Posted on 06/16/2023 8:13:17 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The problem of rampant shoplifting at San Francisco drug stores, grocery stores and retail stores has become obvious to everyone at this point. And yet, as Beege noticed this morning on Twitter, you still have reports like this one from NBC News about the “perception of crime,” as if the crime isn’t real, it’s just a misperception.
In a report for NBC on the closing of San Francisco's Westfield Mall, correspondent Miguel Almaguer claims it's merely the "perception of crime" as the reason the mall is closing. pic.twitter.com/uzg1eoYng7
— Kevin Tober (@KevinTober94) June 14, 2023
It is fair to say that violent crime remains relatively low in San Francisco, at least compared to other major cities. But low level crime, the car breaks ins which happen dozens of times a day and the constant shoplifting are absolutely real and are some of very worst levels of such crime anywhere in the country. Those crimes aren’t usually lethal (though they sometimes are) but they do create a miserable environment for everyone trying to shop or work in the city. Stores that wish to remain in business don’t have a lot of good choices. You may recall this recent clip taken inside a San Francisco Target store.
How are you supposed to shop in a store like that? The answer is that you ring a buzzer and wait for some employee to run over with a key. That’s a waste of time for customers but it also makes for a very long day for the employees. This week the San Francisco Standard reported that everyone is irritated with the new system.
One worker at Safeway’s Duboce Triangle store told The Standard on Friday he is quitting his job due to the added stress of unlocking items and shepherding them to the checkout for customers. The store at Market and Church streets adds an extra layer of security that means shoppers don’t get to touch some items until they’ve paid for them.
“It’s just too much,” said David MacDowell, who is quitting Safeway after six months…
Customers said they were unhappy with the arrangement, too. Danielle Strauss waited over three minutes on Friday to purchase a single tube of toothpaste from the Castro Safeway.
“Most of the time, I just order this stuff online to avoid going here completely,” Strauss said.
The Standard reporter pushed a button to unlock some laundry detergent. It took 3 1/2 minutes for an employee to show up with the keys. That’s apparently pretty good. One customer said it usually takes 5-10 minutes. Imagine doing that for each item you need to purchase. But the stores have no choice because the alternative is being robbed blind.
“Like every 20 minutes, someone would come and take something and run out,” said a Target staffer in the electronics section, who agreed to speak anonymously because they were not authorized to speak with the press.
“They’ll steal anything that isn’t tied down,” another worker said.
These stores are absolutely going to fail. The problem isn’t Target. The problem is San Francisco. Police barely have time to respond to shoplifting complaints, much less prevent them. Even when they do the people responsible won’t be prosecuted in most cases. It’s a perfect system for the criminal gangs running this from behind the scenes. They make millions and the city just stands back and lets the retailers try to deal with it. This isn’t shoplifting. This is looting with tacit approval from the city.
Occasionally, someone gets fed up with people doing this and tries to intervene.
It’s risky because you don’t know if the shoplifter is armed. Even if they are not, you could be sued for injuring a thief. That’s why most of these stores don’t allow their own employees to get involved in trying to stop a shoplifter. Better to lose the merchandise than to have someone shot or have your store accused of a) racism or b) being cruel to the homeless.
The bottom line here is that San Francisco has been watching this happen for the past three years. Now we’re seeing major retailers downtown throw in the towel and still the city is full of activists and elected officials who would rather rant about solving the underlying problems (over some unknown period of years) than do anything to stop the chaos driving these retailers out right now.
The unfortunate truth is that SF residents created this environment and they’re just starting to realize actions have unintended consequences. Residents did get rid of the progressive DA and woke members of the school board, but that obviously hasn’t been enough to turn this around.
Target has lost direction. The officer who ordered the goods locked up has no conception of business and is ignorant of business in general
The reason for being in business is to make a profit. The Target store is not able to operate at a profitable level and must cease business.
Smart people left Nazi Germany. Now smart people need to leave California.
maybe the DIE officer is telling the officer in charge what to do...
No, stricter and tougher enforcement will not remedy the situation. That is a fool’s errand. There must be a restoration of basic morals, a new “Great Awakening.” The religious basis of “Thou shalt not steal” is lost and, without it, things will continue to deteriorate.
The Great Awakening was a religious revival that impacted the English colonies in America during the 1730s and 1740s. The movement came at a time when the idea of secular rationalism was being emphasized, and passion for religion had grown stale. Christian leaders often traveled from town to town, preaching about the gospel, emphasizing salvation from sins and promoting enthusiasm for Christianity. The result was a renewed dedication toward religion. Many historians believe the Great Awakening had a lasting impact on various Christian denominations and American culture at large.Plus, the federal government constantly turns a blind eye to manifold serious crimes which sets the tone for the entire USA top to bottom. Here are a few example of how the federal government influences the moral climate:
Your suggestion will bring immediate charges of racism. Of course, those screaming about racism will not look at the implications of what they have just said. Self-awareness is not their strong point.
Essentially, Prop 47 (along with letting tons of criminals out of prison) not only made serious crime legal (misdemeanors too numerous to enforce), it invited crime and undid generations of hard work building businesses and communities.
Among the supporters for Prop 47?
Newt Gingrich.
Prop 47 was perhaps the biggest driver for the mass exodus of honest Citizens from the once-great state of California. (Many others, to be sure.)
RE: Products should have microchips set to trigger alarms if they have not been purchased.
And if they did that, how much would such a security system ADD to the price of a product?
RE: When we got to TN, at Walmart nothing was locked. It seems a small thing, but it made shopping so much easier.
Is that also true in the high crime city of Memphis?
I know this has been said a million times in one form or another but ‘where the buck stops?’ is with the LIBERAL voter of San Francisco.
Until these dumb as*** figure out that “stealing other peoples shit” is bad for them, and crapping in the elevators is too, they will continue to vote democrap and nothing will change.
This is pretty good Stage 1 security.
Stage 2 security is when the glass spews out blue dye if somebody smashes it.
Stage 3 security is when the floor electrocutes anyone standing on it if adjacent glass is smashed.
;-)
We used to shoot looters. Now we reward them and prosecute those who try to stop the crime. The results are to be expected.
The DAs and politicians allowing this are the biggest criminals.
I don’t know about Memphis. This is Knoxville area.
My point is a lot of states probably have their own equivalents of San Francisco and inevitably, it will be a Democrat controlled city.
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