Urgency Legislation for Looting During a Disaster and in Evacuation Areas
Urgency Legislation for Looting During a Disaster and in Evacuation Areas

DA Dow Proposes Urgency Legislation to Address Looting in Disaster and Evacuation Areas

Author: District Attorney
Date: 1/15/2025 7:34 PM

District Attorney Dan Dow announced today his proposal for an urgency legislative measure to increase penalties for individuals who commit predatory crimes during a disaster and in evacuation areas such as have been widely publicized in Los Angeles County in areas affected by the Palisades Fire and other fires causing evacuation zones to be created for large numbers of families and neighborhoods.

This proposal to provide greater protection for the people during emergencies is consistent with the recent expression of the will of the voters who overwhelmingly passed Proposition 36 on November 5, 2024. Additionally, the current devastation by wildfires in Los Angeles County and subsequent looting crimes being committed reveal that today’s existing law is insufficient to adequately deter people from committing these crimes. If this proposal is made law, it will demonstrate to the People of California that our state legislators and Governor have made it a top priority to protect temporarily vulnerable populations by providing tools that law enforcement officials need during large-scale emergencies such as wildfires or other large-scale disasters.

“I look forward to working with my colleagues across California and legislators in Sacramento to immediately address this important issue of public safety as urgency legislation,” said District Attorney Dan Dow. “Those of us in positions of leadership who are charged with protecting the People of California must act quickly and decisively to provide better protections through appropriately tough laws that hold exploiters accountable for their predatory acts during the fires that are devastating Los Angeles County. Law enforcement and prosecutors need these additional tools to be implemented immediately.”

The text of the legislative proposal can be downloaded here. 

District Attorney Dan Dow would like to thank San Luis Obispo County Deputy District Attorney Hunter Starr, who also serves as a First Lieutenant Judge Advocate in the California Army National Guard, for his contribution as the principal author of these draft recommendations.

For additional information about this legislative proposal, please contact District Attorney Dan Dow at [email protected] or (805) 781-5800.