Orange County is debating how California should tackle street crime

City officials in Orange County are publicly voicing their support for a statewide measure called Prop. 36, which aims to increase penalties for certain drug and theft crimes and is expected to significantly increase costs for state prisons and courts.

It would also create a new legal process under which people accused of drug possession would be forced to go to rehab or serve prison time under certain circumstances.

If passed, some of the changes would undo a statewide measure approved by California voters in 2014 called Prop. 47, and which made petty theft and some drug possession crimes a misdemeanor.

Advocates such as the California District Attorneys Association, law enforcement groups, retailers including Target, Walmart and Home Depot and the California League of Cities say the measure will make cities safer, boost treatment above prison and combat the fentanyl crisis.

“The provisions of Prop. 36 are actually targeted at those who have committed repeat violations,” said Connor Medina, Regional Public Affairs Manager for the league’s OC Division.

“If the choice is between doing a coordinated drug treatment program and not going to jail, they would choose not to go to jail.”

Medina’s comments came before officials in Stanton narrowly voted in favor of a resolution last week that would end Prop. 36 supported.

Critics of the measure, including Chispa, the Los Angeles Times editorial board and the American Civil Liberties Union, say Prop. 36 will overcrowd prisons, reignite the war on drugs, and waste millions of taxpayer dollars on jails and prisons.

“This proposal will reverse years of progress on criminal justice reform and have devastating consequences for our most vulnerable communities, especially communities of color,” said Bulmaro Vicente, policy and political director of Chispa.

“Prop 36 will set us back by reinstating harsh sentences and fueling mass incarceration without addressing the root causes of crime, such as poverty, mental health and substance abuse.”

Vicente’s comments came before a debate over the merits of Prop. 36 kicked off in the heart of the county, Santa Ana – home to OC’s largest homeless population and where police reported more than 2,100 drug-related crimes last year.

The prop. 36 debate in the heart of the province

Police officers stand guard at Santa Ana City Hall, June 18, 2020. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, voice of OC

On September 17, Santa Ana officials narrowly voted 4-3 in favor of a resolution supporting Prop. 36, just months before the November elections, when four municipal seats, including the mayor’s, will be up for grabs.

Councilman Johnathan Hernandez, Ben Vazquez and Jessie Lopez were the dissenting voices.

Mayor Valerie Amezcua, who is up for re-election, has received significant campaign funds from the local police union and has worked as a probation officer. She said at the meeting that officials should no longer turn a blind eye to public nudity, homelessness, crime, gangs and open drug use in the city.

She also said those who need help can get it through multiple programs in Santa Ana and that the measure applies to those who refuse to get help.

“Prison is not the solution. With prop. However, 36 they are given the opportunity to go to a program or prison,” she said. “This is about making our city a better place to live for the quality of life for our children and our families.”

Hernandez, who is also running for re-election and has worked as a case manager to re-enter society after prison, said the measure will only increase the costs of criminal justice.

“It is a misguided measure that emphasizes punishment over prevention, which will accelerate the process of people falling into the cracks of gang violence. They will fall into the depths of addiction,” he said.

“This unfortunately takes Santa Ana back to the days of the 1990s when we had the most gang-related shootings and overdoses.”

Councilman Phil Bacerra – who has also received substantial campaign funding from the local police union – said something needs to be done about crime and drug abuse, adding that it is not a rollback of the war on drugs, but a way to get people help to get.

“If it’s a war on drugs, as in, to get people off drugs, I would support that and Prop. 36 is a way to force people to undergo treatment. This is not just sending people to jail,” he said.

“The people who actually oppose these types of public safety measures. These are the same people who are not proposing anything else to meaningfully change what is going on.”

Santa Ana Police respond to a police call to Bishop St. on December 7, 2020. Credit: FRANK VERA

Councilman David Penaloza — whose campaign also received substantial support from the Santa Ana police union — said the council should prioritize seniors, children and residents who experience sexual assault and robbery by criminals and wake up to “meth clouds.”

“Our residents are fed up. They call me every day. ‘Why can’t the city do anything? Why are you ignoring this issue?’ We don’t ignore it. Our hands are tied. There is nothing we can do at this time to address this,” he said.

Councilman Ben Vazquez, a high school teacher and longtime community activist who is running for mayor against Amezcua, said at the meeting that the proposal is not only about fentanyl use, but also about other crimes in a country where already a large number people are imprisoned.

“It’s about going back to the 1990s and 1980s when we saw mass incarceration happening,” he said. “We took fathers, brothers and uncles and put them in jail where we could have worked with them instead.”

Lopez, who works as a community health worker, recently survived a police union-backed recall effort and is up for re-election. While researching the measure, she could find no data on “how many people in our county, in our city, have been arrested, rearrested, and faced no consequences for their actions.”

“I think this should also inform the policies we support,” she said.

What will Prop. 36 mean?

If approved, the ballot measure would convert petty theft from a misdemeanor to a misdemeanor if the person has two or more prior theft-related convictions, such as carjacking, shoplifting or burglary, and be punishable by up to three years in a county or state prison. .

The measure would extend penalties for theft or vandalism by another three years if three or more people committed the crime together.

And the measure would require felonies for selling drugs like fentanyl, cocaine, heroin or meth to be served in a state prison.

A police line in Orange County. Credit: OMAR SANCHEZ, voice of OC

In addition to toughening punishment for certain drug and theft crimes, Prop. 36 allow certain drug-related convictions to be charged for mandatory rehabilitation rather than as a crime.

This would apply to cases where the person was convicted of possession of fentanyl, cocaine, heroin or meth and had two or more convictions for possessing or selling drugs.

Those who complete the mandatory treatment will have their charges dismissed. Those who don’t can serve up to three years in a state prison.

Prop. 36 also requires the courts to warn people that they could be charged with murder if they are convicted of selling or providing illegal drugs to someone.

More OC city officials vote in support of Proposition 36

Santa Ana isn’t alone in supporting the proposal.

Some OC cities are passing resolutions in support of the measure at the request of the California League of Cities, which endorsed Prop in July. 36 pronounced.

Fountain Valley officials are expected to vote on such a resolution at their 6 p.m. meeting tonight.

Stanton officials voted 3-0 last week in favor of a resolution supporting Prop. 36. Councilors Hong Alyce Van and Donald Torres abstained from voting.

Mayor David Shawver, president of the OC chapter of the League of Cities, said at the meeting that there needs to be accountability and fear of going back to prison to prevent repeat offenders from committing crimes.

“The residents of our city are tired of what is happening with fentanyl, local crime, prostitution and theft, and if we don’t hold people accountable, it will continue,” he said.

“If I’m a taxpayer in this city and I pay taxes, the amount we lose to crime, the amount we lose to death, to fentanyl and the tragedies of families far outweighs the cost of this program. ”

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department serves as the local law enforcement agency in unincorporated areas of Orange County and thirteen cities: Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Stanton, Villa Park and Yorba Linda. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, voice of OC

Torres said recovering from drug addiction is not easy and may take several attempts.

“This is reminiscent of the three strikes law that we had in the 1990s, which was one of the highest crime periods here in the United States. I think it has had long-lasting consequences, such as an increase in recidivism,” he said, recommending the council reconsider the issue.

“Putting someone in a concrete box isn’t going to help them get better; it would actually worsen his mental health.”

The leaders of Westminster, Laguna Beach, Villa Park and Seal Beach also approved a similar resolution at their meetings last week and Brea officials also unanimously approved a resolution at a meeting on September 17.

The consequences of California’s drug and theft crime crackdown

According to the state Legislative Analyst’s Office, the measure, if approved, would likely increase criminal justice costs in California by potentially hundreds of millions of dollars per year because it will increase the state’s prison population and the workload of the state courts.

They also estimate that Prop. 36 will increase local criminal justice costs by tens of millions of dollars for similar reasons.

The analyst firm says the policy would also reduce how much the state has to spend on truancy, dropout prevention, mental health care, drug treatment and victim services.

Chapman University students Ashley Kuckler, Nathan Palomares, Makenna Kunimura, Olivia Gluck, Samantha Wong and Zoe Eduskety contributed to the reporting in this article.

Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member at Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.

•••

Can you support Voice of OC with a donation?

You clearly care about local news and appreciate good journalism here in Orange County. With your support, we can bring you more stories like this.

Orange County is debating how California should tackle street crime

More From Author

Data Management Associate at UNHCR – Bucharest, Romania

Sheinbaum is sworn in as first female president of Mexico, a country with pressing problems – San Diego Union-Tribune

Killing, raping, controlling

Inter and Milan could be placed under external control following the arrest of the ultras

Documentos relevantes PSEA – rebrapaz

You May Also Like:

Data Management Associate at UNHCR – Bucharest, Romania

Sheinbaum is sworn in as first female president of Mexico, a country with pressing problems – San Diego Union-Tribune

Killing, raping, controlling

Online rumors are circulating in Downing Street ━ The European Conservatives

finews.com: newsletter

Gravity of the offense versus compromise | MP’s High Court refuses quashing in rape case despite settlement

As Samajwadi followers and Muslim activists declare rape accused Moeed Khan ‘innocent’, here’s the truth behind the DNA test in the Ayodhya gang rape case

As Samajwadi followers and Muslim activists declare rape accused Moeed Khan ‘innocent’, here’s the truth behind the DNA test in the Ayodhya gang rape case