California governor signs a bill bringing back harsh penalties for smash-and-grab robberies

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Thursday bringing back tough criminal penalties targeting large-scale stealing schemes and smash-and-grab robberies that have fueled voter frustration across the state.

The new law requires prosecutors to start imposing harsher sentences again for those who damage or destroy property valued at more than $50,000 while committing a felony. A similar law expired in 2018. The new law will sunset by 2030.

“California already has some of the strictest retail and property crime laws in the nation — and we have made them even stronger with our recent legislation,” Newsom said in a statement. “We can be tough on crime while also being smart on crime — we don’t need to go back to broken policies of the last century.”

The decision to bring back tough penalties comes as Democratic leaders continue to work to prove that they are tough enough on crime while trying to convince voters to reject a ballot measure that would bring even harsher sentences for repeat offenders of shoplifting and drug charges.

While shoplifting has been a growing problem, large-scale, smash-and-grab thefts, in which groups of individuals brazenly rush into stores and take goods in plain sight, have become a crisis in California and elsewhere in recent years. Such crimes, often captured on video and posted on social media, have brought particular attention to the problem of retail theft in the state.

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