What's happening in San Francisco goes far beyond 'shoplifting'; The property theft in the city is extraordinary

We're hearing a lot about the overwhelming number of murders and attempted murders in Chicago and New York. San Francisco has gone in a different direction. It seems to have become the "shoplifting" capital of America. This honor goes along with its long having been the capital of America for car break-ins. It's so bad that I know suburbanites who refuse to drive in the city.

The latest "shoplifting" video is an impressive one, showing a whole gang of thieves racing out of San Francisco's Neiman Marcus store on Union Square, clutching what appears to be thousands of dollars in handbags:

The man who took this video works nearby.

He saw two suspects run in and immediately shut and locked the doors of the store he works at. He told me he then saw 8 more run in.

He says this happened to his store in the past it’s “traumatizing” to him & his colleagues. — Dion Lim (@DionLimTV) July 6, 2021

A woman who has shopped the handbag department at NM for a long time told me a sales associate had to hurry customers to the back-- in order to keep them safe from the smashed glass from handbag display cases. — Dion Lim (@DionLimTV) July 6, 2021

You'll notice that I twice bracketed the word "shoplifting" in quotation marks. I did so because what you see in that video is not "shoplifting" as we've traditionally understood it. Old-fashioned shoplifting is when a person skulks through a store, slipping merchandise into clothes or a bag, and then sneaks out, hoping not to be caught. What's happening in San Francisco is something much more extreme.

Stores can absorb traditional shoplifting as one of the costs of doing business. What they cannot handle is an endless hemorrhage of thousands of dollars of merchandise. And the losses are endless because the state of California has essentially decriminalized theft if the property stolen is worth less than $950. Meanwhile, San Francisco's district attorney has made it clear that he's in a war against not criminals, but the police.

San Francisco is a leftist experiment. Chicago, Baltimore, and other cities are leftist experiments. Massive cities completely controlled by the left.

The rest of the country, so called flyover country, sees what is happening and understands this is what DC wants for the entire nation in every corner of the country.

It must be rejected. Without federal government intervention and support through our tax monies the collapse of these cities would already have occurred.

We are already beginning to see that even a sympathetic media cannot cover up the failure any longer. It is a complete failure of almost every institution that exists in these places.

RE: Not really shoplifting, in article....

True.

We have seen viral videos of “convenience store mob trashes store and steals merchandise as terrified employees look on” maybe ten times or more.

And the “teens” in a mall who figure out in advance the jewelry store displays and other valuable items and then create distraction and panic elsewhere and go to waiting getaway vans in back. “No arrests.” Whew.

Not to mention smashing a plate glass window and attaching cables to pull an ATM out of its moorings and drag it away.

The stores are more afraid of the Democrat Party than they are of shoplifters.

Why would the Democrat Party be OK with shoplifting.

Because the shoplifters think the Democrat Party is giving them free stuff.

It’s just more Democrat Party buying votes.

And you get to pay for it!

San Francisco's district attorney has made it clear that he's in a war against not criminals, but the police.

The turning point for San Francisco was in the year 1995 when Terence Hallinan won the election for District Attorney. Hallinan was the first defense attorney to become the lead prosecutor in San Francisco. He immediately stopped prosecuting crimes, scoring the lowest winning percentage for a California DA by the time of his reelection in 1999.

Hallinan was defeated in the 2003 election by Kamala Harris, and the city has been on an irreversible track ever since.

-PJ

The criminal scum do not fear the government, it is complicit in many places, and they do not fear their victims because progressive government will destroy people defending themselves or their stuff.

Until habitual criminals start routinely getting instant justice at the hands of their intended victims things will only get worse.

When the people fear criminals the criminals flourish.

When criminals fear the people the people can flourish.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.