Hi! I'm an actual California liberal. I voted for Proposition 47. I am the person being blamed in that video. Sorry to interrupt this festival of schadenfreude, but...
The thing is, Proposition 47 didn't decriminalize anything. It recategorized some crimes. Shoplifting/petty theft under $950 is now "just" a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and up to six months in county jail. I believe that's a proportionate punishment.
This isn't just some crazy liberal idea. Newt Gingrich, of all people, argued for Prop 47 in this
op-ed, saying that many red states had already passed similar laws.
Certainly there have been many crimes around here that police haven't bothered to investigate. Not just these high-profile robberies but car break-ins, catalytic converter theft, etc. Yes, this bugs me. Prop 47 is frequently blamed by the "investigating officer", although I'm being generous by using the word "investigating". But there's nothing in Prop 47 that prevents them from putting people in jail for these crimes.
Story time: my wife's car was totaled in a hit-and-run collision. A witness left a note describing the other vehicle as a local pizza restaurant's delivery truck. When we reported the crime, the investigating officer told us that if this were CSI, they'd have detectives repelling out of helicopters to investigate, but in reality nothing could be done to find the witness or perpetrator. My wife and I went took the extreme measure of putting a note up in our apartment complex's laundry room asking the witness to call us. It worked. The police officer could have done that too if he'd cared or displayed any kind of initiative. We also went to the pizza restaurant's parking lot and found a delivery truck with matching damage to its bumper. The police still did nothing. This was before Prop 47, so they didn't even bother to make an excuse. If it was after, I'm sure they would have somehow blamed Prop 47, even though it doesn't change anything about vehicular crimes.
Great, but a year later, after 260 counts of shoplifting, you owe $260,000 and will be in county jail for 130 years. Also, to collect welfare and food stamps, you lied about your income to the IRS, so afterward you can go to federal prison for income tax evasion like Al Capone.