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Gov. Newsom Joins Assemblyman, Others in Renewed Fight Against Shoplifting

Newsom disputes the current wave of retail theft issue is related to Prop. 47, claiming that the measure is an “easy scapegoat” for people who are against criminal justice reform.

Published

4 years ago

July 30, 2021

Isabelle Price

Press conference: Assembly member Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr. (D-Los Angeles) stands with Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign AB 331.

Gov. Gavin Newsom joined top law enforcement officials, state lawmakers and local officials in Los Angeles County on July 21 for a press conference to discuss rising violence and retail theft in California.

“Among the most basic needs for all Californians is to feel safe at home, at the park or walking to school,” Newsom said. “As we pursue nation-leading criminal justice reforms – all with an eye to making our communities safer – a more holistic approach is called for. We must invest in public safety while, at the same time, tackling the root causes of these increases.”

Newsom also promoted his efforts to try to deter gun violence, including mental health services and after-school programs.

“We need to see more accountability, we need to see enforcement and we need a commensurate commitment to address the reforms that I think many of us behind me embrace and have long embraced in California that have proven successful in this state,” Newsom said.

At the press conference, Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 331, which includes measures designed to crack down on organized retail theft by expanding the California Highway Patrol’s shoplifting task force.

According to Newsom, the task force conducted nearly 700 investigations which have led to 252 arrests and the recovery of $16.3 million in merchandise statewide since 2019.

The signing of this bill occurs as incidences of organized retail theft is rising in California’s major metropolitan areas.

Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), the author of AB 331, spoke briefly about how it came about.

“We want to make sure we actually went after the organized retail theft felons who were victimizing not the only the people that they got involved in this but also victimizing our businesses and retails,” he said.

“This governor has also put in billions of dollars to make sure that those individuals can move into services such as drug rehab, education and employment so that they can permanently, permanently, get out of organized retail theft because that’s the ultimate goal here,” Jones-Sawyer continued.

Newsom acknowledged the growing public concern.

“Bottom line, at the end of the day, as members of the public you expect us to resolve, to address these issues,” he said.

“You expect all of us, regardless of your political stripes, regardless of geography, you expect all of us to respect you, you expect to feel some kind of connection to your community and you all expect, appropriately so, to be protected,” Newsom also said.

Some retailers and lawmakers believe that Proposition 47, a ballot measure California voters approved in 2014 that raised the minimum dollar amount for felony shoplifting from $450 to $950, is partially to blame for the spike in retail theft. The measure reclassified many of the state’s nonviolent offenses from felonies to misdemeanors.

One critic is Sen. Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) who suggested Newsom’s signing this bill was political theater to make up for Prop. 47 and avoid a recall.

“In typical Newsom fashion, the Governor is patting himself on the back for attempting to fix a problem he not only breathlessly endorsed, but helped create,” tweeted Melendez on Wednesday, July 21.

Newsom disputes the current wave of retail theft issue is related to Prop. 47, claiming that the measure is an “easy scapegoat” for people who are against criminal justice reform.

“The evidence doesn’t back it up. The last three decades we’ve actually seen a significant decline in crime in the state. You’re seeing crime increase in red states that have no criminal reform,” Newsom told Fox News 11 in Los Angeles.

Newsom’s statement is backed up by U.S. Department of Justice data that concludes “laws and policies designed to deter crime by focusing mainly on increasing the severity of punishment are ineffective partly because criminals know little about the sanctions for specific crimes.”

Newsom asserted that this has been a continual effort. He has led on policy efforts that have closed a number of California state prisons, halted the death penalty and eliminated cash bail for people who can’t afford it.

“This is not new in the state of California as the Assemblymember noted. We’ve been organized in a very deliberative manner to address the issue of organized retail crime for a number of years. We are doubling down on those efforts today with this bill that I’ll be signing here in a moment,” Newsom said.

Newsom’s closing remarks attempted to strike the balance between accountability and mercy.

“We need to hold folks to account but we’ll do it in a thoughtful and judicious way, we’re not going back to the way things were in the ’80s and ’90s. At least not while I’m here,” Newsom said.

“We’re not going to back out on our commitment to reform, at the same time, we’re not going to walk away from accountability either,” he concluded.

California Black Media’s coverage of the Governor’s Office public health efforts is supported by the California Health Care Foundation.

Isabelle Price

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of December 24 – 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – December 24 – 30, 2025

Published

3 days ago

December 25, 2025

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Bling It On: Holiday Lights Brighten Dark Nights All Around the Bay

On the block where I grew up in the 1960s, it was an unwritten agreement among the owners of those row homes to put up holiday lights: around the front window and door, along the porch banister, etc. Some put the Christmas tree in the window, and you could see it through the open slats of the blinds.

Published

1 week ago

December 21, 2025

Oakland Post

Christmas lights on a house near the writer’s residence in Oakland. Photo by Joseph Shangosola.

By Wanda Ravernell

I have always liked Christmas lights.

From my desk at my front window, I feel a quiet joy when the lights on the house across the street come on just as night falls.

My father, the renegade of the block, made no effort with lights, so my mother hung a wreath with two bells in the window. Just enough to let you know someone was at home.

Two doors down was a different story. Mr. King, the overachiever of the block, went all out for Christmas: The tree in the window, the lights along the roof and a Santa on his sleigh on the porch roof.

There are a few ‘Mr. Kings’ in my neighborhood.

In particular is the gentleman down the street. For Halloween, they erected a 10-foot skeleton in the yard, placed ‘shrunken heads’ on fence poles, pumpkins on steps and swooping bat wings from the porch roof. They have not held back for Christmas.

The skeleton stayed up this year, this time swathed in lights, as is every other inch of the house front. It is a light show that rivals the one in the old Wanamaker’s department store in Philadelphia.

I would hate to see their light bill…

As the shortest day of the year approaches, make Mr. King’s spirit happy and get out and see the lights in your own neighborhood, shopping plazas and merchant areas.

Here are some places recommended by 510 Families and Johnny FunCheap.

Oakland

Oakland’s Temple Hill Holiday Lights and Gardens is the place to go for a drive-by or a leisurely stroll for a religious holiday experience. Wear a jacket, because it’s chilly outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at 4220 Lincoln Ave., particularly after dark. The gardens are open all day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. with the lights on from dusk until closing.

Alameda

Just across the High Street Bridge from Oakland, you’ll find Christmas Tree Lane in Alameda.

On Thompson Avenue between High Street and Fernside drive, displays range from classic trees and blow-ups to a comedic response to the film “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Lights turn on at dusk and can be seen through the first week in January.

Berkeley

The Fourth Street business district from University Avenue to Virginia Street in Berkeley comes alive with lights beginning at 5 p.m. through Jan. 1, 2026.

There’s also a display at one house at 928 Arlington St., and, for children, the Tilden Park Carousel Winter Wonderland runs through Jan. 4, 2026. Closed Christmas Day. For more information and tickets, call (510) 559-1004.

Richmond

The Sundar Shadi Holiday Display, featuring a recreation of the town of Bethlehem with life-size figures, is open through Dec. 26 at 7501 Moeser Lane in El Cerrito.

Marin County

In Marin, the go-to spot for ‘oohs and ahhs’ is the Holiday Light Spectacular from 4-9 p.m. through Jan. 4, 2026, at Marin Center Fairgrounds at 10 Ave of the Flags in San Rafael through Jan. 4. Displays dazzle, with lighted walkways and activities almost daily. For more info, go to: www.marincounty.gov/departments/cultural-services/department-sponsored-events/holiday-light-spectacular

The arches at Marin County Civic Center at 3501 Civic Center Dr. will also be illuminated nightly.

San Francisco

Look for light installations in Golden Gate Park, chocolate and cheer at Ghirardelli Square, and downtown, the ice rink in Union Square and the holiday tree in Civic Center Plaza are enchanting spots day and night. For neighborhoods, you can’t beat the streets in Noe Valley, Pacific Heights, and Bernal Heights. For glee and over-the-top glitz there’s the Castro, particularly at 68 Castro Street.

Livermore

The winner of the 2024 Great Light Flight award, Deacon Dave has set up his display with a group of creative volunteers at 352 Hillcrest Avenue since 1982. See it through Jan. 1, 2026. For more info, go to https://www.casadelpomba.com

Fremont

Crippsmas Place is a community of over 90 decorated homes with candy canes passed out nightly through Dec. 31. A tradition since 1967, the event features visits by Mr. and Mrs. Claus on Dec. 18 and Dec. 23 and entertainment by the Tri-M Honor Society at 6 p.m. on Dec. 22. Chrippsmas Place is located on: Cripps Place, Asquith Place, Nicolet Court, Wellington Place, Perkins Street, and the stretch of Nicolet Avenue between Gibraltar Drive and Perkins Street.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Lu Lu’s House is Not Just Toying Around with the Community

Wilson and Lambert will be partnering with Mayor Barbara Lee on a toy giveaway on Dec. 20. Young people, like Dremont Wilkes, age 15, will help give away toys and encourage young people to stay in school and out of trouble. Wilkes wants to go to college and become a specialist in financial aid. Sports agent Aaron Goodwin has committed to giving all eight young people from Lu Lu’s House a fully paid free ride to college, provided they keep a 3.0 grade point average and continue the program. Lu Lu’s House is not toying around.

Published

1 week ago

December 20, 2025

Oakland Post

Tania Fuller Bryant, Zirl Wilson, Dremont Wilkes, Tracy Lambert and Dr. Geoffrey Watson. Courtesy Oakland Private Industry

Special to the Post

Lu Lu’s House is a 501c3 organization based in Oakland, founded by Mr. Zirl Wilson and Mr. Tracy Lambert, both previously incarcerated. After their release from jail, they wanted to change things for the better in the community — and wow, have they done that!

The duo developed housing for previously incarcerated people, calling it “Lu Lu’s House,” after Wilson’s wonderful wife. At a time when many young people were robbing, looting, and involved in shootings, Wilson and Lambert took it upon themselves to risk their lives to engage young gang members and teach them about nonviolence, safety, cleanliness, business, education, and the importance of health and longevity.

Lambert sold hats and T-shirts at the Eastmont Mall and was visited by his friend Wilson. At the mall, they witnessed gangs of young people running into the stores, stealing whatever they could get their hands on and then rushing out. Wilson tried to stop them after numerous robberies and finally called the police, who Wilson said, “did not respond.” Having been incarcerated previously, they realized that if the young people were allowed to continue to rob the stores, they could receive multiple criminal counts, which would take their case from misdemeanors to felonies, resulting in incarceration.

Lu Lu’s House traveled to Los Angeles and obtained more than 500 toys
for a Dec. 20 giveaway in partnership with Oakland Mayor Barbara
Lee. Courtesy Oakland Private Industry,

Wilson took it upon himself to follow the young people home and when he arrived at their subsidized homes, he realized the importance of trying to save the young people from violence, drug addiction, lack of self-worth, and incarceration — as well as their families from losing subsidized housing. Lambert and Wilson explained to the young men and women, ages 13-17, that there were positive options which might allow them to make money legally and stay out of jail. Wilson and Lambert decided to teach them how to wash cars and they opened a car wash in East Oakland. Oakland’s Initiative, “Keep the town clean,” involved the young people from Lu Lu’s House participating in more than eight cleanup sessions throughout Oakland. To assist with their infrastructure, Lu Lu’s House has partnered with Oakland’s Private Industry Council.

For the Christmas season, Lu Lu’s House and reformed young people (who were previously robbed) will continue to give back.

Lu Lu’s House traveled to Los Angeles and obtained more than 500 toys.