Norfolk City Council directs city attorney to pursue misdemeanor shoplifting crimes
Norfolk City Council members unanimously approved a code change that will let the City Attorney's Office prosecute misdemeanor shoplifting cases, despite objections from some residents.
City Council members said during Tuesday's meeting the code change would help prosecute organized shoplifters damaging Norfolk small businesses.
'This gives us more opportunity to have insight and say-so,' said council member John 'JP' Paige.
The code change would allow the City Attorney's Office to prosecute misdemeanor shoplifting crimes. Currently, the Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney's office prosecutes every felony shoplifting case, and the office has the discretion to decide whether to prosecute misdemeanor crimes.
However, Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi said his office does not have enough state or city funding to staff misdemeanor cases.
Several residents spoke against the code change during Tuesday's meeting, saying it could disproportionately harm the city's most vulnerable citizens.
Portsmouth approves $878M budget, along with new tax rate and more school funding
Virginia Beach approves $2.8 billion operating budget with boost to public safety
Norfolk council adopts $1.6 billion budget, includes 2-hour free parking
Norfolk to vote on allowing city attorney to prosecute misdemeanor shoplifting
Hampton adjusts budget to cover vetoed gun violence prevention funds
Sharon Houston said the measure would hurt families living in poverty.
'The rich will get richer,' Houston said. 'The poor will get poorer.'
Council member Mamie Johnson also said the city would continue to help low-income residents access city programs and other wraparound services so they wouldn't feel the need to shoplift items like groceries.
The threshold for felony larceny has been raised in recent years from $200and now stands at $1,000 or more in stolen goods. The felony charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $2,500, according to the Code of Virginia.
The misdemeanor charge would apply to stolen goods with a value of less than $1,000 and would be punishable by up to a year in prison and up to a $2,500 fine.
The issue became a point of contention between Fatehi and Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander, when Alexander announced the code change plans at his annual State of the City address in April. Alexander claimed Fatehi's office was not doing enough to prosecute what he described as well-organized, planned-out thefts.
Fatehi is facing a June 17 Democratic primary challenge by John Butler, a former federal prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Norfolk. Butler has been endorsed by Alexander and City Council members Jeremy McGee, Tommy Smigiel and Courtney Doyle.
Norfolk City Attorney Bernard Pishko told the Pilot his office would try the cases with existing staff and that fines from the cases would pay for the additional costs incurred by the prosecutions. There is no minimum dollar amount that can be charged as a misdemeanor under the new code.
Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Axios
31 minutes ago
- Axios
Gallego pushes to expand Dems' tent with eye on 2028
Freshman Sen. Ruben Gallego is already making moves to appeal to moderates and boost his national profile barely five months after winning his seat. Why it matters: Gallego (D-Ariz.) — like a growing number of Senate Democrats — is positioning himself for a possible 2028 presidential run as his party looks to build a fresh bench after their devastating loss in November. Gallego criticized the Democratic Party last month for "kicking people out of the tent" ahead of the 2024 election. "What happened the last election is that we got so pure, and we kept so pure that we started kicking people out of the tent," he said at a town hall in a Philadelphia-area swing district that Trump narrowly flipped. "It ends up there aren't enough people in the tent to win elections," he added. Zoom in: Gallego also released an immigration reform plan that pairs liberal priorities such as pathways to citizenship with conservative principles like increased border security funding. He had one of the best-ever fundraising debuts for a Senate Democrat, pulling in more than $1 million in his first quarter. Axios has learned that Gallego — who kept his seat in the Democrats' column despite Trump's victory in Arizona — is planning additional stops in key battlegrounds over the coming months. The big picture: There are signs that Gallego's appeals to moderates and conservatives are starting to make a difference for him back home. Gallego's 50% statewide approval rating in May is higher than Trump's and Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs', according to a recent poll by Noble Predictive Insights, a Phoenix-based nonpartisan polling firm. Gallego also doubled his overall favorability with Republican voters, with 37% of GOP voters viewing him favorably. His net favorability is higher than that of Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Az.), according to the survey. What they're saying: " Senator Gallego shows up, listens and delivers. Voters know he is fighting for them, and this has helped him build strong, bipartisan support across Arizona," Gallego's chief of staff Raphael Chavez-Fernandez told Axios. One senior GOP operative said Gallego is the type of Democrat who appeals to the swing voters that both parties fight over at each election.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Same old NIMBY excuses are threatening to hold Hyde Park Square back
Cincinnati City Council has made a very wise decision to allow rezoning in Hyde Park Square. This allows a project to move forward that will create more housing and amenities in one of the most desirable locations in our city. The increased density will help existing businesses in the Square by driving more traffic. The project will create space for new businesses and, therefore, more jobs. Over 100 units of housing will be added to the city's supply, which is strained. The agglomeration effects of higher density, especially of high-wage earners, will promote activity in an area well beyond the Square itself and generate higher tax revenue into perpetuity. The virtues of the project hardly need to be stated. It's textbook good urbanism. But the age-old enemy of every ambitious development project has reared its head: NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard). The NIMBYs have forcefully made their case against the project in City Council meetings, street protests, and in the Enquirer. Now that council has approved rezoning the NIMBYs are even mobilizing to field a ballot initiative to kill the project. I've read their objections and find them thoroughly unpersuasive. More: Cincinnati council ignored Hyde Park. Your neighborhood could be next. | Opinion They think the project's too tall. Really? Eighty-five feet is hardly a skyscraper. They're concerned they weren't listened to in the planning process. But City Council did listen to them; they just decided (correctly) that they were wrong. Some NIMBYs are opposed to the project because it doesn't include subsidized housing. But if opponents want more subsidized housing, they should go support subsidized projects, not obstruct good market-rate projects. The Hyde Park NIMBYs say the same thing NIMBYs say everywhere. They're in favor of development, just not this development. They support housing, just not this housing. They support local businesses, just not these local businesses. Notice a pattern? NIMBYs who approve of development in general but never in particular are standing athwart progress yelling "Stop!" They're also standing athwart housing costs yelling "Higher!" The opponents of the Hyde Park Square project need to be honest with themselves. This is a perfectly reasonable development, and their opposition to it amounts to supporting stasis and decay. More: We walk Hyde Park Square every day, and we know how badly this project is needed | Opinion There is one concern I share with some of this project's skeptics. That is the aesthetic quality. Hyde Park Square is one of our city's better public spaces. That is why so many people are understandably concerned about changing it. It's natural to want to steward beautiful things. If a project wants to contribute to Hyde Park Square rather than detract from it, the project should be a pleasing aesthetic addition. The bar isn't that high. Hyde Park is far from perfect. It contains one of the city's rather lesser examples of Art Deco. The eclectic mix of architectural styles has its weaker points. Somebody's already built a bland, single-tone brick apartment complex on the east end, one of those with the tiny jutting balconies that look like they were stuck on as a hasty afterthought. The new project must rise above that. It must be pleasing to look at. Beautiful buildings on the scale that are planned can be a centerpiece for the Square. They can concentrate the gaze and enliven the experience of walking or eating, or simply sitting anywhere in Hyde Park Square. While it is possible to create a beautiful building in a modern style, the developers should look to Cincinnati's rich architectural past if they want to greatly increase their chances of success. It will be much better if whatever they build recalls Over-the-Rhine row houses or Concert Hall, or the Richardson Romanesque of the San Marco building and City Hall, or the classical facades of the early 20th century mid-rises downtown, literally anything other than the bland, placeless 5-over-1 style that gets thrown up everywhere these days. More: Proposed redevelopment of Hyde Park Square would damage beauty of neighborhood | Opinion If they can do that, if they can both increase the amenities of the neighborhood as well as the beauty of Hyde Park Square, then the project's developers will win over many of their critics, who, once the dust settles, will concede it looks great, is good for the neighborhood, and move on with their lives. But if they don't, if they announce they're planning something that looks like one of the more slapdash student housing projects that have sprung up around the University of Cincinnati recently (I'm looking at you Central Parkway and McMillan at Auburn!) then I'd be happy to join the NIMBYs at the barricade. Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Christopher Wood is a neurologist who lives in Clifton. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: The future of Hyde Park Square shouldn't be held hostage | Opinion
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Man admits to forging letter to frame immigrant witness in Milwaukee
Protesters gather outside of the Federal Building in Milwaukee to denounce the arrest of Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner) A Milwaukee man was charged Monday after writing a letter to the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that threatened to assassinate President Donald Trump. Demetric Scott told investigators that he wrote the letter claiming to be 54-year Ramón Morales Reyes, a Mexican-born Milwaukee resident who does not have permanent legal status. Scott was already incarcerated in the Milwaukee County Jail for armed robbery and aggravated battery and allegedly victimized Morales Reyes when he committed that crime. WISN 12 reported that Scott told investigators that he wrote the letter framing Morales Reyes because he didn't want Morales Reyes to testify against him during his trial in July. Scott reportedly told a person during a recorded jailhouse call that if Morales Reyes 'gets picked up by ICE, there won't be a jury trial so they will probably dismiss it that day. That's my plan.' The letter Scott authored was written in perfect English, with only a few misspellings. 'We are tired of this president messing with us Mexicans,' it stated, adding, 'I will self deport myself back to Mexico but not before I use my 30 yard 6 (sic) to shoot your precious president in the head – I'll see you at one of his big ralleys (sic).' The letter was likely referring to a 30-6 (pronounced 30 odd six) high caliber rifle round, and appeared to be an assassination threat against the president. On Friday, lawyers representing Morales Reyes and local immigration advocates from Voces de la Frontera held a press conference, asserting that Morales Reyes could not have authored the letter. The 54-year-old father, who works as a dishwasher, comes from a rural part of Mexico where he received little formal education. He does not speak English and cannot read or write proficiently even in Spanish. After Morales Reyes was arrested by ICE, his daughter contacted Voces de la Frontera and shared information about his background. Days after the arrest, Department of Homeland (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem issued a press statement, condemning Morales Reyes as having threatened President Trump's life. Noem said the letter was part of a series of dangerous threats to the president. Morales Reyes' attorneys and Voces de la Frontera called on DHS to retract Noem's statement and clear his name. It's unclear why Noem issued the statement, as CNN reported that MPD was investigating the likelihood that the letter was a fake on the day Morales Reyes was arrested. Scott told investigators that he did not receive any help in writing the letters. Democratic U.S. Reps. Gween Moore and Mark Pocan visited the Dodge County jail, Wisconsin's only ICE detention facility Monday, on a congressional oversight visit. They were not permitted to talk to anyone incarcerated there and did not receive any response to their questions from ICE. 'In this facility, ICE is still detaining Ramón Morales Reyes despite being wrongfully accused of a crime,' Moore and Pocan said in a joint statement. 'ICE is also working without transparency to Congress, which was only magnified by today's visit when we tried to call the local Milwaukee field office number on its website, but the number was disconnected. It is unacceptable for ICE to be inaccessible to Members of Congress. As members of Congress, we will continue using all tools available to conduct oversight.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
