This is part of a series of stories about the challenges small businesses face. The No. 1 challenge facing the retail industry in recent years has been crime, according to Rachel Michelin , CEO of the California Retailers Association. The most common issue has revolved around theft, which she said has been heightened since the 2014 passage of Proposition 47 in California, which reclassified certain theft and drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors. “Prior to that, retail theft was an intervention point where you’d see someone struggling who could then get into diversion programs. We saw drug courts and shoplifting diversion programs that were there to help try and stop the behaviors,” Michelin said. “We don’t see that happening anymore because there’s no intervention point." FBI crime statistics don’t appear to show the trend that business leaders describe. In 2014, the year Proposition 47 was approved by voters, the rate of property crimes in California was 2,441.7 per 100,000 population. In 2020, the most recent year available, that rate had declined to 2,138.9 per 100,000. FBI statistics during that period showed similar downtrends for other reported property crimes that could be associated with businesses, including larceny and burglaries. […]
K&X Design and Investment Technology, LLC
Invest The Invisible Impact
K&X Design and Investment Technology, LLC
Invest The Invisible Impact
