An overwhelming percentage of Californians, sick of surging robberies and “smash-and-grab” thefts at stores from Target to Nordstrom, are rallying to shelve a law once pushed by Vice President Kamala Harris that is blamed for the rise in crime.

In a new survey shared with Secrets, 70% of California voters back an initiative to amend Proposition 47, which passed when Harris was state attorney general and recategorized low-level theft and crimes from felonies to misdemeanors.

Instead, the Homeless, Drug Addiction, Retail Theft Reduction Act would increase penalties on criminals and also boost support for addicts and the homeless.

Crime “is as bad as I’ve seen it during my career,” former Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten said.

“I can tell you, as a prosecutor, we weren’t seeing this kind of rampant theft prior to passage of Prop 47, and when people figure out there’s no consequences, of course, it escalates,” added Totten, chairman of the campaign to get the initiative on the November ballot. He is also CEO of the California District Attorneys Association.

The goal of Proposition 47 was to cut the prison population and increase treatments for convicts. Harris was involved in giving the proposition a nice-sounding title, “The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.”

In changing the penalties for small crimes, there has been a surge in petty crime, especially store thefts, and drug use, which has led to higher homelessness, Totten said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) saw that firsthand recently. He said at a press conference this week that he watched as a shoplifter walked out of a Target with unpaid items. He asked a store clerk why somebody wasn’t called to stop the shoplifter.

The clerk, who apparently didn’t recognize Newsom, blamed the “governor” for reclassifying thefts under $950 as misdemeanors.

He denied that but said, “Why am I spending $380, and everyone can walk the hell right out?”

Lots of Californians are asking themselves the same thing.

In the Axis Research survey shared with Secrets, even those who voted for Proposition 47 want changes. “When asked if there should be changes to Prop 47 to allow for stronger penalties for those engaged in the trafficking of hard drugs or for repeat offenders of retail theft, voters support changes at a margin of 8-to-1. This includes 83% of those who voted ‘yes’ on Prop 47 who now support changes to the law,” the survey analysis said.

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Totten said his group has already collected over 300,000 signatures of the 550,000 needed to get the initiative on the ballot. He said they are coming in at 40,000 a week.

He told us, “People are standing in long lines to sign that petition. It is a reflection that here, in California, we’ve reached a tipping point. When you see a major high-end mall, like in San Francisco, and many stores shuttering their doors, when customers or consumers go into stores and see products under lock and key, things like diapers and detergent … and people coming into stores and loading up a bag and walking right out, I think the public has reached a tipping point, and they recognize that there’s got to be change.”