San Francisco Safeway cuts hours, allegedly due to 'off the charts' theft(sfgate.com)
sfgate.com
San Francisco Safeway cuts hours, allegedly due to 'off the charts' theft
https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/San-Francisco-Safeway-cuts-hours-retail-theft-16582420.php
32 comments
San Francisco probably has one of the most generous social service provisions of any city in the world. The latest one I’ve heard of: a bunch of basic income programs explicitly limited to certain
races and also artists for some reason.
> This pilot program will be the first guaranteed income project in San Francisco to focus solely on artists. The other guaranteed income programs include funding for San Franciscans training to become EMTs, Black and Pacific Islander expecting mothers as part of the Abundant Birth Project, and members of San Francisco’s Black and African-American community as part of the Mayor’s Dream Keeper Initiative.
Somehow a city like Tokyo manages to make do without many of these supposedly necessary programs. Weird, right?
> This pilot program will be the first guaranteed income project in San Francisco to focus solely on artists. The other guaranteed income programs include funding for San Franciscans training to become EMTs, Black and Pacific Islander expecting mothers as part of the Abundant Birth Project, and members of San Francisco’s Black and African-American community as part of the Mayor’s Dream Keeper Initiative.
Somehow a city like Tokyo manages to make do without many of these supposedly necessary programs. Weird, right?
Probably two of those demographics are barely seen in Tokyo?
I think you correctly diagnosed the problem but not the cause. There are LOTS of social services (far more than most other cities... we even give them monthly cash on debit cards) offering free clothes, hot meals, showers, and even rooms at a shelter (but they don't want to obey those rules...) and this attracts more homeless here since it's an easier city to be homeless than say somewhere in the South. And this was going on well before COVID--although that gave the city an excuse to do even less than it already did.
This is happening because theft under $950 is a misdemeanor, which means if it's reported to 911 it's a low priority response. As a result, you see rings of people going in grabbing as much as they can which is usually still under $950 and then moving on to the next place. Because there's very little investigation, literal crime rings are doing this and then re-selling on Amazon and Walmart.com and other e-commerce sites. This goes on because it's a low priority to cops, and even if the cops catch them, prosecutors go easy (thanks to Chesa Boudin), and even if they're convicted the judge and jury usually go easy. So if you're a career criminal, SF makes it especially appealing to target. We've allowed "social justice" to be defined as legalizing theft rings and open drug use.
This is happening because theft under $950 is a misdemeanor, which means if it's reported to 911 it's a low priority response. As a result, you see rings of people going in grabbing as much as they can which is usually still under $950 and then moving on to the next place. Because there's very little investigation, literal crime rings are doing this and then re-selling on Amazon and Walmart.com and other e-commerce sites. This goes on because it's a low priority to cops, and even if the cops catch them, prosecutors go easy (thanks to Chesa Boudin), and even if they're convicted the judge and jury usually go easy. So if you're a career criminal, SF makes it especially appealing to target. We've allowed "social justice" to be defined as legalizing theft rings and open drug use.
> This is happening because theft under $950 is a misdemeanor, which means if it's reported to 911 it's a low priority response.
There is no necessary connection between those things. The problem is the police choose to deprioritize it, in part as a political protest of the classification, and in part because (or as a political gesture to highlight the fact that) the current SF DA won't prosecute it most of the time even as the misdemeanor it is. There aren't retailers leaving the rest of California because of a wave of theft, because other DAs and police departments aren't equally ineffective with the same penal code. This is mostly a Chesa Boudin issue and secondarily an SFPD issue.
There is no necessary connection between those things. The problem is the police choose to deprioritize it, in part as a political protest of the classification, and in part because (or as a political gesture to highlight the fact that) the current SF DA won't prosecute it most of the time even as the misdemeanor it is. There aren't retailers leaving the rest of California because of a wave of theft, because other DAs and police departments aren't equally ineffective with the same penal code. This is mostly a Chesa Boudin issue and secondarily an SFPD issue.
How does the level of social services in San Francisco compare to other cities that don't have these problems? I would have guessed it's dramatically higher.
Given the foolish notion of not prosecuting, nor attempting to stop any theft under $950, it's a wonder that any businesses are left in San Francisco.
Chicago has decided to follow in this folly. I expect it to rapidly implode as a result.
Chicago has decided to follow in this folly. I expect it to rapidly implode as a result.
I don't understand not prosecuting theft at all. There are like 2 things which are super clearly bad and the government should stop (1) theft and (2) violence.
People shouldn't get life sentences for petty theft, but they should get a pretty severe punishment.
People shouldn't get life sentences for petty theft, but they should get a pretty severe punishment.
You need to understand that Madoff is one thing and the people stealing formula because they don’t have the means are on entirely different universes.
Punishing these people “severely” will generally lead to the same kind of behavior happening. You can’t punish these people out of poverty.
Punishing these people “severely” will generally lead to the same kind of behavior happening. You can’t punish these people out of poverty.
The organized thefts that result from not punishing crime at all fall into a new category, and are effectively a seed funding round for a new layer of criminality.
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Less than 15% of all thefts result in an arrest. Prosecution is not making the difference. This has been a problem for literal decades.
The threat of it alone can be (and apparently is) a deterrent to some people. The risk/reward ratio is tipped all the way to reward.
Tossing desperate people into prison makes them desperate people with a criminal record that makes them more desperate. Have you ever known anyone with a felony on their record trying to get their life on track? It's hard, and you might be surprised at what can get you charged with one. Even a non-felony conviction can cause trouble getting decent work.
> Tossing desperate people into prison makes them desperate people with a criminal record that makes them more desperate.
Misdemeanors don't result in prison (or very significant jail time). They may even lead just to a diversion program or community service.
Visibly having no consequences for crime, OTOH, does lead to more crime.
Misdemeanors don't result in prison (or very significant jail time). They may even lead just to a diversion program or community service.
Visibly having no consequences for crime, OTOH, does lead to more crime.
You're not wrong with respect to the difficulty and stigma you mention, but we can't just let it be OK to steal from others. To address those legit concerns, we need to focus our efforts on our prison systems and local governments.
> Chicago has decided to follow in this folly. I expect it to rapidly implode as a result.
Are you saying it hasn't long-since imploded already?
Are you saying it hasn't long-since imploded already?
This is has been the pattern for a long time. I’ve lived in SF for 20 years and the cops don’t go after small time thieves.
They seem to have given up on murder as well.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/15/brian-egg-sa...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/15/brian-egg-sa...
C'mon, prosecuting people stealing basic necessities[1], and small personal use items[2] are not gonna keep rich corporations from going out of business. We have to defend the marginalized, or else late stage capitalism will turn us all into slave wage laborers.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEuoSmW4DRw
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhCTrcTzFYQ
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEuoSmW4DRw
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhCTrcTzFYQ
It's not Aladdin stealing a loaf of bread.. These are organized crime rings that are stealing to resell to "fences" who then resell the goods online or at flea markets. If you ran a business, I'm sure you'd see it differently. Almost no one is going hungry in America and certainly not SF, where we have generous social services.
10M children are food insecure. https://www.childrensdefense.org/state-of-americas-children/...
This is not to negate your point about SMBs.
But to remind that yes, children do go hungry every day in the US.
I was one of them.
This is not to negate your point about SMBs.
But to remind that yes, children do go hungry every day in the US.
I was one of them.
And in SF there are multiple places literally giving free food and groceries. That’s not the issue at all.
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Holy shit.
In the first video there's a clip with a security guy confronting the person stealing and they just keep grabbing things as if he didn't exist. It's a bad comedy if it wasn't real.
In the first video there's a clip with a security guy confronting the person stealing and they just keep grabbing things as if he didn't exist. It's a bad comedy if it wasn't real.
I’ve stood in line by the Safeway out near the Embarcadero and watched 20 something kids walk in grab food from the to-go case and walk right out. Stand in line during peak times and you’ll see it happen in front of your eyes.
I’m honestly surprised this location kept 24/7 hours for so long.
His take was that copper wasn't stolen because copper theft was suddenly profitable, rather copper theft was a reflection of the environment, it took place because there was copper infrastructure in places accessible to drug addicts.
Same here. What you are really seeing is a lack of social services, combined with cops on strike and no willing takers for shit low-wage jobs. A 24-h CVS can't exist in such an environment.