This week I was the guest host on the Lou Desmond Show on KMET in San Bernardino. My guest was California DA Jeff Reisig. Jeff is the District Attorney of Yolo County, which is one of California’s fifty-eight counties, located in Northern California, between the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento. Reisig has served as the county’s chief elected law enforcement official since 2007. We discussed at length the consequences of Prop 47.
Reisig can pinpoint the “explosion of homelessness” in recent years to one factor — Proposition 47. Approved by voters in November 2014, Prop. 47 reclassified a number of crimes as misdemeanors instead of felonies, including shoplifting, forgery, fraud, petty theft and drug offenses. The measure was crafted as a way to alleviate jail populations, which are crowded with inmates whose crimes are arguably worse. Although “well-intentioned,” the law has spurred an uptick in homeless individuals across the state, according to Reisig. “We can’t ignore it now.” Reisig also indicated that crime is also out of control because there is no focused deterrence. No mandatory jail, mental health programs, or drug treatment programs.
Reisig is helping to lead the charge on Proposition 36 that will be voted on in November. 56 of the 58 DA’s and Sheriff’s support Prop 36 which would both roll back Prop 47 and add new penalties for drug use and a broad range of theft offenses, as well as add new sentencing enhancements that would apply to any type of crime.
Podcast also available on Spotify on America’s Criminologist with Dr. Currie Myers.
Dr Currie Myers Interview of Jeff Reisig, Yolo County CA DA on the Lou Desmond Show.