The John Phillips Show

Your Calls on Katie Porter's homeless plan

38 min
Feb 11, 20262 months ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

The John Phillips Show discusses California's homelessness crisis and housing affordability, examining different categories of homeless individuals and proposed solutions. The episode also covers a confrontation between California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom and journalist Ashley Zavala at a press conference, plus California crime reports including spring break enforcement in Newport Beach, Little League equipment theft, and retail theft operations.

Insights
  • Homelessness is not monolithic—solutions must differentiate between mentally ill individuals, those with addiction issues, seniors, and those choosing homelessness, as one-size-fits-all approaches fail
  • California's lack of mental health infrastructure (closure of mental institutions) has shifted the burden to streets and public transit, creating a public safety and quality-of-life crisis
  • Political figures' limited availability for local press creates information gaps, forcing journalists to use unrelated press conferences to ask critical state and local questions
  • Retail theft enforcement is possible and measurable (21 arrests in 8 hours at one Dollar Tree), but inconsistent application across jurisdictions undermines deterrence
  • Short-term rental regulations face enforcement challenges when property owners cannot control tenant behavior beyond their premises
Trends
Shift toward designated housing models for homeless populations rather than open encampment toleranceIncreased local enforcement crackdowns on retail theft and quality-of-life crimes in response to public pressureSpring break migration patterns moving from traditional destinations (Lake Havasu, Palm Springs) to coastal California communitiesGrowing public frustration with homelessness visible in caller demographics and proposed solutions (cruise ships, designated zones)Inconsistent crime reporting and enforcement across California jurisdictions affecting public perception of safetyShort-term rental regulation expansion as cities attempt to reduce party-related disturbances and property damageMedia accessibility issues with state-level executives prioritizing national platforms over local press availabilityCommunity-driven fundraising and social media campaigns replacing traditional government support for local institutions
Topics
Homelessness policy and categorizationMental health infrastructure and deinstitutionalizationHousing affordability for seniorsRetail theft enforcement and prosecutionShort-term rental regulationSpring break crowd managementPress access and political accountabilityPublic safety and quality-of-life crimesCalifornia governance and executive availabilityCommunity fundraising for local institutionsDrug addiction and methamphetamine crisisDesignated housing zones for homeless populationsCrime statistics reporting and consistencyJournalist career trajectory and media consolidationCruise ship repurposing for social services
Companies
Planned Parenthood
Subject of Gavin Newsom press conference announcing $90 million in state funding due to federal defunding
Carnival Cruise Line
Referenced humorously as alternative to cruise ship proposal for homeless housing solutions
Dollar Tree
Target of retail theft operation resulting in 21 arrests in 8 hours; reported 65% merchandise loss year-over-year
CVS
Mentioned as comparison point for retail theft in San Francisco where theft is not reported in crime statistics
Ticketmaster
Ticket vendor for Gypsy Kings concert promotion at Honda Center Anaheim
People
Gavin Newsom
California Governor criticized for limited local press availability and focus on national political ambitions
Jennifer Siebel Newsom
California First Partner who confronted journalist Ashley Zavala at press conference over question selection
Ashley Zavala
KCRA 3 political director identified as prominent California journalist covering state issues; predicted for national...
Bill Melugin
Former Fox 11 LA reporter cited as example of journalist who broke major stories and advanced to national platform
Alex Michelson
Former Fox 11 LA reporter mentioned as example of local journalist who advanced to national news networks
Jim Cooper
Sacramento County Sheriff conducting retail theft enforcement operations; noted as Democrat-turned-tough-on-crime she...
Quotes
"We just find it incredulous that we have Planned Parenthood here and women are 51 percent of the population and the majority of the questions, all of these questions have really been about other issues."
Jennifer Siebel NewsomOpening segment
"Gavin Newsom is an absentee landlord governor where he doesn't do the normal things that a governor does because he's over us. He's a presidential candidate. He's running for the White House."
John PhillipsEarly segment
"You can separate the mental people from the other people who are out on the street corner putting up a sign saying, I need money. And they have the energy to do that. They have the energy to go get a job."
David (caller from Hesperia)Caller segment
"It's disheartening when you're working on something and people come and just try and destroy it."
Maria (Little League president)Crime blotter segment
"It's concerning, but it's kind of expected because it is the South. So we hear a lot about gun violence, drugs. It's just kind of normal, theft."
Dollar Tree customerCrime blotter segment
Full Transcript
And we continue at 2.05 in the afternoon on the John Phillips Show. Mr. Randy Wings in Culver City. John, a really weird moment just happened. Gavin Newsom was holding a press conference announcing signing a bill to fund like $90 million for Planned Parenthood because they're getting defunded by the federal government. And when Gavin gets to the Q&A portion of these press conferences, a lot of the questions are not on the topic because Gavin doesn't make himself available to the press for regular avail. So if there are things that people want to know, they have to ask him there. Well, in the middle of Ashley Zavala, the political director of KCRA 3, asking Gavin Newsom a question, Jennifer Sebald Newsom takes over the podium and goes after Zavala. We just find it incredulous that we have Planned Parenthood here and women are 51 percent of the population. and the majority of the questions, all of these questions have really been about other issues. So it's just fascinating. You have this incredible women's caucus and all these allies and you're not asking about it. And this happens over and over and over and over again. You wonder why we have such a horrific war on women in this country and that these guys are getting away with it because you don't seem to care. So I just offer that with love. Whoa. Okay, this is interesting. Gavin Newsom is an absentee landlord governor where he doesn't do the normal things that a governor does because he's over us. He's a presidential candidate. He's running for the White House. And so if you want to interview him and you've got a national television program or you've got a podcast with a wide audience, he's willing to go on and he's willing to talk to any number of people about any number of subjects. The subjects that typically don't come up in those interviews are subjects about the state of California because most of those shows, most of those hosts, they're not here. They're not in California. So, as Randy correctly pointed out, we have very limited opportunities to talk to him about state and local issues. and sometimes if it's a crisis if there's a fire or something and he's out having a press conference at the fire it would be inappropriate to ask him about the bullet train if people's homes were literally burning down over his shoulder so you have really just a handful of opportunities to talk to him if he's doing some bs press conference about an issue that is expected to generate national attention and this is your one shot to ask them about local subjects of course that's when you do it because that's your only opportunity and then they use it as a chance to try to dunk on you and for all of jennifer sebald newsome talking about the war on women she's screaming at probably one of the most prominent female journalists in california she is arguably the number one journalist period of any gender covering the state of California. And she's one of these people too, where you don't have to watch her that many times to realize, okay, she's going to move on to bigger things at some point. You could always tell that with Bill Malusian. Remember him when he was on the local Fox affiliate, he was on channel 11 in LA. Well, he broke the French laundry. He did, but he broke story after story after story, and he was this fearless reporter who would just go out there and get all the interesting stories, stories that the L.A. Times refused to cover. And you could just tell that someone was going to pick him up. You could just tell. Our pal Alex Michelson, who was also over at Fox 11, you could tell at some point he was going to be on one of the news channels or Good Morning America or something big. It was just a matter of time. And the person who I would say fits that category today, who's part of the California press corps, is Ashley Zavala. Ashley Zavala is the one who's covering all the interesting things here in California. So much of what we play for you on this program comes from her. If it weren't for her, many of these stories wouldn't be told. And she's going to go on bigger and better things. she's going to be on Good Morning America. She's going to be on one of the cable channels. She's going to do something big. And I think that part of the reason that they're going after her is that they're trying to buy stock when it's cheap. Because if they have heat with her now, and then she goes on to become the anchor on the Today Show, well, Gavin sees himself as a national person. and if she's on the Today Show, she would be a national person. So the fact that he has heat with her would elevate him. I think it's as calculated as that. I really do. I got to tell you, the video is worth watching at the very end of this press conference on Gavin's YouTube page because he's holding the podium, the wife whispers in his ear something and shoves him out of the way to scream at Zavala. Well, I would imagine that she calls a lot of the shots in that family because her family comes from money and he's obsessed with it. Don't forget, the Newsom's courted the Gettys. The Newsom's weren't the ones with the money. Newsom's dad was the consigliere for the Gettys. He's one of these people that's in the orbit of money, but has never had it really himself. and I think that that bothers him because I think he sees himself as smarter than them more charismatic than them better looking than them and the only thing that he can do is smell it he can get close to it he can be invited to the parties but he's not going to be the guy in the big mansion hosting the party he's got the big time office so he can do them the favors but he's never going to reap all the rewards that he feels that he should reap for doing the favors. And her family is loaded. I think they live in what, Montana? Yes. And I don't know if they're billionaires or not, but they're really, really, really rich. And I think the father-in-law is a Republican. Didn't he give to Ron DeSantis? Yes. And they have lots of very interesting discussions whenever Gavin goes up to the Montana ranch. so Gavin married into money and he doesn't want to lose that because that's what he's obsessed with people like that just tend to just randomly have these close friends who are super rich and they randomly just happen to marry into a family that's super rich and they randomly just happen to flutter into all of these social networks involving all of these rich people. And you can tell what kind of insecurity Gavin has. And money is one of them. Didn't his dad go broke running for office and that made his brain break? Yes. He had a little bit of a mental breakdown after he ran for office and failed. And that's when he abandoned the family. Yeah. So Newsom has always felt like the help. And his dad was the help. For the Gettys. They did get to go on those fancy vacations once a year. Oh, yeah. With what? King of Siam? Or was it Spain? I think Spain. I don't think Siam's a place anymore. It wasn't the king and I. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But there you go. Oh, the first partner. We're in the pants in that family. What are you going to do? All right. Let's go back to the phones and welcome Marley in Encino. Marley, hello. I don't have Marley. Okay. How about Ross in Orange County? I got Ross. Hey, John. I don't know if you know this, but in the 1990s, the Mexican mafia started a program of ethnic cleansing. So that's what the lady from Torrance was talking about. She feels safe there, and she understands if she gets into an area where us poor people live, she's going to be surrounded by cholos, and she will be targeted. All right. Thank you for the call, sir. All right. We're 0 for 1. Three strikes, and we're moving on to a blotter. All right. Let's go to David in Hesperia. David, hello. Hi. I have a question. why can't they designate an area for homeless people to live in and then make it their choice whether they're obligated to live there or to go get a job and pay rent because I don't think they're employable many of them if you're schizophrenic who's going to give you a job if you addicted to meth who going to give you a job Okay but still they then therefore default to having to live in a designated area And you can have resources available. It's more centralized. They can screen the drug problem easier. It's their home. They can come and go. We don't have to worry about them living in places where we don't want them. They're obligated to live there. I mean, And, you know, that's part of choosing to be homeless or having to be homeless. It's a place where they can go. It uplifts them. Maybe they can plant a garden, you know, community resources, doctors, stores. Well, we used to have these facilities to hold them. They were called mental institutions. And then we got rid of them. And now the mental institutions are the streets. Yeah, but now people are taking advantage. They think, oh, it's cheaper just to live on the street. You know, I don't want to have to pay rent or be bound down by an apartment. So I'll get more money if I just go get a tent and pitch it like next to somebody's house. Well, we need to make consequences for that. They need to either live in a designated area or having to do – I mean, if they're mentally incapacitated, then that's their only option. But if they do have a choice, then they're going to have to decide. I don't want to live here. I better go out and find work or go to school where the state's going to pay me to go to classes or something. But, you know, I just talk to some homeless people, and they don't care. They don't care what problems they cause other people by pitching a tent and making your property unfavorable. Yeah, I mean, that's not an acceptable answer. Letting people live in tents on streets is not something that we should be willing to put up with. And I think over the course of this conversation today, we've come to the conclusion that there are many different categories of homeless people. people who are mentally ill people who are addicted uh people who you can you can do something for they got sick or you know some divorce some circumstances beyond their control put them in a tough spot instead of starting with them last we should start with those people first because you can help them and you can improve their lives and it probably doesn't even take that much That woman who called in before from Torrance, I would imagine, I mentioned Cathedral City. There's a huge retired population in Cathedral City. It is incredibly safe in the Coachella Valley. There are bad neighborhoods. There are bad neighborhoods in any city, I guess. But the Coachella Valley, by and large, it's filled with golf courses and Canadians, for heaven's sake. So if she, during certain parts of the year, musicians. but if she were to go to a senior center or go to some entity that helps seniors find out what they qualify for in a city that is relatively affordable compared to where she's living now she should be able to find an apartment in a safe area in a place where she can afford to live and she can not have to worry about being robbed or assaulted or something bad happening to her she can be helped but the people that we see acting out on the streets in the encampments on public transit whatever many of them have problems that we just can't fix for one reason or another unfortunately the science is not quite there where we can fix someone with severe schizophrenia or someone who's scrambled their brains on on methamphetamines or drugs that even worse than that. You can put them in a facility where they're safe and they don't harm themselves and they don't harm other people, whether it be a mental institution or some kind of group living environment, but you're never going to help them be independent. You're never going to give them money and solve their problems because their problems are not, it's not related to money. Their problems are related to their demons. Well, you can separate the mental people from the other people who are out on the street corner putting up a sign saying, I need money. And they have the energy to do that. They have the energy to go get a job. There's different classes of homeless people, like you were saying earlier. But I'm talking about not the seniors, because the seniors are in different class, but the people who have a choice and they choose to go make somebody's life hell because they want to just camp out right next to their property and do drug transactions. like right next to their property. You know, those are the people that need to be put into a designated, have the choice. You know, always their choice. They can choose to be in that designated area, which is set aside by law, and make it illegal for them to camp out anywhere else. Or they can go house with a friend, or they can go get an apartment and get a job and pay for an apartment. It's their choice, you know. All right. Thank you for the call, sir. Let's go to Ann in Orange County. Ann, hello. Hello, John and Randy. I really enjoy your show. Anyways, I have a 90-year-old mother, so we go on cruises. And what we found out on these cruises is they've decommissioned quite a few of the cruise ships. and why can't you, with the money that they have already spent on the homeless, you could have bought a cruise ship, find a pier somewhere, and you've got levels. Like you were saying, you've got people that are different when they're homeless. You've got these levels. You could use those for the different categories. Then on the 10th floor, you can put your drug addicts where they can't get out. And if they want to be in a tent, they can have their own cabana. And these are ships that need upgrading. So the people that are down lower, they get a job, and it's up to them to keep the cruise ship clean. The only thing the government would have to pay for is the peer fee and maybe a cook or social workers to help these people get out and on their own, reteach them on a ship. And you're right near the water, so if anybody wanted to be in the water, they're fine. and if you watch this commercial for the Mercy ship what they did with that was they took a military ship and turned it into a medical ship why can't you do the same thing for the homeless? Now I like your idea but I think they've already beat you to the punch Oh, okay They already did put all of the alcoholics on a cruise ship and they call it Carnival it's great and then how about this you mentioned just put the different categories on different floors how about putting all the people on meth on the first floor so that way they can work off all their energy in row well i wouldn't want to go buy them i prefer they're they're above me and let them you know do their thing up there you can even you know use the the lido deck or whatever it is for the medical, you know, get these people, you know, let them have their DTs on that level. So, anyway, drug addicts, you know, they're on Atlantis. Just, you know, just park a ship and see if it works. If it works once, then you do one in San Diego and you do one in San Francisco and if it doesn't work, you send it out to sea. Sounds good. Didn't we do this with the Scientologist too? Let's do this with love. Yeah. You know, I mean, Newsom's got to go. So. All right. Thank you for the call. I appreciate it. I had a feeling a shot at Carnival was coming. You knew that was coming. have got good weather. It's just weather. Layers, people. Layers. Stacking Benjamins. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. 800- 222-5222 is telephone number 1-800-222-5222. If you'd like to email the show, you can do so at johnnydontlikeshow at gmail.com. That's johnnydontlikeshow at gmail.com. And Randy, what do you say we make a couple of listeners very happy? Well, let's do that right now. 790 KABC welcomes Gypsy Kings featuring Nicholas Reyes at the Grown of Anaheim on August 6th Tickets are on sale Friday at Ticketmaster but right now caller number 9 at 1 gets a pair of tickets to the show Tickets furnished by Needle Lander Concerts. Good luck dialing. And right now, it's time to open up the California Crime Blotter. If the cashier is dummy. We couldn't make this stuff up if we tried. I said, hell no, baby boy. Let me get up on out of here. It's the California Crime Blutter. And the first edition takes us to the 949. In Newport Beach, local electeds want to do everything possible to deter college kids from getting too crazy during spring break. It just moves around from place to place. I'm telling you, the spring breakers used to go to Lake Havasu and Palm Springs, and I don't even know when they ended up at Newport Beach. Well, at this point, they're going to have to keep going south. They might end up in Mexico. For more, here's CBS LA. Well, it's getting too rowdy in Newport Beach, according to some residents. That's right. Now they want to see more cops and increase fines for loud parties and public drinking during spring break. CBS LA's Leslie Marin tonight shows us how the city is cracking. You notice how the spring breakers never want to do that at an L.A. County beach? No. You don't see a lot of spring break celebrations in Santa Monica or Venice. I wonder why. CBS LA's Leslie Marin tonight shows us how the city is cracking down once again. Large parties, police, and even people in handcuffs. This was the scene in Newport Beach a decade ago when the city had a bad rap around July 4th. The city cracked down and Independence Day calmed down a lot. Yeah, this is like, this is a place to be. I got to imagine if you went to, before they cracked down on this, a 4th of July Newport Beach barge party, people got so wasted they probably went overboard. Oh, I can imagine. Yeah, this is like, this is a place to be for sure. Would you say it gets out of hand? Oh, yeah. I mean, I've been out of hand. Well, at least he's honest. Matthew DiPlessio has seen the parties firsthand. People get kind of brazen out here. But now city leaders say they've had enough of spring breakers going too far. But for those that want to come here for clicks on social media, throwing things that are officers on the beach. They're throwing things at the cops. Yeah, that's a real, real good way to end up in jail. That is not going to be tolerated. Tonight, the city council unanimously voted to crack down on beachside partiers starting with spring breakers next month. During the weeks of March 14th and April 4th, people can expect more police and heftier fines if you break the law on the Balboa Peninsula and portions of Corona Del Mar. Our officers would show up to the same house multiple times to issue enforcement citations because there were 100 to 200 people at a given residence. That cannot happen. Last year, police arrested 500 people during spring break weeks in March and April. 500? Do they even have a jail that's equipped for 500 people in Newport Beach? Just shove them all in one giant drunk tank. Last year, police arrested 500 people during spring break weeks in March and April. Majority of those arrested were not from Newport Beach. You don't say. Big shocker there. I thought if you want to act all trashy on spring break, that's what Florida's for. Isn't that the whole point of Fort Lauderdale? Oh, Miami Beach with all the twerking on the cars. Yeah, the West Coast isn't built for that. You want to be trashy, go to Florida. Majority of those arrested were not from Newport Beach. Crimes included curfew violations, overcrowding, and large unruly parties. I think the idea of doing social media to tell people from Arizona, Nevada, or whatever, or Northern California, hey, don't come here to party because we're going to have consequences is good. But for Carmen Rothman... Okay, now wait a minute. she sounded a lot like the doing the most with his hands lady. Well, she's from Studio City, but we can do a comparison. I think the idea of doing social media, doing the most with his hands. No, I don't think they're the same. You don't think this is a Patty Duke situation? I think the idea of doing social media, doing the most with his hands. I don't think they're related. Okay. Don't come here to party because we're going to have consequences. It's good. But for Carmen Rawson, the idea isn't all good. City leaders are also looking to revoke permits for short-term rental owners if renters cause problems. Well, if you're specifically renting out your place to partying college kids, that would be detrimental to the neighborhood. Yeah, the neighbors don't like that. Also, they'll trash your house. Are you sure you want to do this? Is it really worth the couple of thousand dollars you're going to get from that rental? I guess it is. For short-term rental owners, if renters cause problems, she rents out two properties just across the beach. As a property owner, I can only control what goes on in the property. But if they are doing it at the beach, how do I know? How do I know that it's the people staying in my units? That's what cameras are for. and i think the neighbors just blame anyone that has a short-term rental oh yeah the city already has neighborhoods like this they find out you're on airbnb you're gonna get egged the city already has a similar plan in place for fourth of july but they're looking at adding an ordinance that would increase enforcement to more days around the holiday. If that ordinance does pass, well, this spring break enforcement could be permanent. Reporting from Newport Beach, Leslie Miley and CBS LA. So if you're looking to party in spring break, don't do it in Newport Beach. And Randy, it's time to reopen the California crime blotter. It's happened yet again. It's wild, wild west out here. It's the California Crime Blotter with John and Randy. And this one involves the baseball diamond. A little league team got burglarized in Hayward and they stole the team's equipment and a vintage popcorn maker. How many people do you think, when I did the tease and said it involves the baseball diamond, thought it was going to be about Yasiel Puig. For more, here's NBC in the Bay. New at 11 in East Bay, Little League is without much of its equipment after thieves broke into the Little League clubhouse. Let's bring in NBC's Jocelyn Moran, who joins us now with the latest. Jocelyn, what do we know? Well, Raj, it's an unfortunate situation with the damage and stolen items. They are looking at about $15,000 in losses, And all of this happening just before the season starts. Now, how are they going to get popcorn? They're going to have to go to microwave. You know what happened, Randy? What's that? Second base got stolen, and you can't blame this one on the pitcher and their slow delivery. This was all completely torn apart. Tonight, there's still significant damage on the door of Treeview Little League's clubhouse in Hayward. Maria is the Little League's president. Seriously, who robs a Little League? you really well you're on math is what happened maria is the little league's president this is what she tells us she saw when she walked in a broken lock open cabinets and a mess on the floor hayward police say it happened on friday local residents have been posting this video from a nearby neighbor's camera on social media it shows two people who appear to be pulling two wagons with stuff inside around 3 20 a.m on friday i had just what they loaded up a couple of radio flyers You know, I watched the video version of this report earlier. I think, Randy, and I know this is going to pull at some hard strings here. I think one of the things that got stolen was the umpire seeing eye dog. It shows two people who appear to be pulling two wagons with stuff inside around 3.20 a.m. on Friday. I had just bought power nets. There were like 10 of them. She says they also took their popcorn machine, PA system, and Panini press while also destroying... Okay, they have a Panini press? This is one hell of a Little League. Yeah, they never had that when I was playing. A little fancier than hot dogs. She says they also took their popcorn machine, PA system, and Panini press while also destroying their cash register. I don't know why they steal equipment. There's no point in that. It's just for kids who don't have or need. It's just sad, you know, we're a small community. It's disheartening when, you know, you're working on something and people come and just, you know, just try and destroy it. Maria tells us they been broken into before She started an online fundraiser to help with the costs It impactful in the sense that these kids they deserve more than what has happened to them Hayward police say they're investigating. There you go. Little League gets robbed of other equipment and the vintage popcorn machine and the Panini press. And what about video surveillance? Was there any video surveillance of any of this happening? Don't think they had any video cameras thinking that anyone was going to break into the Little League clubhouse. Well, Lewis told me there was. Let me just get my finger on the dump. Go ahead. Yeah. Now, Lewis said that there was video surveillance of this. In fact, there was not only video surveillance on the shed, but there was video surveillance on the diamond. And then the local news, the local police were asking for help from the community to solve the crime. and they finish the report by saying, who's on first? You proud of yourself? Yeah. Start your day with a morning jolt of Drake's Etole. You've never been a football coach before, so you're not allowed to talk about this. No, I can have burnt mozzarella sticks and say, the chef's not working. Finn, Black, and Abdallah. Adam Abdallah. That's what we do. We rank quarterbacks. And Westwood One Sports Night caps it all off. I don't know how they're going to win, but they're going to win. We're open all night here on Westwood One. Westwood One Sports Talk. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. 800-222-5222 is telephone number 1-800-222-5222. And right now it's time to reopen the California Crime Blotter. It's happened yet again. I see. Time for the California Crime Blutter. And this edition takes us to the Dollar Tree. In South Sacramento, there was a big sting, a big bust, where they arrested several people for retail theft at a dollar store. Doesn't it have to be over a certain amount before it's technically a felony? You'd have to steal 999 things Yeah You'd have to steal aisles 15 Through 19 There's a little risk that you run When you decide to commit a crime But really You're robbing the dollar store For what that cheap dollar ribeye That will definitely give you food poisoning Yeah or how about the Selp that you know is going to give you cancer For more, here's ABC 10 in Sacramento. Tonight, a major crackdown on retail theft in South Sacramento. Sheriff's deputies say 21 people were arrested in an operation at a Dollar Tree that's been hit hard by repeat theft. ABC 10's Roxanne Elias joins us live now in the studio. Roxanne, you've been working this story all day. What did you hear from the store and customers who shop there? Well, Mazzy, the store declined to comment on this operation today, but we did hear from We're a dollar store. We don't comment on anything. You know what I would do if I was Dollar Tree? I'd make this a big deal. I'd say we have upped our game so much that we now have merchandise that is worth stealing. Well, Mazzy, the store declined to comment on this operation today, but we did hear from multiple Dollar Tree customers. some were shocked and unaware of theft at that location while a few others say this is an area where they see a lot of crime happen but they would like to see it stopped and they appreciate knowing the sacramento county sheriff's office is doing something about it jim cooper cracking down on the worst of the worst going after the dollar tree thieves i love the fact that when he was in legislature, he was a Democrat who voted with his party most of the time. And now that he's a sheriff, boy, did that guy find Jesus fast. Low prices and convenience are what bring customers into this Dollar Tree. You forgot to spare. There are no good stories at the Dollar Tree. Low prices and convenience are what bring customers into this Dollar Tree off Florin Road in South Sacramento. Well, it's affordable and I come here like twice a week. I could just get really anything, birthday things, things for the kids. If you're getting a birthday present from the Dollar Tree, you're better off just not getting them anything. What do you think comes in her boxes? A kazoo? No, even that's more than a dollar. All right, let me shake the box here. What am I getting this year for my birthday? I know they say that good things come in small packages. Let's see if that's true in this particular instance. Oh, look, a dishrag. It's an eraser that's the color of vomit. Well, it's affordable, and I come here like twice a week. I could just get really anything, birthday things, things for the kids, snacks. But stores like Don't eat the snacks at the dollar store, kids. No, she was expecting snacks. She was expecting gifts. She had no idea she was going to get a gun in the face. But stores like the Dollar Tree are under attack when retail thieves also take advantage of them. On Saturday, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office. By the way, retail thieves are well aware that most dollar stores are so lightly staffed that there's like one person for the whole store? Have you ever seen these pictures that go around the internet where all of the truck drop-offs come in, all the shipments come in, but because there's only one guy behind the counter, they don't have time to unload all the crap, so there's just boxes and boxes of crap in every single aisle. Have you ever seen, in a rural part of the country, a dollar store go up? I mean, built. They build those things in about 45 seconds. I don't know if they come from Amazon or what, but you can be in town for two days and they start the construction on Saturday. By lunch on Sunday, it's up and open for business. On Saturday, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office said the store reached out to them after reporting a nearly 65 percent loss from last year. And in a retail theft operation, almost two dozen alleged thieves were arrested in an eight-hour period. In this video shared by the sheriff. In eight hours, 24 people got busted for stealing from the dollar store. I hope when they go to jail, they reevaluate their decisions in life. Now, this, of course, is funny because it's the dollar store. But if you replace dollar store with CVS in a place like San Francisco, where you know that that is not reported anymore, that doesn't count towards the crime statistics. Here, at least the numbers are counting. It's for something ridiculously stupid, but you can say, hey, we made 25 arrests for people stealing from the dollar store. In this video shared by the sheriff's office. It's really a mixture of all of society that's coming in. 21 people were arrested. Four of those were juveniles. And this can be anything from a homeless individual coming in there to steal. You don't say. That's a shocker. Are they doing it because of the high cost of housing? Trick question. All the way to someone that rolled up in a brand new Jeep. Sergeant Edward Igoe says. Yeah, there are just kleptos out there. Oh, yeah. Remember that character on Breaking Bad? Oh, yeah. Marie, the sister-in-law. She would go to open houses and steal things just for a thrill. They made that a huge part of the first season. They never really followed up on it, though. That was her Breaking Bad. A little different than the other side of the family. Sergeant Edward Igoe says people are taking advantage of a situation. He says this store alone generated 67 calls for service in just three months. What are you, a 7-Eleven? And says one juvenile even shared with them that he and his friends come to this store location because it's so easy to take from. Just to see if you can do it. Well, let's hope he doesn't post that on Yelp. I mean, it's concerning, but it's kind of expected because it is the South. So we hear a lot about, like, gun violence, drugs. It's just kind of normal, theft. You just got to stay out of the way. I didn't realize South Sac is like Southside. Boy, that woman is as defeated as she sounds. This is the state capital. What are you going to do? Start your day with a morning jolt of Drake's Etoll. You've never been a football coach before, so you're not allowed to talk about this. No, I can have burnt mozzarella sticks and say, the chef's not working. Then Black and Abdallah. Adam Abdallah. That's what we do. We rank quarterbacks. Shots fired. Okay. And Westwood One Sports Night caps it all off. I don't know how they're going to win, but they're going to win. We're open all night here on Westwood One. Westwood One Sports Talk. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.