Police in one Southern California city are laying down the law—literally—when it comes to retail theft.
In a social media post showing a woman being arrested for allegedly stealing flowers from a Target store on Mother’s Day, the Seal Beach Police Department outlined its “zero-tolerance stance” on theft affecting businesses both large and small.
“Post-COVID, retail theft surged across California. In some jurisdictions, it’s become so normalized that it’s barely reported, let alone prosecuted,” the department said. “But in Seal Beach, we made a conscious choice to take a different path.”
The department explained that shoplifters in Seal Beach are not released with a ticket or warning—they are taken to jail.
“We decided that allowing criminals to steal without consequence wasn’t just bad policy—it was a betrayal of the residents and businesses we swore to protect,” police said. “This isn’t about being harsh. It’s about protecting a community that still believes in accountability.”
Retail theft has surged across California in recent years, leading to a statewide, multi-agency crackdown and changes to the law as communities grew weary of viral videos showing smash-and-grab and flash-mob-style burglaries.
In 2024, California voters essentially repealed 2014’s Proposition 47, which had reclassified nonviolent offenses, such as shoplifting goods valued under $950, as misdemeanors. The overwhelming passage of Proposition 36 reinstated stiffer penalties for theft and drug crimes, and lowered the felony threshold for shoplifting back to $450.
In Los Angeles County, District Attorney Nathan Hochman campaigned on a promise to work with law enforcement to curb retail theft. He soundly defeated incumbent George Gascón, whom he painted as being soft on crime.
In its social media post, Seal Beach police also addressed those who defend shoplifters as victims of Southern California’s high cost of living.
“Every time we make an arrest for theft, there’s a corner of social media that rushes in to justify it,” the department wrote. “They say it’s ‘just a big corporation,’ or that the thief ‘probably needed it.’ But no one ever considers the cashier who had to confront the thief, or the family who pays more for groceries next month because of what walked out the door unpaid.”
“Seal Beach is not a place where crime gets a pass,” they continued, “And that’s exactly how our community wants it. Don’t Steal in Seal. Sincerely -Management.”