What Is Behind the Retail Theft Surge and Can California Stop It? | Travis Gillmore | Rudy Blalock

"There is actually a resale market in California that's quite healthy. We have a black market on the streets, and this is easily visible," says reporter Travis Gillmore. "They'll be selling things at a fraction of the cost of if you go into the store and actually purchase it yourself. I've talked to police and law enforcement, and they tell me there's a direct correlation here between drug addiction, retail theft, and these illicit black markets."

Siyamak sits down with Travis Gillmore, a reporter with The Epoch Times. He'll explain what's going on with retail theft in California and how the policymakers are trying to deal with it. We also sit down with Epoch Times reporter Rudy Blalock, who shares what he has seen on the ground investigating retail theft.

"As long as it's below $950, then he would just walk out of the store. And he had a friend that would sell them on OfferUp, and he told me that he gets about a 30 percent exchange rate," Blalock says. "People on the streets understand the law, the drug dealers understand the law, and they're using it to their full advantage."

0:00 Intro
1:55 How Retail Theft is Impacting Society
2:40 Disconnect Between Reported Data & Policy
7:09 Crime Impact on Businesses & Customers
10:22 Retail Theft Influenced by Blackmarket
11:28 Correlation between Homeless & Drug Addiction
13:30 Legislature’s Response to Organized Crime
15:10 Serial Offenders & Avoiding Charges
18:04 Homeless Earn Percentage of Blackmarket Resale
20:51 Individual Estimates $50k of Stolen Goods
21:27 People Exploit CA Law for Personal Gain
22:35 Ballot Measures to Address Crime Elements
28:05 Legislature’s Initiatives to Solve Theft
*Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
#retailtheft #looting #smallbusiness #blackmarket #resell #californiainsider #californianews #california
--------------------
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Watch our Documentary "Leaving California" at https://leavingcamovie.com/
--------------------
🟡 Sign up for our newsletter: https://californiainsider.com/email-s...
💟 Support us: https://donorbox.org/california-insid...