Business owners have mixed reactions to Dallas County DA's
new policies, By FOX4News.com Staff, 4/12/19.
Dallas County's new district attorney
announced his office will no longer prosecute "theft of necessary
items" up to $750.
The announcement drew an immediate
reaction from small business owners who are worried that word of the policy
will encourage shoplifting.
While the Dallas County District
Attorney John Creuzot tried to clarify his new policy on Friday, some business
owners are worried about what the DA's new policy will mean for them.
Cody Ellison and his business partner
own three shops in the Bishop Arts District. The DA's letter to the people of
Dallas County does not sit well with him.
“To have the thought of someone being
able to come in and steal $750 from us and there be no consequence is
unfathomable to me,” Ellison said.
The DA’s letter
says: "Criminalizing
poverty is counter-productive for our community’s health and safety. For that
reason, this office will not prosecute theft of personal items less than $750
unless the evidence shows that the alleged theft was for economic gain."
“They say essentials,” Ellison said.
“For us, essentials are clothing. People have to have clothing.” Ellison
questions why the DA set such a high dollar amount for prosecution.
“This is not a victimless crime,” he
said.
The district attorney tried to clarify
his new policy.
“Maybe I should say consumption items.
Maybe we should have put that word in there,” Creuzot said. “We're talking
about food and formula that people need to live. Maybe I didn't put enough
words in when I said personal items. Maybe I should have said personal
consumption items.”
Jason Roberts is the owner of AJ
Vagabonds in Bishop Arts. He supports the DA's new policy.
“I would hate to have the worst thing
you've done be the flag for who you are as a human being for the rest of your
life,” Roberts said.
But business owners like Ellison hope
the policy doesn't encourage criminal behavior.
“People are going to become more and more
confident with stealing, opening a floodgate for more and more theft in the
future,” Ellison said. “If it grows, there will be no more small business
owners.”
The district attorney did say that his
office is trying to partner with academic institutions to track crime numbers
to see if the new policy is causing an increase in crime. Those numbers could
prove hard to track though if people stop reporting the crimes.
Comments
The Texas Legislature
needs to clarify criminal law for Texas, not some County DA. This is nuts. The
poor should shop at Goodwill and the food banks should carry diapers and
formula. Deportation of illegal welfare migrants should reduce poverty in
cities like Dallas. County Prosecutors can always have cases dismissed by the
Judge and shouldn’t further confuse the Police. Legislatures need to repeal
nanny-state laws that clog the courts. Our laws are poorly designed to increase
law enforcement costs.
If shopkeepers need to
take the law into their own hands, the legislature should decriminalize
caining.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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