California lawmakers are looking to toughen penalties on looting and other opportunistic crimes during disasters after over two dozen individuals were arrested in evacuation zones after the recent deadly wildfires in Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Times reports. Three lawmakers have proposed a tough-on-crime approach classifying burglaries in emergency areas as felony offenses, which could lead to prison sentences. One of those bills also would crack down on people who impersonate first responders during a wildfire. The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department created a Looter Suppression Team last month to provide closer surveillance and a quicker response time to Altadena neighborhoods that were evacuated.
“This wildfire crisis has brought out the best and worst in us,” said Los Angeles Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman, who is a co-sponsor of the anti-looting bill introduced Monday. “The point isn’t to fill prisons with a whole bunch of looters. The idea is to deter these looters in the first place.” Hochman’s office has reviewed 27 criminal cases related to the wildfires, but he said current law to crack down on these crimes is “underwhelming.” Advocates and public defenders, including Brooke Longuevan, president of the Los Angeles County public defenders union, said there are existing penalties to prohibit and “sufficiently punish” looting and other crimes.“We are concerned that this type of legislation would only further mass incarceration, selective policing, and strain an already overwhelmed criminal legal system,” Longuevan said in an email.
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