SF case study: Lax shoplifting enforcement, police shortages driving businesses away
Downtown SF's flagship Old Navy location will soon close—joining DTSF's list of fallen retail tributes—due to out-of-control crime. The Globe's Evan Symon unpacks how the store's “rampant shoplifting” problem is easily traced to SF's dearth of criminal penalties and city officers. SJ, too, and other Bay Area cities are also suffering the effects of underfunded, slimmed-down Police Depts.
In a CBS interview over the weekend, employees pinpointed the closing due to the issue of rampant shoplifting in the store.
“They’re (shoplifters) there every day,” explained one employee. “When I’m on the floor walking around I would say at least 12, 14 during the day. It’s really bad because it’s downtown San Francisco and it’s really out of control. We were hit 22 times by thieves in the last two days. And in the last year, the problem has worsened.”
“I recognize a lot of them and they’re just super comfortable, sometimes they’ll take two or three mesh bags at a time, and that sometimes is $2,000 worth of stuff. I feel I’m not as safe as I should be. I’ve seen one guy carry a hammer before, so you don’t know what these people’s intentions are when they’re trying to steal, and I feel like sometimes my life could be in jeopardy.”
“I was sad for awhile, because I do love the store, I do love my team. Other than that, I’m kind of glad that they’re closing, because I don’t feel like fearing for my life every single day that I work there. I just hope that it can get back to normal the way that it used to be when people were out shopping, having fun, with their families.”
Richard Wallace, who helped manage a high-end store in the Square until earlier this year, told the Globe Monday, “Stories like that don’t surprise me. Other places, the cops would be there and they would be arrested and charged. Even in San Francisco, they do add up.”
“But with a police shortage and so much happening, stores are just pulling out. The criminals are winning. This is not the city it one was 20-30 years ago. It’s bad here now. Even with all the problems brick and mortar stores are having nowadays, these stores in Union Square could still make a profit if it wasn’t for all this crime. And we are seeing stores get out as a result. It’s a shame. If you want to fix it, get in more cops and bring back harsher penalties.”
This article originally appeared in the California Globe. Read the whole thing here.
Image by Wallpaper Flare
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