Report: Contrary to popular belief, property crime is down in California

Property crime in California is near record lows, according to the latest statistics from the California Department of Justice.

A new report from the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice finds property crime is down 53% statewide since 2005, and 16% since 2009, when criminal justice reforms began to take effect.

Mike Males, senior researcher with the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, said people on television who claim otherwise are cherry-picking local statistics while ignoring the larger trend.

“All these insinuations we’re seeing nationwide across the political spectrum and in a lot of media is that California crime is out of control. And it’s just not true. Just the opposite is the case,” he said.

This fall, Golden State voters will decide on Proposition 36, which would reverse parts of Prop 47, a criminal justice reform bill from 2014. More thefts would be deemed felonies — sending more people to jail — by lowering the cutoff on the value of property stolen. It would also classify certain drug offenses as treatment-mandated felonies and increase penalties for some drug crimes.

Prop 36 is supported by some law enforcement groups. The largest contributors include Walmart, Target and Home Depot.

Will Matthews, a spokesperson for the nonprofit Californians for Safety and Justice, pointed out that Prop 47 has saved the state $850 million so far in incarceration costs, and diverted that money to programs that combat the drivers of crime — such as poverty and addiction.

“We can’t put all of our safety investments into just responding to crime and harm after they occur. We also have to be investing in community-based crime and harm-prevention programs,” said Matthews.

The California Legislative Analyst estimates that Prop 36 could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars per year in increased incarceration costs, and could reduce funds going to mental health and drug treatment programs, K-12 schools and crime victims.

Written by Suzanne Potter.

Disclosure: Californians for Safety and Justice contributes to Public News Service’s fund for reporting on Criminal Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, visit https://www.publicnewsservice.org/dn1.php.