Property crimes on the rise in South Lake Tahoe

Readers of South Tahoe Now's reports on local crime have seen an increase in reports of property crimes such as petty theft, theft from cars, auto theft and robbery.

This weekend has been no different. There were reports of suspicious activity in the Safeway parking lot with attempts of vehicle break-ins. This resulted in the arrest/citation of two people on other charges and the break-in reports are still being investigated. Overnight Saturday there was a commercial burglary at O'Reilly's Auto Parts where unknown person(s) entered through the rear of the store to steal tools, a residential burglary and the arrest of a woman accused of stealing a car and driving it through town.

Sunday, Redwood Printing on Emerald Bay Road was vandalized with thousands of dollars worth of damage along with theft.

When comparing the crimes of theft and burglary for January through October in 2016 to the same period in 2015, most categories are up with the single exclusion of burglary (though recent figures may affect the difference by the end of the year).

Crime...............2015.............2016

Petty Theft..........265..............353
Petty Theft Vehicle...29...............67
Grand Theft Vehicle....2................9
Auto Theft............33...............43
Burglary..............96...............80
Grand Theft...........39...............40
Robbery...............11...............22

Law enforcement officials both locally and across the state are blaming the passage of Proposition 47 in 2014 for an increase in property crimes in California. Even though crimes are up, arrests are down due to the reduction of penalties of many crimes from felonies to misdemeanors with Prop. 47, something intended to reduce crowding in the state’s overwhelmed prisons, save money and treat low-level criminals with more compassion. Police chiefs across the state have said instead of arresting criminals and removing them from the streets, their officers have been dealing with the same offenders again and again.

Many crimes are now treated with a slap on the wrist instead of an arrest. With decriminalization of drug offenses, many addicts are not getting the treatment they need and it gets expensive to satisfy their habit and they need to turn to theft to support it, said Sgt. Travis Cabral of the SLTPD.

"Many crimes are no longer arrestable or citable," said Cabral. "Drug use is a gateway into other types of crimes because supporting a habit is expense."

In a report to the California Police Chiefs Association, Chief Robert M. Lehner of Elk Grove, Calif., said after a decrease in crime in California from 2000 to 2014, that trend reversed itself sharply in 2015.

"For the first time in 20 years, California’s rate of property crime exceeds that of the rest of the country," said Chief Lehner.