LOS ANGELES — On Thursday, city and state politicians met with local public safety officials to discuss ways to implement new retail theft laws. 

Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas, Mayor Karen Bass and Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur met with local law enforcement, business and criminal-justice leaders at City Hall in a meeting of the minds to find solutions to the retail theft issue plaguing Los Angeles.

Zbur is chair of the Select Committee on Retail Theft and helped author the legislative package that goes into effect in January. He said the 10 new laws will make it easier for police to apprehend and convict suspects who are part of retail crime rings. 

“One of the things we know is that, if we are going to stop retail crime, what we have to do is make sure that people that are engaging in it, that the likelihood that they get caught is high and that once that they get caught, there’s a meaningful consequence,” he said.

It is good news for Peter Sedghi, CEO of Luxury Jewels of Beverly Hills. He said that as someone who was the victim of one of the largest smash-and-grab robberies in Beverly Hills, he hopes this makes a difference.