L.A. County Sheriff says we are less safe due to Prop 47 passing

According to L.A. County Sheriff, Jim McDonnell, Californians are less safe than we were, a year ago, due to the passage of Proposition 47. Voters passed Prop 47 November 3, 2014, which reduced sentences for certain crimes. The Prop 47 campaign had huge support in South LA and was spearheaded by the Community Coalition aka CoCoSouthLA, the South LA nonprofit founded by Congresswoman Karen Bass. The campaign centered around “reuniting families”.

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Artists for 47 also played a pivotal role in supporting the passage of Prop 47. Is this how the Made in America Fest came to be?

Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, introduced legislation, AB 150, to allow voters a chance to reinstate felony penalties for firearm theft that had recently been reduced under Proposition 47 in 2014. Prior to the passage of Proposition 47, stealing any type of firearm was considered felony grand theft. Proposition 47 reduced the penalty to a misdemeanor for firearms that are valued at under $950. Her colleagues in the State Assembly held the bill back.

In the words of Sheriff McDonnell:

One year ago today, California voters adopted Proposition 47, changing drug possession and five other nonviolent felonies into misdemeanors. Proposition 47 was supposed to ease pressure on California’s overflowing prisons and jails and open up funds for rehabilitation programs, along with education and victim services. But the state funds that were earmarked won’t arrive until August 2016. Crime is up in many California communities. Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell says Prop. 47, though well-intended, is to blame.

Read the full article on LATimes.com.