….Labadie says he’s been hit more than a dozen times in two to three years, but nobody has been caught because of a change in state law. Prop 47 increased the threshold for a felony from $450 to $950. The idea was to keep non-violent criminals out of prison, but Rachel Michelin with the California Retailers Association says it’s had unintended consequences, causing a spike in retail theft by organized criminals who know anything under $950 is a misdemeanor.
“They are particularly targeting smaller retailers sometimes with a calculator getting right up to that 950 mark, walking out of the store in some cases waving at the camera as they go knowing nothing is going to happen to them,” said Michelin.
CBS13 has reported while retail theft is up, arrest rates are down. Michelin says thieves return again and again, which has hurt the bottom line and become a safety issue.
“Because these crimes are becoming more and more brazen. We are seeing employees being accosted. We are seeing consumers getting hurt,” said Michelin.
