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

wsj.com

31–40 of 91 posts

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

#31
post #25

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.

Do businesses not have insurance? Does this insurance not ask for a police report?

Unlikely that Walgreens files a report each and every time someone walks out with a few sticks of deoderant. They probably just log it and send a monthly report to the insurance company.

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

#32
post #20
post #8

> Property crimes declined in San Francisco during the first year of the pandemic, but rose 13% in 2021. There is an ongoing national narrative about how shoplifting and petty theft has been out of control and yet the numbers rarely back up this narrative. A two year stretch in which the numbers dropped then bounced back up by 13% is not "insane" by any stretch of the imagination.

The numbers are based off what gets reported. Nobody reports anything in San Francisco any more. It's subpar work on the part of the WSJ not to understand that, but when calling the police is a waste of time, the numbers aren't going to reflect reality.

If you don't report the problem the problem won't get fixed. This is for social issues as well as software issues.

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

#33

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…

so what do you propose as a solution

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

#34
post #8

> Property crimes declined in San Francisco during the first year of the pandemic, but rose 13% in 2021. There is an ongoing national narrative about how shoplifting and petty theft has been out of control and yet the numbers rarely back up this narrative. A two year stretch in which the numbers dropped then bounced back up by 13% is not "insane" by any stretch of the imagination.

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.

Clearly the data is inaccurate so guess we have to go by our gut that this is an increasing problem?

I don't know, definitely don't trust myself to not notice something a lot more when it becomes a big thing in the media.

Why do you think there has been this sudden uptick in under-reporting? When did it start?

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

#35

wage theft still vastly eclipses all retail theft, yet gets far fewer headlines… ask yourself why whenever you see the retail theft reporting hysteria the people stealing from retail have very likely had more of their labor stolen than they’re lifting (it’s likely true for you too) https://fair.org/home/shoplifting-is-big-news-stealing-milli... https://www.epi.org/publication/wage-theft-bigger-problem-fo...

"the people stealing from retail have very likely had more of their labor stolen than they’re lifting"

I'm skeptical of that. Do you have any info on the demographics and work history of the perpetrators? I'd imagine that many are younger and may not have worked enough to have this be true.

Even then, I doubt they're stealing from the company that stole from them, and it doesn't make it right.

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

#36

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…

No post body was provided.

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

#37
post #8

> Property crimes declined in San Francisco during the first year of the pandemic, but rose 13% in 2021. There is an ongoing national narrative about how shoplifting and petty theft has been out of control and yet the numbers rarely back up this narrative. A two year stretch in which the numbers dropped then bounced back up by 13% is not "insane" by any stretch of the imagination.

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.

No post body was provided.

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

#38
post #5

> 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.

They aren't the government. But if you detect crimes that are not prosecuted, you probably aren't going to get anything out of it, including a criminal brought to justice, so why bother?

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

#39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it really 13%, or... A. The city has incentive to hide the actual numbers[1], and B. Most business owners don't bother anymore with reporting, because what's the point? I'd say it's probably a combination of the above. Edit: [1]Because it is an election year. High crime looks bad.

Aren't most stores insured, and if so wouldn't this data be available due to insurance claims?

Businesses don't file insurance claims when the losses are too small to justify paying the insurance premium, plus taking the time to file a police report and insurance report. Also, the losses are so frequent that they add up quickly - and the amount of effort required to file reports and claims for all of them is not economically viable.

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

#40
post #8

> Property crimes declined in San Francisco during the first year of the pandemic, but rose 13% in 2021. There is an ongoing national narrative about how shoplifting and petty theft has been out of control and yet the numbers rarely back up this narrative. A two year stretch in which the numbers dropped then bounced back up by 13% is not "insane" by any stretch of the imagination.

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.

But that’s probably always been true.
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