A brand new set of laws targeting crimes which have created a “sense of social anxiety” amongst Californians reflect support for tougher sentences after a decade of loosening penalties. But experts say they don’t signal a return to “tough crime.” Politics of past many years.

RELATED: Prop. 36: What to expect immediately from California's recent crime law

The laws, which come into effect on New Year's Day, will crack down on property crime, retail theft and other crimes. Some will allow prosecutors to impose recent sentencing enhancements for certain varieties of retail theft or expand laws that expand the definition of organized retail theft that was previously slated to be eliminated. Others are introducing recent regulations geared toward curbing online sales of stolen goods or attempts to return stolen goods to stores for a fee.

Experts say the laws passed in 2024 represent a slight shift from a recent give attention to reducing incarceration but is not going to push California back to its tougher policies of the Nineteen Eighties. Rather, they are saying the changes reflect popular support for harsher punishments.

“We were going through a period of reform in which the state was sort of moving away from decades of commitment to intensive incarceration,” said Jonathan Simon, a criminal justice professor at UC Berkeley Law. “It is not clear whether what we are experiencing is the end of this reform period.”

In August, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 10 of those bills — lots of which were written in collaboration with major retailers — and said Californians' concerns about organized retail theft were “front and center.”

“Public opinion has changed,” said Garrick Percival, a political science professor at San Jose State. “Although I think it's important not to read too much into the change, because I think there's still a lot of evidence that the public supports rehabilitation programs and is not in favor of expanding some kind of mass incarceration, as the state has been doing since.” practiced for a few years. It’s sort of a corrective.”

Simon said many recent laws are “redrawing the line” on existing offenses, which have recently been linked to a brand new “sense of social anxiety”. He added that most of the laws would initially apply to “a relatively limited number of cases.”

Many retail theft laws give attention to prosecuting these crimes, including recent sentencing provisions for lighting fires to facilitate retail theft (SB 1242, introduced by State Senator Dave Min) and sentencing enhancements for returning, exchanging or selling stolen goods (SB 1416 , introduced by State Senator Josh Newman) and for retail theft of greater than $50,000 (AB 1960, introduced by Representative Robert). Rivas).

The consequences of the brand new laws would rely upon whether law enforcement officials make more arrests based on the laws and the way often prosecutors charge crimes, Percival said.

Prosecutors “still have a lot of discretion in charging criminals,” he said. “I think the most likely outcome is that these (laws) will be applied differently depending on what county you are in.”

AB 1779, introduced by Rep. Jacqui Irwin, allows prosecutors to consolidate theft charges from different counties into one case, provided each county's district attorney agrees. Another recent law, AB 1802, indefinitely extends the crime of organized retail theft, which previously had an expiration date of early 2026. The same bill also expands a California Highway Patrol task force dedicated to analyzing organized retail theft and vehicle theft.

Another law, AB 1972, allows for the expansion of the CHP Property Crimes Task Force to also analyze railroad and freight theft.

Legislation introduced by State Senator Nancy Skinner (SB 1144) requires online marketplaces to ascertain policies prohibiting the sale of stolen goods and to notify California law enforcement of anyone believed to be attempting to sell stolen goods to California residents sell.

Other laws give attention to enforcement to scale back retail theft.

AB 2943, introduced by Reps. Rick Chavez Zbur and Robert Rivas, would allow police to make shoplifting arrests and not using a warrant if the officers didn’t witness the crime, so long as they’ll provide probable cause. It also expands the definition of what constitutes “related acts” to fulfill the edge at which someone will be charged with grand theft.

Because officers can now make arrests based on a witness's testimony, the change “will almost certainly increase the potential number of people arrested,” Simon said.

Percival explained that the length of the sentence was not the largest deterrent factor, but quite the “likelihood of being caught in the act.” This implies that laws to expand police enforcement could potentially help reduce the number of individuals attempting retail theft.

Higher penalties for some crimes could even have an “indirect effect” on police behavior when making arrests in the event that they knew someone was more prone to be charged with against the law, he said. Then “they may be more willing to make an arrest, whereas before they may not have done so.”

Another law, AB 3209, allows courts to issue orders prohibiting people convicted of theft or vandalism of a retail store or of assaulting a retail worker from returning to the retail store and face punishment for violations of that order Prison sentence of as much as six months.

Beyond retail theft, other criminal laws also give attention to vehicles. A brand new law introduced by State Senator Scott Wiener eliminates the so-called “door lock,” which makes it against the law to force entry right into a vehicle with the intent to commit theft.

“It’s a little early to know what impact it will have, not just on the number of arrests but on crime overall,” Percival said.

Originally published: December 31, 2024 at 11:20 am PST

BRENTWOOD — Police used an armored vehicle to arrest two Brentwood teenagers suspected of carjacking, kidnapping and robbery last week.

In a press release Monday, Brentwood police said officers responded to the realm of ​​McClarren Road and Griffith Lane around 6:40 p.m. on Dec. 22 following reports of a robbery. When they arrived, police said a person told them the suspects attacked him, took his mobile phone and asked him to transfer money through a money app.

Police said they quickly gathered information and placed the 16-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl suspected within the crimes at a residence within the 700 block of Griffith Lane. Before the arrests, authorities called in an armored rescue vehicle.

Both suspects were arrested on suspicion of robbery, carjacking, kidnapping and other unknown crimes, police said.

Police said they made the choice to make use of the armored vehicle “given the seriousness of the situation and previous contacts on the ground,” adding they wanted to make sure “safe access” for officers.

Police said they subsequently called and arrested the suspects.

The victim suffered minor injuries within the attack, police said. Police said he one way or the other escaped from his automotive after the 2 teens forced him into his vehicle and drove him to a location where they might take more cash.

Both suspects were taken to the Contra Costa County Juvenile Detention Center.

Originally published: December 31, 2024 at 10:19 am PST

By Kathleen Ditton, Joe Roetz, Rubén Rosario | WSVN

MIAMI, Florida – A 20-year-old man and his accomplice have been charged with conspiracy to steal and launder greater than $230 million value of cryptocurrency. Federal authorities said the arrests were related to an FBI raid on a Miami mansion.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 20-year-old Malone Lam of Miami and Los Angeles and 21-year-old Jeandiel Serrano of Los Angeles were arrested Wednesday evening.

The federal government's indictment states that the duo, together with others, orchestrated cryptocurrency thefts and laundered the proceeds through exchanges and mixing services.

A user of X, the social media platform formerly often known as Twitter, uncovered the moment Lam allegedly received greater than $230 million in stolen bitcoins from a victim in Washington, DC.

The indictment states that the suspects “used the illegally obtained cryptocurrency to purchase international travel, nightclub services, numerous luxury cars, watches, jewelry and designer handbags, and to pay for rental apartments in Los Angeles and Miami.”

The duo is accused of showing off at parties, including one which was videotaped, and showing off luxury cars and designer handbags.

Lam, a Singaporean national who goes by the web pseudonyms “Anne Hathaway” and “$$$,” and Serrano, who goes by the names “VersaceGod” and “@SkidStar,” are alleged to have accessed victims’ accounts in Washington, DC, in August and transferred cryptocurrencies into their possession, including over 4,100 of the victim’s bitcoins.

But on Wednesday evening, all of it got here to an abrupt end when FBI agents raided a mansion near Northeast 83rd Street and twelfth Avenue, near North Bayshore Drive, south of Miami Shores.

“I thought they were fireworks,” said one resident.

On Thursday evening, FBI officials confirmed that the arrests of Lam and Serrano were related to this raid.

Smoke poured out of the mansion as federal authorities raided the property through the day and investigated into the night.

7News cameras caught federal agents combing every inch of the property.

Miami City Police said they assisted FBI agents in Wednesday's raid.

Neighbors have been wondering what happened, and now there’s a solution.

“We are all leaving at the same time, so it will be peaceful for everyone tonight,” said one resident.

Lam and Serrano were scheduled to look in U.S. district courts in Florida and California on Thursday.

Click here for the most recent information on this story.

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Silicon Valley billionaire Thomas Siebel has accused the Italian energy company Enel SpA of copying the mental property of the software company C3.ai, which he runs.

C3, based in Redwood City and known for its data management and analytics software, accused Enel of misuse of trade secrets and breach of contract in an Italian civil case. C3 says it’s owed 2.1 billion euros ($2.3 billion).

“This is an unfortunate situation,” Siebel said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Thursday. “Enel was a valued customer who accessed many of our technologies. It appears that they copied thousands of lines of our source code.”

Enel declined to comment on the lawsuit or the interview.

However, relations between the 2 corporations deteriorated, and now C3 accuses Enel of stealing its mental property. According to a regulatory notice, C3 turned to Italian courts in February to file suit.

“We have to protect our intellectual property rights for the benefit of our shareholders, and that is what we are doing,” Siebel said within the interview.

The company has also filed a criminal grievance with Italian law enforcement authorities and is “considering” doing the identical with U.S. federal law enforcement authorities, the filing said.

In an interview with Bloomberg in May 2023, Siebel discussed the deteriorating relationship. “Enel has been enormously successful,” he said when asked in regards to the status of his dealings with the Italian energy giant.

“For some reason they decided they wanted to own their own platform and they're trying to build it themselves – we'll see how that goes,” he said on the time.

With a ticker symbol that literally means “AI,” C3 has been a serious subject of investor interest throughout 2023, with its shares doubling in value this 12 months. It was also a heavily shorted name, with sellers expressing skepticism about its technology.

– With support from Ed Ludlow.

You can find more stories like this on bloomberg.com

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Originally published: September 6, 2024 at 5:42 am

Construction of an “IP Legoland”

Fighting copyright theft in AI

The small town of Colma in California is legendary for its cemeteries, the ultimate resting place of newspaper magnates William Randolph Hearst and Charles de Young, jeans manufacturer Levi Strauss, Wild West lawman Wyatt Earp and Baseball Hall of Famers Willie McCovey and Joe DiMaggio.

Although Colma's death toll, at 1.5 million, far exceeds the variety of living residents, tens of 1000’s of tourists flock to the town's bustling Serra and 280 Metro shopping centers and Serramonte Auto Row south of Daly City daily. And that explains one other strange fact: Colma has by far the best crime rate of any city within the Bay Area.

John Munsey, Colma's police chief for nearly 4 years, defends his department by saying that with so few residents, it doesn't take many thefts to drive up the crime rate per 100,000 residents. For this reason, the town's crime rate has often been the best within the region.

“There is no other city with only 1,700 residents but so many newcomers,” Munsey said. Well, actually, the yr is 2020 Census reports lower population of 1,507and that's the number the state Department of Justice uses to calculate the statewide crime rate.

But at a time when a spate of shoplifting incidents blamed on California's recent penalty-softening laws made headlines and led to a vote in November to toughen penalties, Munsey acknowledges that his city has been a goal for thieves.

“Theft and drug crimes have increased since 2014,” Munsey said, referring to the yr voters passed Proposition 47, which reduced penalties for drug and property crimes that were to be barely increased by Proposition 36 on the ballot in November. “The California Police Chiefs Association supported Proposition 36.”

According to the most recent 2023 California Department of Justice According to data, Colma had the best property crime rate per 100,000 residents within the nine Bay Area counties and the third highest for violent crimes. Most of the crimes reported in Colma in 2023 – 996 – were property crimes, a rise of 194 from 2022. The 24 violent crimes in the town last yr were 20 fewer than the yr before.

Examples are frequently posted on the Colma Police Department's Facebook page on “Misdemeanor Mondays” and “Felony Fridays.” Recent entries include: On July 26, a 27-year-old San Francisco woman was charged with stealing $947.36 value of merchandise from a store—a worth slightly below the felony limit set by Proposition 47. On July 26, a 45-year-old San Francisco man was arrested for attempting to buy a automobile at a Colma store using an invalid ID. A number of days later, on July 30, an 18-year-old Oakland man was arrested for stealing $1,844.96 value of belts from a clothing store.

Although the full variety of reported property and violent crimes (1,020) in Colma was lower than other suburbs equivalent to Antioch (4,078), Richmond (4,798), Vallejo (6,095) and Berkeley (7,809), Colma's small population catapulted it to the highest of Bay Area cities when it comes to crime rate per capita.

Across the bay, Emeryville, a city of nearly 13,000, had the region's second-highest property crime rate and fourth-highest violent crime rate. And neighboring Oakland, a city of greater than 440,000, had the best violent crime rate and fourth-highest property crime rate. Both the mayor and district attorney now face recall elections in November.

“The FBI ranks us as one of the most technically dangerous cities due to crime, but Emeryville is only 1.2 square miles,” said Baylee Worthen, police officer and public information officer for the Emeryville Police Department. The city borders Oakland and its population triples throughout the day as people commute to jobs at corporations like Peet's Coffee and Pixar Animation Studios.

This yr, the department began assigning officers regular patrols to scale back officer numbers, Worthen said.

“They are encouraged to get to know the business owners and residents, to get out and walk in the parks and basketball courts in their neighborhoods,” Worthen said. “They learn about crime trends and the problems that are occurring in their respective areas.”

The crime rate across the Bay Area is definitely barely lower in 2023 than it was a decade earlier—Alameda is the one county with the next rate in 2023 than it was in 2013. Most Bay Area cities showed similar patterns. But the crime rate in Colma has quadrupled in a decade, with a pointy increase since 2020.

Colma Chief Munsey attributed the sharp increase partly to a change in reporting protocols and data collection systems that got here with the implementation of California's incident reporting system between 2022 and 2023. San Jose, Oakland, Santa Clara and most other California cities have also made the switch.

Munsey said that under the brand new system, cases by which thieves agreed to return the stolen goods to the retailer after being caught would still be counted as thefts.

“Because we have the two malls that bring in the majority of our theft calls, we've been taking more cases than we used to,” he said. “That could explain the big discrepancy.”

Representatives of the Serra and 280 Metro shopping centers in Colma declined to comment on the crime and theft rates in the town.

Crime data has been factored into the controversy over whether Proposition 47 increased crime. Supporters of the 2014 measure indicate that crime rates in lots of places are lower or little modified than they were a decade ago, while critics argue that the lower penalties have discouraged retailers from reporting thefts and cops from responding.

Whatever the explanation, Munsey says he’s working to bring the theft rate back all the way down to earth.

“We're trying to add more staff, but so far we haven't been able to do that,” Munsey said. “But it's the way we target the criminals by looking at where they are at different times of the day so we can deploy our police officers in a way that will be most effective. We've also been working with our businesses and making sure they're constantly calling us.”

Here is the graph to examine the crime rates within the San Francisco Bay Area counties:

The Bonsall home on the market is spectacular, featuring 4 bedrooms, five bathrooms, a sparkling pool and a wine cellar. The sprawling grounds include a casita, chapel, stone bridges and a vineyard.

There's also a four-car garage, and that's where authorities found 1000’s of stolen beauty products after they raided the ability last December, uncovering $300,000 price of makeup and other goods in what one agent called a “mini-shop” that prosecutors said were auctioned off online.

The residents on the time were a married couple who at the moment are trading a wine cellar for a cellar. Authorities said Michelle and Kenneth Mack were behind a multimillion-dollar theft ring that targeted cosmetics stores akin to Ulta Beauty and Sephora. The goods were sold on Amazon under a reputation called “Online Makeup Store,” authorities said. The items went for about half the retail price.

In February, the state Attorney General's Office announced it will file charges against the Macks, together with charges against women who were allegedly recruited to steal the items.

“It was complex, it was orchestrated, it was organized, and in response, it deserves, it requires an organized response – and that's exactly what you're seeing here,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said at a press conference on the time.

In June, the Macks pleaded guilty in San Diego Superior Court to 3 counts each – conspiracy, organized shoplifting and receiving stolen goods – and were sentenced to 5 years and 4 months each.

Kenneth Mack, 59, was sentenced to the prison term earlier this month. He will spend the primary yr of his sentence in prison, although local prison rules allow him to be released halfway through that point. He will serve the rest of his sentence on probation with community service.

Online jail records indicate he can be released from custody in mid-December. Michelle Mack, who turned 44 last week, can be sentenced just a few weeks later, on Jan. 9, and faces prison time. Attorneys for each didn’t reply to requests for comment.

The Macks, who’re parents, will even lose their home. The court agreed that it may very well be sold to cover the $3 million the couple agreed to pay Ulta and Sephora as a part of the settlement. Funds seized by their banks will even be used to make restitution.

The two-story, 420-square-meter house was already up on the market. The couple put it up on the market two months after the raid, but just days before the Attorney General's Office filed formal charges in mid-February.

At the time, the couple offered the home for $3.2 million. The price has since dropped. It has been listed since Friday at $2.75 million.

An affidavit in a search warrant requested days after the December raid sheds more light on what led investigators to trace down the pair. The turning point within the case got here when suspected members of the ring were arrested on the East Coast. One of them said she received instructions from someone in California who offered to cover travel expenses for raids on specific retail stores and the theft of certain goods.

A number on the alleged ring member's phone was linked to Michelle Mack, and messages led investigators to consider the items were being peddled online. That eventually led them to the web makeup store linked to a post office box in Bonsall that was related to Michelle Mack. The items were being sold cheaply online. “This deep discount suggested the items were being peddled,” the affidavit states.

Amazon sales records show that Online Makeup Store has sold nearly $8 million price of cosmetics through the positioning since 2012, the affidavit said. According to recent court filings, sales through the positioning totaled about $1.4 million in 2021 and about $1.89 million in 2022.

The packages sent to the PO box got here from people – including one from Pennsylvania – who had been arrested multiple times for theft, including at Ulta stores.

A search of those lots and other locations, including the house of one other defendant within the case, uncovered stolen property valued at over $387,000.

CNBC, which followed the case, reported that investigators began to seek advice from the gang of thieves because the “California Girls” and regarded Michelle Mack to be the leader.

One of the co-defendants was sentenced to 3 years and 4 months in prison earlier this yr.

Originally published: July 29, 2024 at 5:21 am

REDWOOD CITY – Several law enforcement officials were injured in an altercation with a person who allegedly struck an officer in the pinnacle with a bottle of alcohol he had taken from a convenience store shortly before the altercation Friday night, authorities said.

A 911 caller contacted police around 8:30 p.m. Friday to report a panhandler causing a disturbance on the Sequoia Station shopping mall on El Camino Real near Jefferson Avenue, in keeping with a Redwood City police news release.

Two officers spotted a person matching the caller's description and reportedly saw him enter a Safeway and quickly exit with two bottles of alcohol, police said. Officers assumed the person had stolen the alcohol since he was only in the shop for a short while.

When one in every of the officers approached the person to query him, police said the person immediately hit the officer within the face with one in every of the bottles, which led to a scuffle with the officers.

Other officers went to the scene and tried to handcuff the person during a struggle. Several officers tried unsuccessfully to make use of their tasers, police said.

As a crowd gathered around them – at which point San Mateo County Sheriff's officers arrived and brought the group under control – officers were eventually capable of subdue and arrest the person, described as a 31-year-old Redwood City resident.

Three officers reported injuries after the encounter, police said. One officer suffered a cut to the pinnacle, one a broken ankle and one other a minor hand injury.

The man was taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation before being booked into Maguire Correctional Facility. He is suspected of assault causing serious injury, assault on a police officer, resisting an officer and petty theft, in keeping with police and jail records. He was being held without bail because he was under probation supervision on the time of his arrest.

Originally published: July 28, 2024 at 3:25 p.m.

Ticketmaster is alerting customers within the United States, Mexico and Canada to a knowledge breach affecting account holders' personal information, banking details and encrypted bank cards.

In the e-mail “Notification of Data Breach” and a web based article entitled “Ticketmaster data security incident”, Ticketmaster states that the unauthorized activity occurred between April 2 and May 18.

The company said it learned of the information breach on May 23 in an “isolated cloud database hosted by a third-party data services provider.” The company didn’t disclose the name of that third-party provider.

The New York Times reported at the top of May that the information theft claimed by the hacking group ShinyHunters affected greater than 500 million Ticketmaster customers. ShinyHunters has claimed responsibility for data thefts at Microsoft and AT&T, in addition to dozens of other corporations, the Times reported, citing federal prosecutors.

The company stated that the information theft affected basic customer information equivalent to name, date of birth, bank details, bank card numbers and expiration dates. The company didn’t disclose in the e-mail or the notice how many shoppers were affected by the information theft.

“We take data privacy very seriously and work with appropriate authorities, including law enforcement, as well as credit card companies and banks,” Ticketmaster said in its online post.

The company said its accounts “remain secure.”

Ticketmaster said customers who didn’t receive a letter by email or first-class post were unlikely to be amongst those affected by the information breach. Customers who did receive a letter or email are advised to watch their banking details, change their passwords and consider a 12 months of free “identity monitoring”.

The same day Ticketmaster learned of the information breach, the U.S. Department of Justice and 30 state and district attorneys general filed an antitrust lawsuit against the corporate and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment. The sweeping criticism accused the businesses of operating an illegal monopoly on live events in America – stifling competition and driving up prices for fans.

The aim of the lawsuit is to interrupt up the alleged monopoly, which the federal government believes harms smaller organizers, artists and fans.

Live Nation has long denied violating antitrust laws and said on May 23 that the lawsuit “will not resolve issues important to fans related to ticket pricing, service fees and access to in-demand shows.”

Ticketmaster merged with Live Nation in 2010 and have become the world's largest ticket seller.

In recent weeks, more details have emerged about one other major data breach affecting AT&T customers.

A cyberattack on the telecommunications giant in 2022 exposed the information of “almost all” of its customers, the corporate said on July 12. The attack didn’t affect the content of calls or text messages, AT&T said.

“We have taken steps to shut down the illegal access point,” AT&T said in a press release. The company said it’s working with law enforcement to discover everyone involved and one person has been arrested.

The compromised data included files containing recordings of calls and text messages from greater than 100 million mobile and landline customers from May 2022 to October 2022. Recordings from January 2, 2023, were also compromised for a small number of shoppers, the corporate said, but didn’t provide specific details.

Originally published: July 25, 2024 at 12:54 pm