Unfair competition includes anything that can be called a business practice and at the same time is forbidden by the law. This means that B & P § 17200 borrows violations of other laws and treats those violations as unlawful practices by a business. So, when there is a violation of some other law, B & P § 17200 can be used to treat the action as unfair competition and be independently actionable by prosecutors. Some of the remedies available under B & P § 17200 are: an injunction, civil penalties, restitution and reimbursement of emergency costs. An injunction is a court order that prohibits a business from continuing its unlawful activity. Civil penalties under B & P § 17200 are mandatory if a violation is found and a business can be penalized up to $ 2,500.00 for each violation it had committed. One important distinction between a criminal prosecution and a civil prosecution is that at trial, a civil prosecution requires proof only by a“ preponderance of evidence” rather than“ beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The District Attorney’ s Office, working in conjunction with the Neighborhood Police Unit, found multiple violations under the Controlled Substances Abatement Act, Red Light Abatement Act and Public Nuisance laws by The Redding Inn.( See Penal Code §§ 11225-11235; Health & Safety Code § 11570, and Civil Code §§ 3479 and 3480). The Neighborhood Police Unit’ s investigations and reports allowed for the District Attorney’ s Office, through DDA Jesrani, to file a civil lawsuit against the motel.
Shortly after the filing of the lawsuit, The Redding Inn made significant improvements and the calls for service there dropped by approximately 60 %. Additionally, The Redding Inn decided to cooperate and reached a settlement with the District Attorney’ s Office within 4 months of the filing of the lawsuit.
The settlement included repayment to the Redding Police Department for its investigative costs and also included a contribution of $ 12,500.00 to the Neighborhood Police Unit to help continue its efforts of combating crime. The total judgment imposed $ 35,000.00 against the motel. In addition, strict compliance measures were imposed requiring the Redding Inn to hire a security guard, install security cameras, improve lighting, and change their business operations to those of a more conventional motel business. The business has since ceased operations. The civil prosecution highlights successful collaboration between the Redding Police Department and the Shasta County District Attorney’ s Office. Both agencies had specialized units to specifically address these types of issues, and the collaboration helped achieve law enforcement goals of compliance, punishment and deterrence. ■
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