Gov. Newsom claims ‘significant decline in crime’ in Calif.

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 2:00 PM PT – Friday, July 23, 2021

California has seen a rise in crime, but the governor who faces a recall election in September has seemed to deny the facts. Reports said the number of homicides in California rose 27 percent in 2020 from the year prior, joining a rise in shoplifting, car thefts and burglaries.

Critics have blamed Prop 47, which in 2014 reclassified some crimes like shoplifting to misdemeanors instead of felonies, resulting in lower penalties. However, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) claimed there’s actually a decline in crime in the state.

TUNE IN: Governor @GavinNewsom holds a press conference on state efforts to address crime and reduce retail theft in communities across California.

Watch live at 10:30AM
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— Office of the Governor of California (@CAgovernor) July 21, 2021

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva commented on the uptick in retail crime stating, “in the past, pre Prop 47 and pre these progressive DA’s like George Gascon, they’d [suspects] at least bother to run out, now they don’t even bother to run out. They just casually stroll out with all the time in the world knowing that as long as they keep the tally under $950 it’s perfectly OK.” Anything under the $950 limit is only charged as a misdemeanor.

Others have pointed the blame towards the pandemic and stay-at-home orders as the cause of increasing crime rates.

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