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Police in one city in Southern California literally have laws regarding retail theft.
In a social media post, a woman arrested on suspicion of stealing flowers from Target Store on Mother’s Day, Seal Beach Police Station outlined a “zero tolerance stance” on theft affecting businesses large and small.
“Post-Covid retail theft has skyrocketed across California. In some jurisdictions, it is so normalized that it has been hardly reported, let alone indicted,” the department said. “However, at Seal Beach, we have consciously chosen to go a different path.”
The department explained that shoplifters in Seal Beach had not been released with tickets or warnings. They are taken to prison.
“We decided that allowing criminals to steal without consequences is not just a bad policy. It was the betrayal of the residents and businesses we sworn to protect,” police said. “This is not strict, it’s about protecting communities that still believe in accountability.”
On May 11, 2025, a woman was arrested for stealing flowers from a Target store in Seal Beach, California on Mother’s Day.
Retail theft has skyrocketed across California in recent years, leading to changes in the law as multiple agencies are oppressed statewide and communities get tired of viral videos showing smash-and-glove and flash mob-style robbery.
In 2024, California voters essentially repealed Proposal 47 in 2014. This reclassified nonviolent offences, including shoplifting items under $950, as misdemeanors. The overwhelming passing of Proposition 36 revived the hard penalties for theft and drug crimes, lowering the felony threshold for shoplifting to $450.
In Los Angeles County, District Attorney Nathan Hochman campaigned on a promise to work with law enforcement to curb retail theft. He firmly defeated the incumbent George Gascon, and portrayed him as being soft to crime.
In a social media post, Seal Beach police also spoke to people protecting shoplifters as victims of Southern California’s high cost of living.
“Every time you arrest a theft, there’s a corner of social media that goes rushing to justify it,” the department writes. “They say it’s “just a big business,” or the burglar “probably needed it.” But no one thinks of a cashier who has had to confront the burglars or a family who will pay more for groceries for what has left the door. ”
“Seal Beach is not where crime wins a pass,” they continued.
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