Why Proposition 47 Has Been a Success

by Branden C. Sigua and Geneviéve Jones-Wright / Voice of San Diego / July 15, 2024

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In his January State of the City address, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said we “should be locking up criminals, not laundry detergent,” an unduly callous statement meant to discredit Proposition 47, which passed into law in 2014 with the support of 55 percent of San Diego’s voters. Ironically, in the same speech, Gloria proudly declared San Diego “one of the safest large cities in America.” Two months later, he praised the two-year downward trend in San Diego’s crime rate.

Mayor Gloria should give credit where credit is due. In the decade since its passage, Proposition 47, also known as the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, has been a social and fiscal game-changer for our region and state. The truth is, Proposition 47 is a success for all Californians.

Voters passed Proposition 47 on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court decision ordering California to reduce its prison population due to violations of the Eighth Amendment’s cruel and unusual punishment clause. Before Proposition 47, California prisons were operating at nearly double their capacity. By reclassifying low-level, nonviolent offenses like drug and property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, Proposition 47 has helped reduce overcrowding and bring the state into compliance with constitutional standards. This is significant social progress as the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world and San Diego County’s incarceration rate, while not the highest in California, is higher than the world average and most major international cities.

Californians pay a staggering $132,860 to incarcerate one person for one year. Proposition 47 redirects taxpayer dollars from the exorbitant costs of incarceration to community-based programs offering housing assistance, employment support, treatment for mental health and substance use issues, and educational programs for K-12 public school students. Instead of wasting public resources on needless incarceration, Proposition 47 has redirected an impressive $800 million to help reduce offenses, stop repeat offenses, and support individuals in gaining the tools and resources they need to thrive. To date, San Diego County has received $12 million in redirected funds and the Oceanside Unified School District was granted almost $1 million in 2016 for a youth second chance program.

Proposition 47 is a public safety measure as well as a legal reform measure. This law has fostered safer communities for everyone by addressing many root causes of involvement in the criminal legal system.

A grant evaluation released in 2024 found that in addition to significantly reducing racial disparities across the criminal legal system, recidivism rates for people enrolled in Proposition 47 grant-funded services were “more than two times lower than those traditionally incarcerated by the California Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections.” The grant evaluation also found that for people who completed the program, homelessness fell 60 percent, and unemployment dropped50 percent.

“These results continue to indicate that Proposition 47 is delivering the results voters demanded — safer communities where individuals who commit low-level crimes are directed to housing, employment, mental health and substance use services instead of prison sentences,” said the State and Community Corrections Board Chair Linda Penner. “California should continue to build on this progress — investing in efforts that are effective in both reducing incarceration and improving public safety.”

Calls for increased criminalization largely stem from the fabricated “shoplifting crisis” narrative perpetuated by Mayor Gloria and other Proposition 47 detractors. In reality, numerous reports have debunked claims of rising retail crime. Property crime, including burglary and robbery, is down 18 percent in the City of San Diego compared to a three-year average. Shoplifting rates in San Diego County have decreased by 21 percent from 2019 to 2022. To undo Proposition 47’s regional and statewide progress based on false narratives would be knowingly irresponsible and harmful.

Criminalization is a simplistic and ineffective approach that exacerbates the burdens faced by many San Diegans, including poverty, substance use and mental health needs, as well as inflation and the high cost of living. Instead of addressing these societal problems, criminalization merely hides them from view and funnels the most impacted individuals into a punitive legal system that fails to offer real solutions, making their struggles even more challenging to overcome. Proposition 47, by contrast, invests in community-based programs that tackle societal problems head-on.

Don’t be fooled. Proposition 47 is a success for all Californians. It’s progress is worth defending.

Sigua is a senior policy advocate at the ACLU Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties and Geneviéve Jones-Wright is executive director of Community Advocates for Just and Moral Governance.