“Catch and release” is a phrase that is normally reserved for discussions about immigration, but it is also the policy that pro-criminal district attorneys in cities like Los Angeles have promoted and adopted for criminals big and small.

Smash-and-grab robberies, where a pack of criminals raid a store at the same time and make off with merchandise, have become an epidemic in Los Angeles. The problem has become so large that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has had to step in and triple the California Highway Patrol’s resources in the area to deal with it. Mayor Karen Bass has also established a new task force focused on organized retail crime.

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Los Angeles’s zero-bail policy was reinstated by a judge earlier this year after a lawsuit. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon had his own zero-bail policy in place for prosecutors until last year’s recall threat scared him into allowing a few exceptions. But Gascon has made his support for zero bail clear, and it continues to be a fact of life in Los Angeles’s criminal justice system.

All of this came full circle with the smash-and-grab robbery of Yves Saint Laurent, where a group of at least 30 criminals made off with around $300,000 worth of merchandise. The first suspect to be arrested was Ivan Ramirez, who was promptly released from jail just a few hours later with just a citation.

Is it any wonder why criminals feel like they can storm a store and make off with whatever they want with no consequences?

Los Angeles’s foray into criminal justice reform has failed. It has failed for businesses that can do nothing but watch their buildings be ransacked. It has failed for residents, who have watched Gascon put murderers and gang members back out on the street. It has failed for everyone except criminals like Ramirez, who can commit their crimes with little fear that they will ever have to serve time for them.

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