Pismo council supports proposition that would crack down on repeat offenders 

The Pismo Beach City Council narrowly passed a resolution supporting a ballot proposition aimed at reforming how the state charges and prosecutes repeat offenders and drug crimes.

During a Sept. 3 City Council meeting, Pismo Beach Police Chief Jeff Smith presented Proposition 36: the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act, which aims to refine the approach established by Proposition 47. That proposition passed in 2014 with the goal of reducing the number of inmates in California's state prison.

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• File Photo By Kasey Bubnash
• CRIME CRACKDOWN After Pismo Beach Police Chief Jeff Smith presented Proposition 36 to the City Council, council members were divided but passed a resolution to support the measure with the aim of improving public safety.

The 2024 initiative focuses on four main parts: accountability for repeat offenders, narcotics-related crimes, retail thefts, and rehabilitation and diversion programs, according to the Sept. 3 staff report.

Proposition 36 will impose stricter penalties for individuals who repeatedly commit crimes, while seeking to ensure that crimes involving the use or sale of narcotics are met with consequences to deter further criminal behavior. It also addresses the growing fentanyl crisis by providing stricter penalties and mandatory treatment options.

"Fentanyl, in my 20 years, is probably the most dangerous drug I've ever seen on the streets, and we definitely have a crisis," Smith said. "One use of fentanyl can definitely end somebody's life."

Proposition 47 had honorable intentions, Smith told City Council, but it had negative impacts because it reduced penalties for drug violations and crimes involving nonviolent offenses.

"We've seen an increase in property crimes and thefts related to our stores, retail stores, we've seen a strain on law enforcement with a lot of these property crimes," he said. "We're not seeing as many people held accountable, and we have a lot of repeat offenders within our city. So again, we end up arresting or dealing with the same individuals over and over, which is often not a good use of our resources and impacts public safety."

Smith said that the end result is that community members feel unsafe, as they can become a victim of a crime with the perpetrator being released a few hours later.

"The public feels like they're not safe or they're not being taken care of, which can be frustrating. And it's frustrating for law enforcement when our community members don't feel safe," he said. "We've seen an open burden on the justice system with a little lack of accountability and the significant increase of repeat offenders. We're seeing more and more people continuing to just cycle through the courts."

Proposition 36 promises to address increases in retail thefts by lowering the felony threshold so individuals who repeatedly shoplift or commit other forms of retail theft face more serious consequences, which could restore a sense of security to businesses and the community, according to the staff report.

The staff report also states that the measure isn't advocating for a return to mass incarceration. Rather, it emphasizes the importance of diversion programs, designed to help offenders break the cycle of addiction and crime, for individuals convicted of drug-related crimes.

Councilmember Marcia Guthrie wasn't sold on the proposition and asked Smith why the measure is being proposed as fighting against retail theft when it doesn't change the $950 threshold that makes theft a felony.

"I think that there was a lot of resistance, and over the years there's been a number of bills that have been proposed, and it was seen as more of a total reversal of Prop. 47, and [now] they're looking for more compromises rather than repeals," Smith said. "So, the way they are addressing this is through the repeat offenders. After two convictions of a theft, a third conviction can be charged as a felony."

Smith said that Proposition 36 isn't necessarily looking at the person who stole something worth more than $400 one time, it's looking to address the individuals who continually steal.

Guthrie said she also doesn't agree with the title "Proposition 36: the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act," as a statistic from the 5Cities Homeless Coalition claims that less than 20 percent of homelessness in SLO County is a result of drug-addiction.

The council voted 3-2 to support the proposition with Guthrie and Councilmember Stacy Inman opposed.

"For me, it's salacious to put this in the title because it's very inaccurate," Guthrie said. "It's to erect emotions from people." Δ