Sacramento business, law enforcement groups say Prop. 36 is affecting retail theft
Area prosecutors have already charged dozens of people with retail theft under Proposition 36, just one month after the voter-approved law took effect and strengthened penalties for certain drug and theft-related crimes.
The proposition was championed by businesses and law enforcement groups who argued that retailers have been hard-hit by theft. A local Raley’s store on Fair Oaks Boulevard, for instance, lost $200,000 to liquor theft in a year, said Chelsea Carbahal, vice president of community impact and public affairs for the Raley’s Companies. That amount exceeds the department’s typical annual profit.
Prosecutors, police and business groups said during a Wednesday press conference that law enforcement is pursuing retail theft more aggressively, and anecdotally, businesses are noticing changes in people’s behavior.
“Word is spreading,” said Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig, who has been a vocal advocate for the proposition.
The Sacramento County district attorney’s office said that as of Tuesday afternoon, 54 people had been charged for retail theft under Prop 36. Of those, 24 were misdemeanors and 30 were felonies. Reisig said about a dozen have been arrested in Yolo County for drug-related crimes under Prop. 36, and about 10 for retail theft.
Prop. 36, passed by voters in November, increased penalties for certain theft and drug-related crimes. Previously, theft of property worth $950 or less was usually a misdemeanor. Prop. 36 elevated it to a felony for people with two or more prior theft-related convictions.
The proposition won 68% of the vote, and walked back some of the features of Prop. 47, which voters passed a decade earlier to reduce punishments for non-violent crimes.
Opponents argued that under Prop. 36, California would regress to an era of stricter sentencing and mass incarceration. And taken alongside the failure of Prop. 6, which would have ended involuntary servitude in prisons, Prop. 36 was taken as a signal that Californians attitudes toward crime are changing.
Robert Heidt, president and CEO of the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, said retail theft has been a top issue for businesses here, and was one of the first items to hit his desk when he took on the chamber’s CEO role one year ago.
While larger retailers have been the focus of the conversation, he said, small businesses have also been affected, and in many cases, have been afraid to speak out.
District attorneys from across the region, county and city officials, police and business leaders were scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon in Sacramento to discuss best practices around sentencing and behavioral health services.
“Seventy percent of the voters spoke,” said Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho. “But the next step is: How do we implement it in a fair, evenhanded way that also speaks of accountability?”
This story was originally published January 15, 2025 at 5:10 PM.
