Orange County Supervisors Jump Into Street Crime Debate

A bulk of OC supervisors supported a contentious authorities ballot measurement today, arguing that Proposition 36 would trim thoroughfare crimes and bring backmost penalties for repetition offenders arsenic 1 of their colleagues argued they were going backmost to a authorities of wide incarceration. 

California voters volition get a accidental successful November to measurement successful connected Prop. 36 which if approved would unit radical charged with definite cause possession crimes into rehab oregon service jailhouse time, arsenic good arsenic summation costs for authorities prisons and courts.

On Tuesday, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 successful enactment of the ballot measurement astatine the petition of Supervisors Don Wagner and Doug Chaffee, joining a big of municipalities crossed the authorities coming retired publically successful favour of Prop. 36.

“These crimes are harming businesses and residents alike,” Wagner said. “It’s past clip to act.” 

Vicente Sarmiento, the lone supervisor to talk retired against the proposition, said it would lone “reignite the failed warfare connected drugs.” 

“Unfortunately this proposition is simply a mendacious committedness and not a fix,” Sarmiento said. “Defaulting to a strategy wherever there’s a deficiency of captious thought … is going to pb to atrocious consequences.” 

He besides highlighted a study from the authorities legislative analyst’s office, which claims the proposition “would summation authorities transgression justness costs, apt ranging from respective tens of millions of dollars to the debased hundreds of millions of dollars each year” toward prisons. 

The analyst’s bureau besides recovered it would displacement spending by undoing parts of the arguable Proposition 47, which reduced offenses for definite theft and cause crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. 

“This would trim the magnitude the authorities indispensable walk connected intelligence wellness and cause treatment, schoolhouse truancy and dropout prevention, and unfortunate services. This simplification apt would beryllium successful the debased tens of millions of dollars annually,” reads the report. 

The study besides highlighted however section governments similar Orange County would person to walk much connected their jails arsenic well. 

“That means bigger cuts to schools, healthcare, and different indispensable services,” Sarmiento said. “This is an expedient mode to conscionable fastener folks up.” 

Supervisor Katrina Foley fired back, saying this lone would fastener up radical who were already harming the community. 

“Don’t merchantability fentanyl, heroin, cocaine oregon methamphetamine to others and this won’t use to you,” Foley said. “Don’t perpetrate crimes and this doesn’t use to you, it’s beauteous simple.”

Supervisor Andrew Do, whose location was raided by the FBI successful August amid a national probe into millions of missing payer dollars and has missed the consequent meetings, was absent from the meeting.

Tuesday’s ballot comes arsenic cities crossed Orange County similar Santa Ana, Westminster, Stanton, Brea, Seal Beach and Laguna Beach person passed resolutions successful enactment of the statewide measurement connected the November ballot.

[Read: Orange County Debates How California Should Address Street Crime]

Proponents similar the California District Attorneys Association, instrumentality enforcement groups, retailers including Target, Walmart and Home Depot and the California League of Cities accidental the measurement volition marque cities safer, incentivizes attraction implicit situation and combats the fentanyl crisis.

OC Sheriff Don Barnes besides called connected supervisors to enactment the proposition, saying concerns astir it were “tremendously overblown.”  

“It’s not a pendulum swinging violently from near to right, but to the middle,” Barnes said. “If they take to proceed committing crimes, there’s accountability successful there.” 

Critics similar Governor Gavin Newsom, Chispa, the Los Angeles Times editorial board and the American Civil Liberties Union accidental Prop. 36 volition overcrowd prisons, reignite the warfare connected drugs and discarded millions of payer dollars connected jails and prisons.

At a virtual quality league past week, Newsom said the measurement has important nationalist enactment passim California, but helium has a antithetic constituent of view.

“If the radical of the authorities of California privation to determination successful this direction, bring america backmost to the 1980s warfare connected drugs for nonviolent cause possession, walk $120-$130,000 a twelvemonth connected authorities prisons implicit different communal consciousness strategies and solutions than that’s surely the volition of the people.” 

Noah Biesiada is simply a Voice of OC newsman and corps subordinate with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him astatine [email protected] oregon connected Twitter @NBiesiada.

Hosam Elattar is simply a Voice of OC newsman and corps subordinate with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him astatine [email protected] oregon connected Twitter @ElattarHosam.

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