Original Article Link: El Cajon and San Diego District Attorney’s Office campaigning to reform Prop 47 (10news.com)
El Cajon City and community leaders gathered outside police headquarters on Sunday to announce a campaign to garner support to reform Prop 47.
The controversial prop, passed by California voters in 2014, changed particular low-level theft and drug offenses from felonies to misdemeanors.
“What it essentially did was allow people to steal $950 of merchandise from any store with little to no consequences. And it’s lowered the threshold for serious drug crimes, including methamphetamine and fentanyl,” Phil Ortiz, Deputy Mayor of the City of El Cajon, said.
Prop 47 was introduced to Californians as “the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.” Supporters of the prop aimed to reduce the amount of money California spends on incarceration and, in turn, use those savings towards programs that prevent crime in the first place.
“After Prop 47 passed, it saved California $800 million. Eight hundred million…that instead of using it towards incarcerating people, it was used to funnel back into the community to create programs such as mental health services such as substance abuse services,” Mitchelle Woodson, Executive Director & Managing Attorney at Think Dignity, said.
At Sunday’s event, the San Diego District Attorney’s office spoke in favor of reforming Prop 47 to address smash-and-grab incidents more aggressively, organized retail theft and the distribution of hard drugs such as fentanyl.
“Across the State of California, district attorneys and city leaders are standing up and saying enough is enough,” Cameron Celeste, San Diego District Attorney’s Office Assistant Director Business and Community Relations, said.
However, supporters of Prop 47 say reforming it would have devastating effects on programs aimed at stopping crime before it starts.
“By rolling back what Prop 47 has done to successfully invest into our community, we’re going to be doing more harm than good,” added Woodson.
The El Cajon mayor’s office added they hope to gather enough signatures to place the reform of Prop 47 on the ballot this upcoming November.
Original Article Link: El Cajon and San Diego District Attorney’s Office campaigning to reform Prop 47 (10news.com)
