PebHmong Discussion Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: theking on July 07, 2021, 03:47:57 PM
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San Francisco Grapples with Brazen Shoplifting Spree, Much of It Caught on Camera
...the problem is theft — not sophisticatedl y planned, night-time heists but brazen, day-lit disregard for the rule of law.
This May, Walgreens announced that it had closed, to date, 17 stores over the last five years, citing the substantial losses it has suffered from shoplifting in the city. CVS, a competitor, has labeled San Francisco “one of the epicenters of organized retail crime” in the country and closed a number of stores as well.
Target too has adjusted policy to meet the challenges of operating in the Bay Area, staying open only from nine in the morning until six at night. Brian Harper-Tibaldo, a spokesman for the chain, explained the reasoning behind the shortened hours to the local media outlet SFGATE:
“For more than a month, we’ve been experiencing a significant and alarming rise in theft and security incidents at our San Francisco stores, similar to reports from other retailers in the area.”
The consequences of closures and shortened hours are many; both obvious and more downstream. Not only do they result in job losses and make it more difficult for residents, and especially lower-income residents, to purchase needed goods, but they also send an ominous message to other businesses that specific neighborhoods — and even the city writ large — are risky areas to invest or plant roots in.
Announcements like Walgreens and Target’s are accompanied by embarrassing videos make it plain — and viscerally so — just how normalized petty crime has become in the Golden Gate City. In June, a video of a thief loudly but casually piling a number of goods into a bag before hopping on a bicycle and pedaling slowly out of the store — mostly unimpeded save for a half-hearted swat from a security guard — made the rounds on Twitter.(https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/210615202105-san-francisco-theft-video-pkg-vpx-00000306-full-169.png)
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Lots of Walgreen in the SF area are closing and a few target are also closing due to theft activities.
If you live in the area and your stores are closing then you are fawked thus why in another article, a bunch of sf folks are planning to leave the city due to an increase in these types of crimes.
40% of San Francisco residents plan to leave due to quality of life: Poll
"These same people ... are going into the stores and snatching property," San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott told CNN. "Once we arrest them, we find out they've been arrested over and over again. It's frustrating."
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/40-percent-san-francisco-residents-leave-quality-of-life (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/40-percent-san-francisco-residents-leave-quality-of-life)
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Yup and this is why I say, ignorant idiots may not think it's a big deal but it's a big deal all around from store owners, the employees to the customers...
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Creating a profitable small business is a difficult task, even if it is not subject to illegal activity. In the real world, a variety of criminal activities can have a negative impact on businesses, which can be especially damaging to small companies as they struggle to survive and compete. Shoplifting is a common problem faced by retail businesses that can have a detrimental effect on profitability.
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Retailers are bedeviled by rampant shoplifting
A flurry of shoplifters in masks and hooded jackets sprinted from a downtown Neiman Marcus last week and into getaway cars with armfuls of designer handbags — a scene captured on video and raising fears that rings of thieves were hitting retail businesses.
The incident, which remains under investigation, was only the latest to give an impression of lawlessness running rampant in San Francisco's stores, where people have been caught on recordings openly swiping products seemingly without repercussion.(https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/t_nbcnews-fp-1200-630,f_auto,q_auto:best/newscms/2021_27/3489410/210707-sfstreets415-neiman-marcus-robbery-ew-346p.jpg)
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Shoplifters hit Los Angeles area TJ Maxx, casually leave store carrying heap of stolen goods
(https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/07/21/22/45734747-0-image-a-42_1626901729424.jpg)
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California business owners are decrying shoplifting as incidents of the crime rise
"It’s just disappointing because these are all up and coming new businesses and they really can’t afford to have items stolen. I mean four or five items can change the trajectory of their business. It’s just unfortunate," Richard Bougere, a popular San Francisco rapper who owns the Pop Up Shop with his wife Danielle Banks, said of the woman accused of stealing from his store.
She was confronted over the theft, and video shows the woman yelling at someone who appears to be a security official on a parking lot, and flashing the middle finger to a person filming the scene.
The Pop Up Shop got the items back, and shared the incident to illustrate how shoplifting in the city hurts businesses and is spreading.
"When you’re taking from somebody, you’re really taking from what they’ve been trying to build. They’re trying to invest in their kids. Some of the brands are mother and child owned," Danielle Banks said.