The Sacramento, California, District Attorney’s Office has filed disorderly conduct charges against Target for calling police too frequently for thefts, The Sacramento Bee reported July 9.
According to the newspaper, the city attorney’s office warned the Target store at 2505 Riverside Blvd that if they continued to call the police after each theft, they could be fined.
The warning was criticized by both police and state lawmakers, who argued that crime victims have a right to report crimes to authorities. As a result, California lawmakers introduced an amendment to the retail bill that would ban such threats by public officials.
Alexander Gammelgard, president of the California Police Chiefs Association, said at the first meeting of the California State Assembly’s Retail Caucus in December 2023: “I… was surprised that anyone would even try to cause trouble for someone who called to report… a crime.”.
A police spokesperson confirmed to the newspaper that three Target stores located in Sacramento have seen a significant increase in theft compared to previous years. Police received a total of 375 calls related to shoplifting, robbery and theft in 2023. That’s slightly more often than every day. There were 175 calls in 2022 and 87 calls in 2021. Based on the investigation of 375 calls in 2023, police made about 55 arrests.
An amendment to California Assembly Bill 2943 is expected to be voted on this week that would prohibit authorities from threatening fines and other penalties to retailers who seek help from authorities after actual crimes have occurred. Punishment for deliberately false reports will remain in place.
Supporters of the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office said the high volume of retail theft calls could divert police resources from responding to higher-priority calls.
Let us remember that power in Sacramento belongs to the Democratic Party. These are the same authorities who, on the one hand, reduced the police force and, on the other hand, began to release even thieves and murderers caught in the act without bail.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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