Back in May, the pharmacy Walgreens announced the closure of ten stores in San Francisco because rampant shoplifting made it impossible for them to turn a profit. In the past five years a total of seventeen of the chain’s stores have closed in the city.
Walgreens was spending 35 times more on security guardians for their San Francisco locations than anywhere else in the country.
Target decided to partially follow their lead, reducing store hours at all their San Francisco stores in an attempt to curb an “alarming rise” of shoplifting.
The problem goes back to a 2014 San Francisco ballot referendum passed that downgraded the theft of property of less than $950 from a felony to misdemeanor. While some states classify shoplifting below a $1,000 threshold as a misdemeanor, the enforcement of such charges has fallen off a cliff in San Francisco, effectively legalizing shoplifting as a result. One study found that immediately after the referendum was passed, even as crimes unaffected by it fell 9%, larceny thefts increased 15%. Priorities are so twisted that retailers who apprehend thieves can be sued. And several shoplifters have sued business owners, with some claiming to be victims of racial profiling.
The problem has only gotten worse with the election of San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin, a far-left radical whose parents were members of the radical Weather Underground. He was raised by Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn because his parents were impassioned, convicted of murder. Forty-percent of charges presented to Boudin’s office from the San Francisco Police Department are now being dropped because of him.
The consequences of that kind of legal environment could’ve been predicted anyone sane, and every couple of days there’s a new viral video out of San Francisco proving as much.
According to Fox News:
Police in San Francisco said late Monday they were investigating a brazen robbery at a high-end retail store in the center of the city.
KTVU reported that the incident occurred at about closing time at a Neiman Marcus location. Citing witnesses, the outlet said display cases were smashed and items were lifted from racks inside the store before the suspects fled.
The KTVU report said the suspects could be seen sprinting from the stores with some of the items, including what appeared to be handbags. They ran into getaway cars.
This comes after a video went viral last month showing a man on a bike fill up a garbage bag with items from a San Francisco Walgreens before leaving the store with minimal resistance.
According to a recent San Francisco Chamber of Commerce poll, over 40% of their residents plan on moving within the next few years.
Matt Palumbo is the author of Dumb and Dumber: How Cuomo and de Blasio Ruined New York, Debunk This: Shattering Liberal Lies, and Spygate
