California Gives Shoplifters Another Free Pass
New legislation would handcuff retailers and impose costly new regulatory burdens.
by STEVEN GREENHUT
August 23, 2023, 10:54 PM
SACRAMENTO — Several years ago, I was shopping in a Santa Ana big-box store when a nondescript young man asked the clerk to show him a video game system — probably a $200-to-$300 item — that was kept in a locked cabinet. She handed it to him and he then nonchalantly put it under his arm and slowly walked away with it, exiting through the alarmed exit door. Employees and customers (myself included) just stood there and watched this theft take place.
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It’s not clear what anyone could have done about it. Many retailers have a policy forbidding non-security employees from confronting thieves, for the obvious reason that it can potentially lead to an escalation endangering everyone in the area. Nevertheless, I was struck by the brazenness of the crime — and was left feeling sorry for businesses that are trying to put the kibosh on such losses. Capitol One data shows that California has the highest (in overall numbers and per capita) retail-theft losses, amounting to nearly $8 billion in 2021.
In the ensuing years, the retail-theft problem has reached nearly crisis levels in the state. The perpetrators aren’t just individual thieves but organized networks of criminals who coordinate their activities on social media. The Los Angeles Times reported in 2021 that “retail gangs steal nearly 25% of total sales in San Francisco and Oakland combined, which amounted to around $15.5 billion in 2019, according to the state agency that tracks sales tax.”
https://spectator.org/california-gives-shoplifters-another-free-pass/
