Santa Monica’s local representative in Sacramento came to town recently to try to reassure local businesses that his new role overseeing efforts to fight retail theft would target a lack of consequences for criminals while cracking down on organized theft rings.
On Jan. 19, local business leaders were informed on state efforts during a meeting of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce’s Hospitality and Retail Committee, discussing a bevy of retail crime issues with California State Assemblymember Rick Zbur. Zbur represents the 51st District, including Santa Monica and much of West Los Angeles, and was recently chosen as the new chair of the state’s Select Committee on Retail Theft. In his talk to Chamber committee members, Zbur noted that the state assembly has made retail theft "one of the priorities to tackle this year," and his new role brings him "a lot of opportunity to really try to help our communities."
"While this is a crisis across the nation, it has a particularly acute impact in California, and especially in Los Angeles County, with my district being … especially hit hard with the areas in Hollywood, of Santa Monica … [the district is] facing significant challenges from this."
Retail crime encompasses the subcategories of misdemeanor shoplifting, commercial burglary and commercial robbery (burglary with the use of force). According to the Public Policy Institute of California’s 2022 crime data, misdemeanor shoplifting (defined under Proposition 47 as entering a commercial establishment with the intent to steal property valued at less than $950 during business hours) remains at 8% below levels before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, commercial burglaries are up 15.7% from the pre-pandemic year of 2019, and commercial robberies have increased 13.3% in the same timeframe. Further highlighting the persistence of commercial robberies, Los Angeles County had the highest rate of any California county in 2022, with 60 incidents per 100,000 residents (up 19% from 2019).
Zbur said that the newly-formed Select Committee has a goal to "provide a forum" for impacted stakeholders, like Santa Monica business owners, to help "identify policy solutions to this ongoing crisis." When asked about Proposition 47 and the $950 threshold that divides misdemeanor and felony theft, he stated that he’s "more focused on understanding what’s needed to stop" retail theft in the first place, more so than the dollar amount threshold. Zbur also pointed to the fact that California still carries one of the lower thresholds to trigger felony theft, particularly compared to other retail hubs like Texas where the limit is $2,500.
The assemblymember also said his attention lies within addressing the "culture of no consequences" when it comes to even minor amounts of retail theft, sympathizing with businesses that do not have effective intervention tactics for shoplifting.
"To me, the biggest issue on this is why are we not enforcing misdemeanor crimes as well," Zbur said. "When I’ve met with almost every major retailer at this point, have taken site tours, met with their security teams and with many small businesses, what I hear over and over … is that there’s almost no consequence to most theft occurring in our communities."
Another priority for the Select Committee is figuring out how to "prevent and target" professional organized retail rings, with Zbur stating that he sees how a "small number of thieves are responsible for a large number of retail crimes" in many areas. Local law enforcement recognized this issue in 2023, as the Santa Monica Police Department joined the Los Angeles Police Department in the formation of the Los Angeles County Organized Retail Crime Taskforce. As of early December 2023, the taskforce has arrested over 90 individuals, and recently investigated a smash-and-grab style robbery that occurred at The Real Real near the 200 block of 26th Street.
The Select Committee’s goal is to take these issues, as well as other points like targeting repeat offenders and shutting down distribution channels for stolen goods, and provide California State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas with a package of legislative and policy recommendations that will be tackled in 2024.
"What we’re doing this year is not a fig leaf, it’s something that we want, we want to take the steps that will have a meaningful impact on this," Zbur said. "I am personally worried about the impact on the area in Hollywood and potential store closures on the Promenade in Santa Monica … I know we need to do something."
State assistance did reach Santa Monica this past year in the form of $6.125 million in state grant funding to combat retail theft, with the allocation furthering the establishment of the Santa Monica Analytical Real-Time Center. The center will help aggregate data and coordinate police response by using technology like closed-circuit television cameras, a video management system and automated license plate readers.
