Sacramento DA discusses homelessness, fentanyl and Prop. 36 in public safety address
Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho on Wednesday lauded his office’s efforts on homelessness, rising fentanyl deaths and support of a recent voter-approved California law that he says will turn the tide against retail theft.
He was speaking of Proposition 36, which opponents argued the law will move California criminal justice backward to stricter sentences and prisons overflowing with incarcerated people. Prop. 36 went into effect Dec. 18.
At his second annual “State of Public Safety” address, the district attorney said his office has filed several retail theft cases seeking felony charges against those defendants under Prop. 36.
Ho said those felony cases included a suspect who walked out of Famous Footwear store in south Sacramento with more than $500 worth of stolen shoes, before authorities found more stolen shoes and drugs in a vehicle. Another case was a suspect with prior theft convictions now accused of stealing more than $500 in merchandise from a JC Penny’s store. Ho said another case involved two suspects stealing from multiple stores, so those crimes were combined into one felony case under Prop. 36.
“Because we are tired of thieves stealing without accountability,” Ho told an audience of his supporters at Wednesday’s event held at the Clunie Community Center in East Sacramento. “And that’s what we’re gonna be doing in 2025 and beyond in a appropriate manner.”
Prop. 36 won support from two-thirds of California voters. The law allows prosecutors to charge defendants with a felony if, over time, they’ve stolen goods worth more than $950. The law also sets up a treatment-focused court process for those accused of drug crimes.
Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen joined the district attorney on stage to tout the Prop. 36 victory in the November election. Singh-Allen also is president of the American Petroleum and Convenience Store Association based in Sacramento.
“I know not only as a mayor but as a leader representing the small business industry that we are on the front lines when it comes to fentanyl, homelessness and retail theft,” Singh-Allen told the audience. “We had to take the bold, courageous steps, and we were so proud to see the overwhelming support statewide for Proposition 36.”
Fentanyl deaths and enforcement
The district attorney, who was sworn into office in January 2023, also spoke about enforcement efforts to curb rising fentanyl deaths in the county. His prosecutors have filed murder charges in nine cases in which a defendant is accused of providing fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid, to someone who died after ingesting the drug.
Ho said his office’s first step was education and prevention in its anti-fentanyl efforts through its 1Pill Can Kill public awareness campaign. The next step was enforcement and prosecution, which included forming a team investigating fentanyl overdose deaths called SACFORCE.
The investigative team collaborates with federal, state and local agencies in the region. It works to track fentanyl suppliers with analytical tools and confidential informants.
“We then conduct an investigation to try to put a case together to go after the drug dealer, to prosecute the drug deal for murder,” the district attorney said.
He said the team has investigated a total of 30 fentanyl-related cases, and several of those investigations are still pending as authorities await toxicology reports. The team also is involved in street-level fentanyl investigations, which included an undercover operation dubbed “Folsom Blues.”
The undercover operation led by the Folsom Police Department involved 11 law enforcement agencies and targeted the distribution of fentanyl and drugs in early November. Folsom Police Lt. Dave Canepa said the two-day operation, which focused on drug dealers selling narcotics online, led investigators to arrest 19 people, confiscate thousands of dollars from drug sales and seize more than 170,000 lethal doses of fentanyl.
Two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal depending on a person’s body size, tolerance and past usage, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
“While enforcement is key, prevention is obviously the goal,” said Canepa, who joined the district attorney on stage to discuss fentanyl enforcement.
Sacramento County experienced a sharp decline in the number of people who died after ingesting fentanyl. The number of fentanyl deaths in the county had dramatically increased in recent years, from 17 reported deaths in 2018 to 404 in 2023. That number dropped to 211 last year.
Lori Miller, Behavioral Health Division manager for the county’s Department of Health Services, has said the decline in fentanyl deaths is the result of coordinated efforts by local law enforcement, first responders, health care providers and community groups that “are saving lives.”
The district attorney said those 211 fentanyl deaths are still “too many,” but what they’re doing “is making a difference.” He said they need to continue to educate the public about the dangers of fentanyl and help families of fentanyl victims “turn pain into power.” Ho invited the parents of 23-year-old Cameron March up to the stage to share their son’s story.
Chris March called his son “a gentle giant” with a warm smile. The father, still struggling with grief over his son’s death, told the audience this young man’s life was taken too soon. He died Aug. 11, 2021, after ingesting a lethal dose of fentanyl.
Lisa Ezell described her son the day before he died. She said he came home that talking about he was going to start looking for a new job the next day. The mother said she didn’t know that her son, who struggled with anxiety, had bought what he thought was Percocet from a dealer online. He went to bed early that evening and never woke up.
“I went to Cameron’s room to wake him and instead found him in his bed dead,” Ezell told the audience. “It was too late for us to help him.”
High profile criminal cases have included evidence showing young people using their social media accounts, such as Snapchat, to sell or find fentanyl to buy. Fentanyl can be sold as pills, some online dealers claiming the pills are Xanax, Percocet and Oxycodone. Fentanyl also can come in powder and vape pens.
Homeless camps
At Wednesday’s event, the district attorney also spoke about his lawsuit against the City of Sacramento. The lawsuit, filed in September 2023 in Sacramento Superior Court, alleged the city was causing a public nuisance by allowing homeless camps on public property.
In August, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 2018 Martin v. Boise ruling, allowing cities to cite and move homeless people off public land without first offering a shelter bed.
The district attorney said city police have already begun clearing some of the large homeless encampments in the city. He showed a video with clips from the August closure of Camp Resolution in Sacramento, where nearly 50 people, including many seniors with disabilities, had been living in city-issued trailers since 2022 on a vacant lot on Colfax Street and Arden Way.
Since then, Ho said changes started coming from within city leadership. He said then City Manager Howard Chan worked “hand-in-hand” with Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester to develop a protocol for enforcement to start offering services and shelter while clearing homeless encampments.
“They worked tirelessly to clear those encampments, to have compassionate enforcement,” Ho said Wednesday. “And that has made the difference, along with the lawsuit holding the city accountable for their lack of enforcement.”
