a culprit?

Voters passed Proposition 36 in 2001 to provide more treatment options for drug abusers instead of incarceration.

The measure was implemented in 2002, and by 2003 it began to affect crime statistics, said Mark Mayhew, Simi Valley police chief.

"After Prop. 36, there was a 29 percent increase in pawn transactions," Layhew pointed out, which led to more thefts and burglaries.