from ZeroHedge:
Shoplifting in California may get a lot easier, after the state Senate passed a controversial bill on May 31 that would make it illegal for store employees to confront thieves.
SB 553, authored by Democrat Senator David Cortese (San Jose), requires employers to maintain violent incident logs, provide active shooter and shoplifter training, and to discard policies requiring workers to confront suspected active shoplifters, the Epoch Times reports.
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According to Cortese, the bill is intended to “help employers keep employees safe at work.”
The bill, which passed the Senate by a vote of 29 to 8, is pending further review by state Assembly committees.
According to the California Realtors Association (CRA), the bill will apply to all industries – not just retail, if passed. CRA president and CEO Rachel Michelin told Fox2/KTVU that the bill “goes way too far.”
“I think it will open the doors even wider for people to come in and steal from our stores,” she said.
According to the CRA, most retailers already prohibit regular employees from approaching someone who is shoplifting. These situations are handled by employees specially trained in theft prevention instead.
If employees trained in theft deterrence are not allowed to do their job per the bill, “What does that mean? We are opening up the door to allow people to walk into stores, steal, and walk out,” Michelin added. -Epoch Times
According to a position letter from the California Chamber of Commerce, the bill “takes a regulation written for hospitals related to workplace violence and applies it to all workplaces, regardless of size of resources.”
“Substantively, SB 533 does not change the realities around workplace violence—namely, that it is a criminal matter that employers are not well-equipped to prevent.”
In recent years, shoplifting has become a serious problem, with retailers such as Target anticipating a $1.3 billion hit due to “theft and organized crime.”
In Downtown San Francisco, Target employees told the San Francisco Standard that they’re experiencing at least 10 thefts a day.
