California city ‘threatened to fine Target store’ for reporting thefts

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Louise Thomas

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A city in California threatened to fine a Target store for calling 911 multiple times after it was blighted by a spate of thefts.

Over the last year, the retail store in Land Park, Sacramento, has been targeted by thieves on several occasions.

Sacramento city attorney Susana Wood’s office responded by accusing the store of causing a public nuisance by calling the police.

If Target didn’t stop calling 911, the city office warned it would hit the retailer with an administrative fine, a source told the Sacramento Bee.

The letter threatening a nuisance violation, which would essentially dissuade staff from reporting in-store crime, was drafted but never sent, the source added.

A police spokesperson confirmed to the outlet that the warning concerned Target’s Land Park store.

The Independent has contacted Wood’s office for comment.

Other California officials have since condemned the city attorney’s office’s actions.

“Surprised to hear that anyone would ever attempt to make a nuisance case out of somebody calling to report legitimate crime,” California Police Chief Alexander Gammelgard said at a select committee meeting last year.

State lawmakers – including Governor Gavin Newsom – responded by adding an amendment to a retail theft bill, outlawing authorities from making such threats to businesses.

Proposition 47 loosened penalties for some non-violent property crimes, including petty theft with a value below $950.

The bill, which passed in the state in 2014, has been blamed by some for an apparent rise in petty thefts.

Newsom himself revealed earlier this year that he witnessed a shoplifter walk out of a Target store in Sacramento with an armful of stolen loot.

But state officials believe that the amendment to the bill is a better solution than reforming it altogether.

Now, in a bid to curb retail theft, Newsom and some California lawmakers are pushing a package of 14 bills to tighten penalties on retail theft offenses.