In a closed-door discussion this week, representatives for Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) met with the leaders behind the Californians for Safer Communities Coalition, the group led by local district attorneys that has spent the last six months campaigning for voter support to reform Proposition 47, which voters passed in 2014.

Two people with knowledge of the meeting said legislative leaders are moving forward with a hard-ball approach that would make voters choose between the two efforts — and could splinter support for the ballot measure.

Unless the ballot measure is withdrawn, the Democratic leadership plans to add an “inoperability clause” to its legislation that would revoke the new laws if voters pass the statewide proposition in November, according to the sources and a letter Republicans sent to legislative leaders.

The Republican lawmakers in the letter condemned those changes, saying they would “do grave damage” to the bipartisan progress made on retail theft. Lawmakers are advancing a bipartisan 12-bill legislative package that would address the issues of retail theft and focus on protecting the safety of workers and store owners, without harsher penalties for some offenders.

The proposed ballot initiative takes a different approach that would revise Proposition 47 to make possession of fentanyl into a felony, and repeat offenders who steal for the third time — regardless of the value of the product stolen — could serve up to three years in state prison. A spokesperson for the ballot measure campaign declined to comment about the meeting.

“The Speaker has done more in eight months than anyone has done in eight years to push the conversation forward and I think everyone in the room acknowledges that,” said Daniel Conway, vice president of government relations for the California Grocers Assn., who was present during the discussions this week. “And that is why there is a bona fide effort to see what can be done.”

Both the proposed legislation and ballot measure focus on the need to address retail theft. But over the last several months, disagreements have been mounting over the best path forward. Gov. Gavin Newsom made it clear that he does not want proposed reforms to Proposition 47 on the November ballot, saying effective changes can be made through the legislative process instead. But law enforcement groups and conservative prosecutors say the only way to enact substantive changes is by bringing it back to the voters.

California voters approved Proposition 47 in 2014 to reclassify some felony drug and theft offenses as misdemeanors and to raise, from $400 to $950, the amount for which theft can be prosecuted as a felony.

The political jockeying and the change leaders plan to make to the legislation could potentially lead to splintering within the ballot measure coalition, which has had the backing of law enforcement groups and funding from major retailers.

The Grocer’s Assn., which represents over 6,000 food stores and grocery suppliers, is still supportive of both the ballot measure and legislation.

Rachel Michelin, president of the California Retailers Assn., told The Times that she supports the legislative package and thinks it does more for retailers than the ballot initiative. But she is frustrated at the politics being played on all sides.

“I am just trying to provide resources to retailers and law enforcement to keep our customers safe,” she said. “Unfortunately, I don’t know whether the proponents of the initiative are going to budge. My fear is we lose all of these things in the package if they move forward to initiative. That would be detrimental.”

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Sheriff Bianco is wrong about crime – in fact, California Department of Justice figures show crime rates are much lower today than before major criminal justice reforms began in the early 2010s. He’s even more wrong about what’s behind public and legislative concerns about crime, including an initiative proposal falsely blaming Prop. 47’s reforms for retail crimes like shoplifting.

Prop. 47 and other reforms are not the problem. The problem is the wholesale tanking of law enforcement efficiency in solving crimes and making arrests (a trend that began long before reforms took effect), led by Sheriff Bianco’s extraordinarily inefficient sheriff’s department. Sheriff Bianco and other outspoken critics are scapegoating Prop. 47 for their own costly incompetence.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is leaving most serious crimes unsolved despite its ballooning budget, which topped half a billion dollars in 2022. During that time, the department’s staff grew by 2,000 personnel, costing county residents twice as much per person compared to 1990 (in constant, inflation-adjusted 2022 dollars). 

Yet in 2022, the Riverside County sheriff cleared (solved) just 8.3% of the felony violent and property crimes reported to it. This is less than half its 1990 solve rate (17.7%) and well below most other California sheriffs’ rates today (15.9%). 

The Riverside County Sheriff’s department’s dismal history:

• In 1990, the Riverside County sheriff, with 1,815 employees (including 1,771 sworn non-jail deputies), received $130 million in funding, or $111 for each county resident; investigated 25,334 reported Part I violent and property offenses; and solved 4,183, or 17.7%, of reported crimes.
• In 2010, the year before the criminal justice reforms Sheriff Bianco lambastes, the Riverside County sheriff, with 3,805 employees (1,686 sworn non-jail), received $477 million in funding, or $217 per county resident; investigated 11,328 Part I offenses; and solved just 997, or 8.8%.
• In 2022, the Riverside County sheriff, with 3,953 employees (including 1,580 sworn non-jail deputies), received $554 million in funding, or $228 per county resident; investigated 8,449 reported Part I offenses (just one-third as many as in 1990); and cleared only 698 offenses (a staggering 83% fewer than in 1990). 

These patterns of rising law enforcement budgets and falling crime-solving are occurring throughout California. We recently reported on these statewide trends, finding that law enforcement jurisdictions are spending an average of 52% more, but solving crime at a rate that’s 41% below 1990 levels. That’s all despite significant drops in the number of crimes that need to be solved. 

Even by today’s low bar for law enforcement crime-solving, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department stands out as among the worst law enforcement agencies in California.

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