Proposition 36, the popular new law that voters hope could free deodorant from locked drugstore displays, is now in effect.
The measure means tougher penalties for repeat thieves, allowing for felony charges for people with two prior petty theft convictions, even if that third theft is just swiping shampoo. More than 68 percent of California voters in the November election backed the measure.
“It’s a new day for the rule of law in San Diego County and California,” District Attorney Summer Stephan, who supported the measure, said in a statement Wednesday. “I call on retailers and the community to report theft because unlike the last 10 years, the law now provides for increased consequences for repeat criminals.”
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Proposition 36 rolls back some reforms from Proposition 47, a 2014 ballot measure that made petty theft a misdemeanor, which on its own generally does not mean a trip to jail. Retail theft rose, and many storekeepers stopped calling police.
Now that it’s in effect, local authorities expect to get more calls reporting theft, leading to more arrests, more people taken to jail and more criminal charges filed. The District Attorney’s Office suggested that businesses consider reporting crimes and adding surveillance cameras.
Stephan’s office said it’s been training law enforcement officers across the county, conducting internal trainings for prosecutors and “brainstorming” with other district attorneys offices in California “to leverage best practices to effectively implement the new law.”
The measure also allows prosecutors to now bring felonies against those with multiple convictions for possession of drugs like fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. While jail time looms as a possibility, the law gives people the option of going into treatment.
Chula Vista Police Chief Roxana Kennedy said in a statement that Proposition 36 “sends a message to would-be criminals that law enforcement and our residents will no longer tolerate their actions.”
Sheriff Kelly Martinez said that, in general, anyone arrested on suspicion of a felony will be eligible to be booked in the county jail.
Why is Proposition 36 effective now? State law — rising from a 2018 ballot measure — sets the effective date of ballot measures at five days after the secretary of state certifies the election result (although some measures may lay out later dates to become operative, often the first of the year). Before the change in 2018, laws had gone into effect the day after the election — problematic when not all the votes are counted.
This year, the election certification came last Friday, thus making Proposition 36 effective Wednesday.