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Accustomed to California’s soft-on-crime policies, one of three alleged shoplifters learned the hard way that law and order was in this season.

“It’s a felony?”

As Election Day cleared the way for President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House, so too did it mark the dawn of a new era for the once-Golden State. However, not everyone was aware that the days of five-finger discounts were being relegated to the past — a fact she was filled in on while cuffed in the backseat of a squad car: “B*tch, new laws.”

A montage of bodycam and surveillance footage spliced together from Dec. 4 was released by the Seal Beach Police Department Sunday accompanied by Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walking.”

In the video, three women were seen visiting retail locations and allegedly helping themselves to hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise, only to be confronted by police who chased them down and took them into custody.

While restrained in the backseat, one could be heard asking with surprise, “It’s a felony?” earning the response, “B*tch, new laws. Stealing is a felony. And this is Orange County, b*tch. They don’t play.”

Posted to their Instagram page, Seal Beach Police captioned their video, “One of mother’s favorite songs and a friendly reminder that Proposition 36, which increases punishments for some retail theft and drug possession offenses, went into effect Wednesday morning in California.”

“It undoes some of the changes voters made with a 2014 ballot measure that turned certain nonviolent felonies into misdemeanors, effectively shortening prison sentences and leading to a spike in retail theft and crime,” added the law enforcement agency.

The proposition passed with 70% support from voters in November after shoplifting had increased by roughly 40% between 2014 and 2023 with violent crime ticking up 15.4% in the same period.

Similar efforts were passed in Arizona and Colorado where stricter penalties were enacted to crack down on drug trafficking, human trafficking, and other crimes.

Notably, before losing the election to Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris, who’d attempted to tout her record as California’s attorney general on the campaign trail, had avoided stating her position on the wildly popular proposition.

“So my ballot is on its way to California and I’m going to trust the system that it will arrive there. I’m not going to talk about the vote on that because, honestly, it’s the Sunday before the election,” she told reporters. “I don’t intend to create an endorsement one way or another around it, but I did vote.”

Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) went on the record in opposition to the measure, arguing it “takes us back to the 1980s, mass incarceration — it promotes a promise that can’t be delivered.”

In contrast to the leftist lawlessness, reactions on social media savored the sorrows of alleged routine shoplifters coming to grips with the new restrictions.

Kevin Haggerty
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