Newsom’s Bad News for California Police and Prisons

The plan? A whopping $97 million from trial courts and $10 million from the Department of Justice’s Division of Law Enforcement. 

Newsom’s critics have said that he is panicking on how to sort out the budget crisis and what this will look like for Californians over the next year.

This money is due to the Golden State requesting money to reimburse services provided to non-citizens, which shouldn’t have been done.

However, the Department of Finance begs to differ, citing a 1.6% shrinkage in the Department of Justice’s overall budget.

This uptick is making headlines as businesses, both big and small, face an onslaught of high-profile thefts. The rising crime complicates the decision to scale back on funding for law enforcement.

According to the California government, the reason for eliminating these beds is due to the lessening population.

Data has shown that mid-sized cities throughout the US have seen a rise in crime when the police have been defunded. If California does this, they should likely expect the same to happen there.

High living costs and blue-collar stagnation aren’t helping either.

More disturbingly, homicides initially spiked by 28.1%, although they later stabilized, resulting in a total of 81 murders during the period, as reported by NBC Los Angeles.

One of these supermarkets is Safeway, which removed its self-checkout machines earlier this year. Other stores have also taken measures, such as Frederickson Hardware & Paint, which now assigns an employee to a customer while they are shopping to ensure they don’t try to steal anything.

In the first quarter of 2024, property crime was down by 32%, and violent crime was down by 14%, which has been helped by local law enforcement. This shows that it would be a massive mistake to take funding away from the police.

Even when a crime had been committed, police were able to get to the scene relatively quickly and make arrests.

With California slashing funds for prisons and law enforcement training, the debate intensifies.

He boasts about recruiting law enforcement officers with attractive bonuses, taking advantage of California’s “poor governance.”

Some presidents and politicians are known for lying to get voters on side, which Patronis believes Newsom would be perfect for.

It’s a trend that’s hollowing out once-thriving shopping centers.

“Funding for DOJ has increased 33 percent – more than $200 million increase in police funding — nearing almost $1 Billion in total funding in the current budget proposal,” stated a spokesperson to the Daily Mail.

This has been a long-term and progressive goal of these lawmakers. California has a massive prison system, and they want to cut down on it.

Not all crimes will experience these, as only a few are set to receive these stricter penalties. Some crimes that are included are selling fentanyl and engaging in serial retail theft. In both cases, it would mean spending more time in prison.

Yet, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, the real figure might be closer to $45 billion, taking into account prior agreed-upon spending reductions.

He has made sure to include $1.7 billion for climate initiatives and is focusing on equity.

These cuts include pausing the expansion of state-funded child care and slashing funding aimed at Medicaid improvements, intending to save $6.7 billion.

The hope is that by doing this, government will become much more streamlined and efficient at delivering the needs and wants of people from all over the Golden State.

A key ally of President Biden and a potential future presidential candidate, Newsom’s handling of the state’s budget crises, following years of surplus, could define his leadership and political future.