Smash and grabs, California, and the limits of criminal justice reform

A wave of smash-and-grabs reported in New York, Chicago, and the San Francisco Bay Area finally rolled into greater Los Angeles on Nov. 18 – with 11 such incidents in just over a week. And yet none of the people arrested is still in custody. That telegraphs a lack of consequences, say many in retail and law enforcement. Lack of accountability, they explain, encourages brazen criminal acts, and that is causing many to question criminal justice reforms led by progressive prosecutors. 

Bruce Chase, assistant sheriff for patrol operations in Los Angeles County, remarks that “everybody wants a simple answer, but it is really more complex.” He cites a number of factors: deprivation during the pandemic, the civil unrest of 2020 in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by a police officer, the movement toward police reform, and communities in turmoil. “This general sense of lawlessness takes hold and the criminal element comes behind so that they feel emboldened to take advantage.”

In Beverly Hills, clothier Duke Hagenburger has nothing but praise for the way the city is handling the threat of smash-and-grabs with an increased security presence.

“The level of proactiveness in the marketplace is super effective to keeping these things down,” he says.

Beverly Hills, Calif.

Walk down Rodeo Drive with Todd Johnson, and he’ll point out security measures that are helping one of the world’s luxury centers prevent “smash-and-grab” thefts assailing shopping districts from New York to San Francisco.

Stepping close to the Gucci storefront window, he taps his knuckle against the thick glass. “Bulletproof,” says the president of the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce. It explains why burglars who took a sledgehammer to nearby Louis Vuitton and Saks Fifth Avenue last month were not able to bash their way into the stores before police arrived. Strolling further along the holiday-festooned boulevard, Mr. Johnson points to a tiny camera atop a traffic light. The city has upwards of 2,000 cameras – more per square foot than any city in the world, he says. “You can’t get in or out of our city without being seen.”

Then there are the things not visible to the eye: a police response time of under three minutes, and more hires, too. The police also coordinate closely with merchants, city leaders, and law enforcement agencies across the greater Los Angeles area. After an alert from the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department – and a citizen report of suspicious vehicles in the heart of Beverly Hills – Beverly Hills police arrested four suspects from a “flash mob” robbery over the Thanksgiving weekend. The suspects matched the description of a small swarm of people who descended on a Home Depot and fled with sledgehammers and crowbars. The store was 30 miles away.

“The dots were connected,” says Lt. Giovanni Trejo of the Beverly Hills Police Department.

A wave of smash-and-grabs reported in New York, Chicago, and the San Francisco Bay Area finally rolled into greater Los Angeles on Nov. 18 – with 11 such incidents in just over a week. And yet none of 14 people arrested, including the Home Depot suspects caught in Beverly Hills, is still in custody. That telegraphs a lack of consequences, say many in retail and law enforcement. Lack of accountability, they explain, encourages brazen criminal acts and is causing many to question criminal justice reforms led by progressive prosecutors such as George Gascón in Los Angeles and Chesa Boudin in San Francisco – both of whom have voters clamoring for a recall.