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Petty Thieves Plague San Francisco. ‘These Last Two Years Have Been Insane.’

wsj.com

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Re: Petty Thieves Plague San Francisco. ‘These Last Two Years Have Been Insane.’

#71

Post by giantg2 »

micromacrofoot wrote: post #63
giantg2 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok... your point?

that retail theft is over-reported and has serious social implications that are outsized for the scale of theft just look at some of the comments here, people calling for increased prosecution of the poor (including jail time) without a mention of the wider scale deeds of the companies most commonly being stolen from

The examples you list are all ones that have resulted in punishments and compensation to the victims. Why would people be outraged with the system working as it should?

Of course the news blows almost everything out of proportion, but the general public is more worried about thefts going unpunished with seemingly no recourse.

Re: Petty Thieves Plague San Francisco. ‘These Last Two Years Have Been Insane.’

#73

Post by slg »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #68
slg wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't true. Insurance companies make money from float too which allows them to run on a loss when only comparing premiums to claims. It should be obvious that insurance serves as financial benefit for the insured or else the insurance industry would have collapsed a long time ago.

> This isn't true. Insurance companies make money from float too which allows them to run on a loss when only comparing premiums to claims. You know what we call a business that makes enough money on float to cover its operating costs? A bank. If the float was so lucrative they wouldn't need to charge "high enough to matter" premiums. Insurance companies don't have magical investments they can make that other busines…

You are twisting my comment and pretending I said something I didn't.

I didn't say float was enough to cover their operating costs. I said insurance companeis can and often do run for long stretches in which premiums do not cover claims. Float is the way this is accomplished. If an insurance company goes long stretches in which premiums do exeed claims, customers will begin to turn away. Interest on float is free money and therefore float has value regardless of how small the returns. These companies want as much float as possible and offering favorable terms to their clients is a great way to increase total available float.

Re: Petty Thieves Plague San Francisco. ‘These Last Two Years Have Been Insane.’

#74

Post by germinalphrase »

sokoloff wrote: post #5
throw_m239339 wrote: post #4

> Some former police officials said in interviews that officers don’t feel it is worth making an arrest in low-level cases because they assume the district attorney won’t file charges. They also point to a statewide ballot measure passed in 2014—Proposition 47—that raised the dollar amount at which theft can be prosecuted as a felony from $400 to $950. https://archive.fo/WlnP3

I read that as "I'm not going to do my job, because this other group isn't doing their job." I guess any city gets roughly the government they want/deserve/tolerate.

There are “strong rumors” that police officers up here in Minneapolis have been engaging in a ‘soft strike’ by refusing to leave the precinct or not answering calls. It’s framed as a defensive action intended to communicate “let’s remind everyone why they needs us”.

Re: Petty Thieves Plague San Francisco. ‘These Last Two Years Have Been Insane.’

#75

Post by wmf »

Lammy wrote: post #72

Yeah yeah, widespread human suffering, homelessness, blah blah blah whatever — won't somebody get their priorities straight and please think of the Property Crime instead??

Is San Francisco stuck in a situation where they only want to address the root of the problem but they don't have nearly enough money to do that so they do nothing?

Re: Petty Thieves Plague San Francisco. ‘These Last Two Years Have Been Insane.’

#76

Post by germinalphrase »

ayngg wrote: post #70
WalterBright wrote: post #7

It's coming to Seattle, too. Thieves smashed several of Nordstrom's windows at $50,000 apiece. Small businesses are simply giving up and leaving. I expect it won't be long before storefronts sprout rollup steel shields that extend from the pavement up and cover the complete storefront. That's what businesses do in Brazil. Amazon is abandoning one of its downtown buildings because the employees don't feel safe there a…

It is across the country at this point. IIRC Gascón, the former DA in SF is now the DA in LA and pursuing similar policies, while there are similar policies implemented or being implemented in other cities like Chicago and New York. People will blame the police, but I think this is a symptom of far greater issues in society, whose costs have been offloaded leaving the police to (poorly) manage it because that's proba…

We do seem to lay a lot at the feet of police officers and teachers to fix.

Re: Petty Thieves Plague San Francisco. ‘These Last Two Years Have Been Insane.’

#77

Post by drewwwwww »

sokoloff wrote: post #27
drewwwwww wrote: post #24

when the collective no longer seems interested in providing basic guarantees, the individuals will turn on each other. not because of a moral failing, but rather morality is a function of incentives. the sf city government is a failed-state kleptocracy beholden to the inertia of the political machine and rich landowners who shortsightedly vote against their own interests, in a massive region with no regional governan…

> a state kneecapped by antitax demagogues Is California known for low taxes or being anti-tax? I don’t live there, but as an outsider, I have the exact opposite impression. This puts it at the 10th highest overall tax burden: https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-highest-lowest-tax-bur...

I was referring to Prop 13, specifically

Re: Petty Thieves Plague San Francisco. ‘These Last Two Years Have Been Insane.’

#78

Post by QuikAccount »

IfOnlyYouKnew wrote: post #52
QuikAccount wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't believe the data is accurate simply because most crime of this level is not reported because the victims accurately believe nothing will happen.

That idea-whatever its merits—wouldn’t explain statistics holding steady during a rise in actual crimes. Unless people are drastically less likely to report crime than in the past, for which there is zero evidence. It’s just used when actual data doesn’t confirm what people want to be true.

> It’s just used when actual data doesn’t confirm what people want to be true.

You don't have to take my word for it. There are studies to support that property crime goes severely under-reported[1]. Also, people are drastically less likely to report crime when it is obviously nothing will happen and it cost more than the value of whatever was taken. Walmart loses millions on theft every year, they could stop it but stopping it would cost more than doing nothing.

[1] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/11/20/facts-about...

Re: Petty Thieves Plague San Francisco. ‘These Last Two Years Have Been Insane.’

#79

Post by Overtonwindow »

We’ve had a few years now of this escalating behavior in San Francisco. It would seem logical that voters would blame their elected representatives, and vote them out, but they haven’t. What could be the explanation for this? Is there a general sense that this is just city life? Or is it something more philosophical about the lives of those who commit crimes?

Re: Petty Thieves Plague San Francisco. ‘These Last Two Years Have Been Insane.’

#80

Post by the_cat_kittles »

WalterBright wrote: post #51
grumple wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Businesses already do that in many American cities.

In Seattle, inside the banks, the tellers are separated from the customers by armored glass and sliding trays. On the other side of Lake Washington, there are no such shields. That kinda says it all.

if you prefer Bellevue go there
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