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California Looks Like a “Third World Country” According to… the Governor of California
Gov. Gavin Newsom – who is sort of like the Justin Trudeau of California but with fewer incidents of blackface — brought his hair stylist, make-up artist, and wardrobe staff to Los Angeles to stage a photo op. Newsom and some aides (I’m assuming they are aides, willing to put up with this in order to make lucrative political connections that will set them up for life) picked up some of the garbage strewn around train tracks where gangs of thieves have been robbing cargo from passing trains.
“It looked like a third world country, these images, the drone images that were on the nightly news,” Newsom told reporters gathered Thursday along the cleaned up tracks.
“My frustration with this in particular is the images look like a third-world country,” repeats Gavin Newsom, clearly concerned about how California is perceived
Applying the classic “when the only tool you know is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail” approach, the governor has pledged to dump boxcars full of money on the problem until it disappears from the media.
The governor said his new budget proposal includes funds to expand the Organized Retail Theft Task Force created last year when Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities saw organized groups of roving thieves carrying out smash-and-grab robberies at retail stores.
As for whether there will be any change to the policy of not prosecuting people for theft, Newsom reiterated the policy in California of charging people with robbery only if they are connected to a gang. (He also reportedly apologized for his use of the word “gangs” claiming it was not intended to be “pejorative.”)
“These folks are arrested as if they are individuals that are not going connected to the whole, and we need to change that,” he said.
Same dude signed a law last year that said gang membership could not be used to enhance charges against criminals. He also signed a law to prosecute people for retail theft if they are members of a gang, but now it’s back to prosecuting people whether they’re members of a gang or not. Seems like it would be more straightforward just to prosecute people who commit crimes and punish them accordingly, but I guess California cannot do that because of Prop 47.
The question remains whether all of this show for the cameras will change anything.
In December, Union Pacific sent a letter to LA County District Attorney George Gascón’s urging more aggressive prosecutions for cargo thieves and calling for an end to a no-bail policy for some defendants aimed at reducing overcrowding at jails during the coronavirus pandemic.
“These individuals are generally caught and released back onto the streets in less than twenty-four hours. Criminals boast to our officers that charges will be pled down to simple trespassing — which bears no serious consequence,” the letter said.
No serious consequences unless you were trespassing in the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. One of the other things about third world countries is the authorities usually are pretty tolerant of property crimes against common citizens; but they do harshly punish critics of the regime.
Anyway, if Gavin Newsom thinks the railyards around Lost Angeles look like a third world country, then what about this:
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Published in Policing
Talk about classic unawareness
So, so true…
Of note: the train robberies and organized mass thefts in malls are new. These aren’t crimes he was handed when he took office, these are crimes his policies
inventedcreated.I just wonder how long it took his staff to pick out just the right $300 T-shirt and Trucker hat combo; taking into account the governor’s “season,” the available lighting at the location, and what mood they wanted to project. “We’ve narrowed it down to the slate Givenchy or the charcoal Balenciaga.”
Not uncommon when it comes to Progressives…
I agree wholeheartedly. As a Californian, it is sad to see this kind of leadership. Theo only way I am surviving is living in Orange County The biggest Conservative GOP in California.
Welcome bunny! Great to have you here!
If only he were dumping money on the problem. He’s not. All he’s really doing is shoveling that money to fellow bureaucrats. Organized Retail Task Force! Oh, pulleeeeze! What can the ORTF do that the cops cannot?
And he wisely eschewed the safety vest since
heyou don’t want the diva mistaken for a mere back up dancer.Thank you Dr/ Bastiat.
I am ready for 2022 and will support the boldest brilliant conservative! The movement is real.
He actually brought a glam squad? Omg…..
I wanted to SHOUT at him: We don’t need you to clean up the trash! We need to to clean out the criminals!
I think L.A. is finally waking up. I really don’t want to leave but there’s only so much I can take.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/01/can_los_angeles_be_saved.html
The typical bureaucrat: Don’t make a decision — commission a task force or study group. To report back after the problem is replaced by a different distraction.
Exactly! And that’s where the money goes. It’s a big scam.
Last time I was in California, which was about five years ago, I had never seen it so dirty. Highways, streets. I used to have business trips out there all the time before then. It used to be spotless.
Newsom is only finding this out now. San Francisco and LA are a mess and this is what it takes for Newsom to re-act.
CA had a chance to get rid of this fool but decided to re-elect him. They have their selves to blame
I’m an Ex-Oaklander of 25 years. I got out over a year ago.
Gavin the Haircut’s reaction is typical. Toss money at the problem and engage in community clean up. Solved.
Here’s stuff I saw in Oaktown and neighboring Emeryville during my years there…
Problem: Public defecation.
Solution: Give the homeless porta-potties
Problem: the homeless encampments are spilling onto the streets or on ramps.
Solution: put up k-rails, give them porta-potties, wash stations and Tough Shed villages for them to live in.
Problem: Homeless encampment/bicycle theft ring under an overpass (the “giraffe”overpass, for those familiar) leads to rampant crime at the minimart located across the street.
Solution: Caltrans clears the encampment, builds a sturdy, spiky fence to keep them off their property. The zombies come back and rebuild their encampment on the sidewalk against the outside of the fence.
Things changed in the Bay Area after Occupy ran out of steam. The demographics of the off ramp cup shakers became more white, drug addicted and crazy. We always had a number of panhandlers in my old ‘hood, but they were mostly harmless and rarely camped out in doorways, etc. The squalor started seeping into the shopping districts and my morning dog walks felt less and less safe. COVID and the St. George of Fentanyl unrest only accelerated things.
Living near Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods doesn’t guarantee civilization.
And it took them years to admit that the bike collections were actually stolen bikes. They referred to them as “bike repair” sites.
“Bicycle recycling” sites: Steal, Repair, Sell.
Maybe we should get some of those guys from Yellowstone to shoot dem no-good varmints.