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It predates those two things. Here is what triggered the retail crime wave.

Back in 2014, California voters passed ballot initiative "Proposition 47: The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act." Crimes that were once considered felonies were reduced to misdemeanors including:

Shoplifting or grand theft, if property stolen is valued under $950;
Receiving stolen property, if value of the stolen goods is under $950;
Forgery, fraud or bad check writing, if the forged check, draft or other document amounts to less than $950; and
Personal use of most illegal drugs.

This classified the "non-serious, nonviolent crimes" listed above as misdemeanors unless the perpetrator has prior convictions for rape, murder, gun crimes or specified sex offenses; allowed 10 thousand prison inmates found guilty of the above felonies to be resentenced; required an assessment of those inmates who may be eligible for resentencing to determine whether or not they may or may not pose a risk to the public; establish the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund (SNSF).

"Safe Neighborhoods and Schools" -- what a freaking joke. Things are more unsafe than they ever have been due to the passing of this law.

Californians were stupid enough to pass this based on the name of the proposition.

How did it turn out? Here's the liberal Wikipedia short analysis through 2019. It has gotten MUCH worse since then, especially with COVID...

Numerous media outlets have continued to report an increase in retail theft related to the passage of Prop 47. Large retailers Safeway, Target, Rite Aid and CVS pharmacies reported in 2016 that shoplifting increased from 15 percent to (in some cases) over 50 percent since voters approved Proposition 47. The Los Angeles Times reported in 2017 that the California Supreme Court ruled that a person convicted of a felony for stealing a car may have that conviction reduced to a misdemeanor if the vehicle was worth no more than $950, and in 2018 that researchers found Prop 47 contributed to a jump in car burglaries, shoplifting and other thefts. The San Francisco Chronicle reported in 2018 that Prop. 47 led to a rise in the larceny theft rate of about 9 percent compared to the 2014 rate.
By 2019, organized retail theft was on the rise; police and store owners attributed it to Prop 47. Fox News reported that post Prop 47 both shoplifters and fencers operated openly and with impunity, with both criminals and storekeepers aware that selective enforcement policies mean police largely ignore reports of shoplifting, or respond too slowly. President of the California Retailers Association Rachel Michelin stated that thieves will bring in calculators to ensure that they do not go over the $950 limit and that "one person will go into a store, fill up their backpack, come out, dump it out and go right back in and do it all over again." She also reported that out-of-state crime rings use children as they are even less likely to be prosecuted, and that even when police make arrests, charges are dropped or downgraded by the district attorney.

Will Californians wake up and repeal 47? Will they put the 10,000 criminals released (probably a LOT more than that) back in jail?