El Cajon and San Diego District Lawyer's Workplace campaigning to reform Prop 47
El Cajon Metropolis and group leaders gathered outdoors police headquarters on Sunday to announce a marketing campaign to garner help to reform Prop 47.
The controversial prop, handed by California voters in 2014, modified specific low-level theft and drug offenses from felonies to misdemeanors.
“What it primarily did was permit individuals to steal $950 of merchandise from any retailer with little to no penalties. And it is lowered the edge for severe drug crimes, together with methamphetamine and fentanyl,” Phil Ortiz, Deputy Mayor of the Metropolis of El Cajon, mentioned.
Prop 47 was launched to Californians as “the Secure Neighborhoods and Colleges Act.” Supporters of the prop aimed to cut back the amount of cash California spends on incarceration and, in flip, use these financial savings in the direction of applications that stop crime within the first place.
“After Prop 47 handed, it saved California $800 million. Eight hundred million…that as an alternative of utilizing it in the direction of incarcerating individuals, it was used to funnel again into the group to create applications equivalent to psychological well being companies equivalent to substance abuse companies,” Mitchelle Woodson, Govt Director & Managing Lawyer at Assume Dignity, mentioned.
At Sunday’s occasion, the San Diego District Lawyer’s workplace spoke in favor of reforming Prop 47 to deal with smash-and-grab incidents extra aggressively, organized retail theft and the distribution of onerous medication equivalent to fentanyl.
“Throughout the State of California, district attorneys and metropolis leaders are standing up and saying sufficient is sufficient,” Cameron Celeste, San Diego District Lawyer’s Workplace Assistant Director Enterprise and Group Relations, mentioned.
Nonetheless, supporters of Prop 47 say reforming it might have devastating results on applications aimed toward stopping crime earlier than it begins.
“By rolling again what Prop 47 has carried out to efficiently make investments into our group, we’ll be doing extra hurt than good,” added Woodson.
The El Cajon mayor’s workplace added they hope to collect sufficient signatures to position the reform of Prop 47 on the poll this upcoming November.