The Sacramento City Attorney’s Office is under fire for reportedly threatening to file nuisance charges against a Target retail store for excessive calls to police.
The calls were made in response to thieves stealing items from the store’s Land Park location on Riverside Blvd. According to the Sacramento Bee, which first reported the story, “the alleged warning issued by Sacramento city officials — and similar actions by other cities across the state — prompted lawmakers to add an amendment to a retail theft bill that would outlaw such threats made by authorities.”
The report underscores a limitation of crime statistics, which are often at odds with public perception. As the Public Policy Institute of California’s Magnus Lofstrom noted in his testimony before lawmakers this year, crime data is “limited to incidents reported to law enforcement agencies. Retail theft is likely underreported, especially low-value theft.”
That’s especially true if retailers are being threatened by city officials for reporting crime.