Addressing Our Rising Crime

When polled, there is one single issue that the public, across demographic, economic and geographic lines, consistently ranks as its top concern – and that is public safety. For this reason, community safety is a top priority for me as an elected official.

When it comes to crime, traffic and matters that affect the safety and well-being of our neighborhoods, it is my belief that, as legislators, we are doing our job best when we consider safety first when proposing legislation.

Across the nation and here in California, crime has been decreasing; however, the same cannot be said of our region. This unfortunate fact has become particularly noticeable in our district, which has actually seen an uptick in crime – especially property crimes.

While there was a decrease nationwide in the number of property crimes of 1.3% from 2015-16 and a decrease statewide of 2.9% during the same time period, Los Angeles County actually saw an overall increase of 5.7%.

This is fundamentally changing our way of life. The Crescenta Valley was once a place where people didn’t feel the need to lock their doors. Now, we undoubtedly see a growing conversation around the rise of property crimes and the response to it from neighbors, authorities and elected officials. My staff and I have attended several of these meetings across our district, and in every single one of them, Proposition 47, Proposition 57 and AB 109 have been brought up.

When I served as a City of Glendale councilmember and mayor, as well as president of the Independent Cities Association, I lobbied against Proposition 47 and AB 109 because I feared the detrimental impact they would have on our community and municipal correctional facilities. Now that we’ve been living with these laws for a couple of years, it’s becoming increasingly clear that these measures went too far in reducing the penalties for non-violent crimes. This legislation has hurt our communities by reducing sentences for crimes that, while non-violent, still cause serious harm.

The passage of Proposition 47 raised the threshold for felony theft from $450 to $950. When I was a small business owner, I wouldn’t have been able to survive being passed a few bad checks under $950. Instead of a system that takes into account the impact of repeated theft, we’re labeling each case a misdemeanor – essentially a minor infraction. To the individual, the family, or the small business, the impact is anything but minor.

To be clear, I hear what supporters of these measures have said and are saying. Like many of the key issues we face at the local and state levels, rising crime is the result of a wide variety of systemic problems that all require addressing. Factors such as poverty, barriers to education, housing and mental health services and even well-intentioned legislation, all play a role in influencing the overall crime rate and the types of crimes that are committed.

Instead of viewing each problem on its own, we need to take a global perspective of our society ¬– where we are failing, where Californians are falling through the cracks, and where those gaps are exacerbating our crime problem. I support all efforts at the state and local levels to improve education of offenders, drug counseling and social services for both offenders and their families. Crime is unfair to everyone and if we do not help offer quality rehabilitation options for offenders then we are doing nothing but throwing them back into the cycle of crime – whether we lock them up for a few days, a few months or a few years.

This year, there will be different efforts tackling this issue from all sides, some working in harmony and others in isolation … at the same time that signatures are being collected for a ballot measure that would aim to roll back some of the effects of Props 47, 57 and AB 109.

Like all equally complex issues, there is no magic solution to instantly resolve the issue. Because of this, the best course of action is to take into consideration all the contributing factors and work together on each of them in the right way – piece-by-piece. When it comes to our conversation on crime this year, it’s my view that there needs to be a real path towards rehabilitation with treatment that’s proven, coupled with serious penalties that truly hold criminals accountable. Reducing crime is something everyone can agree on, but how we get there is up for an honest debate.

As always, I want to hear your thoughts on state and local efforts to reduce crime, as well as any ideas for solutions that you may have. When issues are this complex and this systemic, we can only rely on a quality dialogue so that we can continue with the most holistic and balanced solutions possible.

Laura Friedman represents Burbank, Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Montrose, and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Atwater Village, East Hollywood, Franklin Hills, Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz, and Silver Lake. Reach her at Assemblymember.Friedman@assembly.ca.gov.

  laura friedman