High-profile Dems victimized by string of crimes still deny blue state in crisis
Democrats remain divided on solutions to deter crime as a string of high-profile thefts and robbery attempts occurred in the last week of April.
Last week alone, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass's official residence was burglarized, Rep. Adam Schiff was the victim of theft, and reality TV actress Kyle Richards' daughter's home was robbed in broad daylight. But the progressive arm of California's Democratic Party denies there's a crime crisis.
A security guard for Mayor Matt Mahan was also involved in a violent altercation in the middle of an interview being recorded in downtown San Jose last week, leading to the arrest of the suspect on multiple charges.
Since 2020, there has been a statewide rise in property crime and theft, with local critics attributing the increase to what they term "soft-on-crime" policies like Proposition 47 and 57. However, the issue has now caused a divide among Democrats in the legislature. Some are joining forces with Republicans to propose bipartisan bills aimed at curbing petty theft, while progressive lawmakers introduced their own alternative measures – dubbed Smart Solutions – that focus on providing additional services for offenders.
"Above all else, our work prioritizes the freedom and material needs of communities most harmed by prisons and policing," the Ella Baker Center, which collaborates with several state Democrats to promote their progressive crime policies, wrote on its website. "We prioritize their leadership, healing, and liberation."
PROGRESSIVE CALIFORNIA MAYORS BACK EFFORT TO AMEND CRIME LAWS AMID 'RAMPANT' DRUGS AND THEFT
Proposition 47, passed in California in 2014, reclassified certain nonviolent offenses from felonies to misdemeanors. In 2016, voters passed Proposition 57, which increased parole opportunities for nonviolent offenders and allowed judges, rather than prosecutors, to decide whether juveniles should be tried as adults in certain cases.
"If the super majority Democrat legislature wants to really have a positive impact on crime, they should reverse some of their previous previously enacted reckless public safety laws that have dramatically negatively impacted public safety," Steve Cooley, former Los Angeles district attorney, told Fox News Digital. "I just think it's ironic that Adam Schiff, who endorsed George Gascon, very publicly and very enthusiastically, is a victim of a theft."
Cooley also argued that Soros-backed Los Angeles DA Gascon enacted several soft-on-crime policies that have caused more crime in the LA area.
Elected in December 2020, Gascón directed prosecutors to end the practice of seeking enhanced sentences for defendants accused of gang-related offenses, stopped seeking cash bail for most misdemeanor and nonviolent felony cases, and allowed for the resentencing of individuals who were convicted of crimes as juveniles and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. What's more, Gascon's office made it a policy to neither seek the death penalty in any new cases nor pursue executions for individuals already on death row.
"We are in an era of increasing – but avoidable – criminality," Cooley said. "It should not be unexpected that every sector of society will be victimized at some point."
The state’s violent crime rate is up by 13.5% compared to the pre-COVID rate of 2019, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. Robberies involving firearms increased nearly 13% compared to 2019 and gun-related homicides and aggravated assaults surged even more, increasing by 37.7% and 61.1% respectively.
As such, district attorneys, police chiefs, sheriffs associations statewide, along with mayors from San Francisco and San Jose, are collectively supporting a proposed ballot measure for this year's election aimed at reversing the effects of Proposition 47, called the Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act.
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Jeff Reisig, a district attorney in Yolo County, said after San Jose Mayor Mahan was accosted that "it’s more stark evidence that California’s urban centers have been turned into dangerous places, where seriously addicted, mentally ill and many violent people now roam freely due to weak state laws that have eroded accountability, deterrence and our quality of life."
"Many friends and family who live and work in the urban core of our big cities no longer feel safe even walking to lunch," Reisig said on X. "Some have been violently assaulted or threatened. Others just can’t stand the oppressive smell anymore. The root cause of so much of the chaos and decay in CA is Prop 47, which essentially decriminalized the use of hard drugs and repeat theft under $950."
Reisig encouraged voters to turn up at the polls this year to repeal Prop. 47.
Meanwhile, Schiff's opponent in the Senate race to replace the late Dianne Feinstein's seat, former MLB star Steve Garvey, told Fox News Digital in an interview last week he's "sorry that happened to my opponent" when asked about Schiff being a victim of theft hours before a ritzy campaign dinner, but attributed the incident to soft-on-crime policies.
"This has been a long period of time where San Francisco has been deloused by crime," Garvey said. "I think that my opponent has to make a statement as to where he is on crime."
Thieves on Thursday broke into Schiff's car, which was parked in a downtown parking garage, and stole his bags. Without business clothes to wear, Schiff still proceeded to the event in shirtsleeves and a hiking vest, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, with others dressed in suits.
Fox News Digital reached out to Schiff's office for comment but did not hear back by time of publication.
Fox News Digital's Alexander Hall contributed to this report.