Posted on 03/02/2023 8:18:24 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Earlier this week Jazz Shaw wrote about an unusual request made by Nike directly to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler. Nike’s store in Northeast Portland has been closed for months because of ongoing retail theft and the company wrote to ask if it could either pay to hire additional cops to patrol the area or pay off duty cops to do so. Today, Mayor Wheeler said no.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler has asked Nike to reopen its shuttered community store in Northeast Portland “on a limited basis,” even though he says the city can’t meet the company’s request to detail off-duty police officers to provide security…
“PPB does not currently have the capacity to offer secondary employment to any private business in the city,” he wrote.
“The Police Bureau currently relies heavily on overtime to reach even minimum staffing levels for regular shifts,” Wheeler continued. “A significant personnel constraint persists, which is not driven by a shortage of funding.”
That’s a roundabout way of saying the city still hasn’t nearly recovered from it’s brush with defunding the police. An exceptionally stupid idea that the city embraced in 2020, sending experienced officers running for the exits. But the mayor’s letter also suggested that Nike may be part of the problem by refusing to allow it’s own on site security to detain shoplifters.
Wheeler said in his letter that Portland police would likely be able to commit to increasing patrols in the area as well as conduct targeted retail theft missions, provided that Nike and other employers could all agree to several conditions.
Among them: Nike and other retailers must report thefts to police and let its certified security guards detain shoplifting suspects, something many retailers are loath to do for fear of liability.
In other words, Nike wants the city to station officers outside to arrest thieves because it won’t allow it’s own staff to touch them. Nike can’t afford to keep the store open because of theft and it can’t afford to stop the thieves because of lawsuits. It’s a miracle Amazon hasn’t wiped out 100% of local businesses trying to deal with this garbage.
In a related story, Walmart confirmed this week that it is closing all remaining stores in Portland. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon warned in December that the scourge of retain theft might force the company to close stores or raise prices.
“Theft is an issue. It’s higher than what it has historically been,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
“We’ve got safety measures, security measures that we’ve put in place by store location. I think local law enforcement being staffed and being a good partner is part of that equation, and that’s normally how we approach it,” McMillon said.
But of course Portland’s law enforcement isn’t staffed and they aren’t a good partner so the stores are closing. Looking around I see Walmart has closed several stores in the last month in Washington DC, Chicago, Milwaukee and Albuquerque. It’s not clear if these closures were motivated by theft but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were.
Again, you won’t see anyone in the media pointing out that this is directly connected to defund the police but that’s the reality even if no one wants to admit it.
Update: This report on retail theft in Portland is four months old but is a pretty good primer on the problem.
They both deserve it especially Nike.
They both helped create the mess and empower the brain dead libtards that freely allow the crime
Nike just discovered they cannot be woke enough
At first this may appear to be a boon to Amazon. But in the longer run it won’t. Because they’re going to be robbing Amazon trucks when enough of the discount retailers close.
It would be interesting to know how the grocery retailers are making out. Have they started pulling out also?
There are TWO Walmarts in Wheeler’s jurisdiction.
TWO stores are closing, and only under JA Wheeler.
The Tri-County area has many others (20 or so, by a quick count on the map).
I live in Redmond now and have sworn off going to Portland for decades. I remember seeing the bumper sticker saying, “Keep Portland Weird”. Portlanders deserve every bad thing that happens to them, but I think they are so mentally debilitated that they will never understand.
Maybe Nike should give notice that it is moving and look to see what communities around the US would welcome it? Portland has had a string of bad to worse mayors and the community can only blame themselves for the resulting cesspool they’ve created.
And, in their way of thinking, never vote for Nazis.
About a month ago I saw a robbery, looting video that was a little different. The regular looting videos from Walmart, Walgreens have person(s) with garbage bags loading up and walking out. This newer video has a very large man with a large trash bag. Instead of going up and down the regular isles, this guy forced his way into the pharmacy, and loaded up on shelf after shelf of pharmaceutical goodies.
Very soon the liberal creeps that yell to defund the police will be protesting the Walmart and Walgreens deserts.
The news stories you see all talk about the Walmart on 82nd closing. I went in there a couple of years ago to buy some socks. And the SOCKS and UNDERWEAR were locked up in cases like electronics. That’s when I knew that store was doomed.
I worked at the corporate campus for years....it is truly beautiful. Hard to imagine them abandoning it. That being said...I learned to pretty much hate Nike.
This is how the country will collapse. LW leadership and policies only lead to chaos and crime.
I have seen this system in South Central Los Angeles and in Oakland. Places that are Democrat run. This is what Democrats do for a neighborhood.
The genius that thought Kamala Harris would make a good President.
So Nike wants more protection than private working class citizens. Or, most likely, wants their store protected instead of you and your neighbors house.
With all their resources, they can’t fix this?
Does Elon have to do everything?
Big deal. Don’t they still have the best bike paths in the United States?
I’ve been to both of those Walmarts, they’re pretty bad. Many of the aisles have locked cases and you have to get someone to open them to actually shop for anything but food. I thought both of the Walmarts on 82nd Ave. were technically in Portland, as well as the one near Delta Park.
Retail has to fail so the government can nationalize it.
In Seattle a Trader Joe’s in the CHAZ / CHOP area closed.
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