad police in
combatting organized theft of merchandise stolen from a merchant’s cargo and eliminating the
sunset date for organized retail theft.
For these reasons, the City of San Luis Obispo supports :
AB 1802 (Jones-Sawyer) Crimes: Organized Theft
(As Amended on 4/1/2024)
AB 1972 (Alanis) Regional Property Crime Task Force
(As Introduced on 4/11/2024)
SB 982 (Wahab) Crimes: Organized theft
(As Amended on 4/1/2024)
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