We now know what those accused of shoplifting think about passage of Proposition 36.

Their sentiments are in alignment with the No. 2 bulls do.

In a video posted by Seal Beach Police in Orange County last month, two shoplifting suspects handcuffed in the backseat of a patrol car were captured on the dash camera share their thoughts on Proposition 36 that went into effect Dec. 6 with the certification of the Nov. 5 election results.

“It’s a felony?” one woman asks the other.

“Bull - - - - new laws,” the other says. “Stealing is a felony and this Orange County bull - - - -. They don’t play.”

Sorry, but the real bull was believing you can steal at will.

Police indicated a Ulta Beauty video shows the suspects walking out of the store with $648 worth of merchandise without paying.

They were also caught on video allegedly swiping almost $1,000 from a nearby Kohl’s store.

California for too long suffered from the guilt complex imposed by overzealous social justice advocates that believed crime essentially wasn’t the fault of perpetrators.

Career thieves are not idiots, except perhaps those that apparently thought adding teeth to laws wouldn’t enable police to arrest them and charge them in a manner they will have to pay a price for their crime.

The campaign spin to get Proposition 47 passed in 2014 that upped the threshold for theft to be considered a felony to $950 was that it was easing the criminal consequences for drug use.

It did that and a lot more.

It not only meant stealing anything under $950 — including a gun regardless of one’s record was only a misdemeanor citation — but it effectively prevented prosecutors from budding crimes.

That meant a savvy criminal could steal merchandise up to $949.99 a many times as they liked, even from the same store, and only be charged with a misdemeanor.

The only way a sub-$950 theft could become a felony is if the criminals were not smart enough not to hurt someone in the process of fleeing a pursuing law enforcement officer.

To avoid a trip to jail and felony prosecution, all they had to do was stop if ordered to do so by police and surrender the merchandise.

Not only did this lead to organized retail crime rings gaming the system, but it emboldened criminals.

When thefts became misdemeanors, most police departments shifted limited resources to felonies given there would be consequences to arrests.

To their credit, Manteca Police were among the few law enforcement agencies in California that still dogged sub-$950 retail theft. More about that in a second.

The open season on retailers led to store takeovers and an increase in smash and grab efforts of merchandise far exceeding $950.

How the law and order system had to adjust to the realties of Proposition 47 created the perfect situation for criminals.

It is what led to a man bicycling into a San Francisco CVS store and loading up a bag with merchandise and bicycling out.

It is how a repeat homeless criminal could walk brazenly into a 7-Eleven in Stockton across from the police department multiple times with a garbage bag he filled with stolen goods.

Frustrated store clerks taking swings at him with a stick stopped a follow up robbery.

And as nutso as it sounds, there was a call from social justice advocates demanding the clerks be prosecuted.

Fortunately, Ron Freitas who had been elected San Joaquin County District Attorney months earlier vowing to find ways to clean up the mess created by Proposition 47 after his predecessor declined to do so.

Had it happened on the watch of his predecessor, the clerks likely would have been being prosecuted and possibly thrown to jail while the homeless criminal would have been emboldened to keep stealing.

The apologists for the social justice woke movement contend 68 percent of California’s voters were “scared” into backing Proposition 36.

They argue the media and Internet sensationalized coverage of brazen thefts. They argued store takeovers and smash and grabs were isolated incidents.

Tell that to the people of Sacramento, Alameda, and Los Angeles.

The non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California think tank noted data showed retail thefts between 2019 and 2023 increased:

Almost 70 percent in Sacramento.

By 65 percent in Alameda.

Just over 40 percent in Los Angeles.

Those increases reflect what stores reported. 

Due to overwhelmed law enforcement agencies and the system handcuffed to do anything of consequence about most thefts, many retailers stopped reporting many thefts.

Manteca did not experience theft crime increase if that magnitude thanks to out-of-the-box thinking by Manteca Police.

They became one of the first departments in California to form a dedicated organized theft crime unit even though it had only one dedicated detective.

Retailers were contacted and employees trained on how to fill out effective crime reports online.

That did two things.

It freed up police manpower from devoting time to investigate incidents and write up reports.

It also helped develop a a web of evidence

What Manteca Police understood was that Proposition 47 did not lower the felony threshold for thefts committed by organized effort of three or more individuals.

Other police agencies obviously understood that but they lacked effectively enlisting retailers to make sure evidence could be compiled.

And before you think why do the victims have to do the job of the police, the amount of effort that requires would take limited highly trained police officers off the street.

The development of patterns involving multiple individuals allowed Manteca Police to network with nearby jurisdictions where it turned out the same groups of people were hitting the same chain stores or those in the same retail category.

It allowed Manteca Police to increase patrols around similar stores in Manteca.

It paid off a number of times as multiple theft suspects were caught in the act leaving stores with goods a number of times.

That’s something that is relatively rare if a store reports a theft in action given a police unit would basically have to be nearby in order to catch a suspect.

The truth is retail thieves are rarely caught.

And rarely are thieves one and done.

That means a thief can steal dozens on times before they are caught and tied to one theft.

As force the teeth gnashing that most thefts are committed by people just trying to feed and clothe themselves in an “unjust” world, that fact retail thefts kept skyrocketing during the pandemic punches massive holes into such an argument.

The pandemic saw the government suspending evictions, doling out COVID relief, extending and enhancing unemployment benefits, increasing SNAP benefits for the most vulnerable, and more.

Retail theft, under the perpetrators as victims argument, should have basically have dropped off to a mere trickle during the pandemic. 

It didn’t. 

And as the months unfolded retail theft soared.

Say what you want, a year that one habitual thief is behind bars likely means upwards a hundred of less thefts occur.

If the average value is $800, that could translate into $80,000 plus in theft avoidance.

It may not be as cost effective as getting such perpetrators to the point they actually do honest work for a living, but it is still a significant cost savings to society.

And let’s be clear.

The real bull here is that anyone assumes it is bull that they can steal with impunity for all practice purposes.

This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com