California police sergeant rips Gov. Newsom for denying crime spike: He's living in a 'fantasy world'

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles Police Protective League vice president Sgt. Jerretta Sandoz slammed Gov. Gavin Newsom for denying a statewide rise in crime, saying Newsom was living in a "fantasy world" and crime data and numbers don't lie.

Sandoz made her comments during a Friday morning interview on "Fox & Friends."

Earlier this week in an exclusive interview with FOX 11, anchor Elex Michaelson pressed Newsom on the controversial Prop. 47, asking whether or not that law has made California less safe.

Newsom denies crime spike, says Prop 47 allows for more investment in local communities

In an exclusive interview with FOX 11 earlier this week, anchor Elex Michaelson pressed Gov. Gavin Newsom on the controversial Prop. 47, asking whether or not that law has made California less safe.

"The evidence doesn’t back it up… The last three decades, we’ve actually seen a significant decline in the state," said Newsom.

In response to Newsom's comments, Sandoz said, "That's a fantasy world. Where are we living in? I mean, you could look at the numbers throughout California and the rest of the country. Crime is increasing. It is surging, and there's no consequences."

"There's no repercussions for these criminals that feel that they could go in and do what they want. And it's because of these laws. That statement is not true. The numbers don't lie," she added.

California gubernatorial candidate and former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer also responded to Newsom's comments, saying, "out-of-touch is an understatement."

"Prop 47 - a law that has allowed thieves to commit many crimes with zero consequences - is a disaster," Faulconer wrote on Twitter. "Newsom is in over his head and has no idea how to keep Californians safe."

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Newsom told Michaelson that Prop 47 has allowed for more investment in local communities and "we're not going to walk away from that."

"Those initiatives have given us the ability to invest an unprecedented amount of money back into the communities," he said.

However, in a 2020 interview, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told FOX 11 that he hasn’t seen any of that money.

"I don’t know where that money is. I’ve been calling for three years for Sacramento to deliver that money. We haven’t seen these dollars. We need to have those dollars that were promised from Sacramento under Prop 47 come to local programs," he said.

Garcetti's office could not immediately be reached for comment on whether or not he has seen the money from Prop 47 since that 2020 interview.

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Prop 47, also known as the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, was a referendum passed by California voters in November 2014. Its main effect was to convert many nonviolent offenses, such as drug and property offenses, from felonies to misdemeanors.

These offenses included shoplifting, writing bad checks, and drug possession.

During a Facebook Live earlier this week, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva discussed the recent rise in crimes in Southern California. He said Prop 47 and district attorneys who pride themselves as being progressive and "reform-minded," choosing to not prosecute thefts, are the real problem.

"In the past, pre-Prop 47 and pre-these progressive DA’s like George Gascón, they’d [suspects] at least bother to run out, now they don’t even bother to run out. They just casually stroll out with all the time in the world knowing that as long as they keep the tally under $950 it’s perfectly OK," Villanueva said.

Under Prop 47, when the amount of items stolen are valued at under $950 it is considered petty theft and charged as a misdemeanor, rather than a felony.

Since Prop 47 was passed by voters, it would also need to be replaced by voters.

Tune in to FOX 11 Los Angeles for the latest Southern California news.