Have retailers in Phoenix given up on combating theft? (Mesa: coupons, violent crime)
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Is shoplifting a real problem? Yes. Always has been. Is it as big a problem as the media makes it out to be? Not even close. Is there perhaps a political motive behind the spread of this narrative? (See also "Democrats are soft on crime" and "Democrat-run cities are hell-holes" Much of this blew up around the effort to recall the reform-leaning DA in SF.)
Organized retail crime is just one component of retailers’ inventory losses. It’s not the largest and is a lower percentage of overall shrink than it was five years ago, according to the NRF surveys.
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It’s also easier for companies and the public to blame theft for store closures and retail struggles than admit stores’ over-expansion, strategy mistakes and customers abandoning stores for online shopping, said Jonathan Simon, a criminal justice professor at UC Berkeley School of Law. “It’s much more convenient if we can blame it on people we already consider reprehensible,” he said.
Some industry executives who had howled about widespread shoplifting are starting to spin a new narrative. Walgreens attempted to use out-of-control shoplifting as the reason behind its decision to close five stores in San Francisco in 2021.
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External theft only represented a portion of overall losses, the survey shows. The largest share, roughly two-thirds of missing merchandise, is a result of employee theft, process failures, and unknown sources.
Moreover, back in 2019, Walgreens announced it would close 200 stores across the U.S. as part of a larger “cost-reduction” plan. The San Francisco Chronicle, in 2021, raised the question of “whether a $140 billion company was using an unsubstantiated narrative of unchecked shoplifting to obscure other possible factors in its decision."
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Mainstream media has historically gravitated toward sensationalist crime coverage that often obscures reality. With Walgreens, a similar pattern emerged: the drugstore chain’s dubious narrative was spread unchecked by some of the largest news organizations in the country.
. Is shoplifting a real problem? Yes. Always has been. Is it as big a problem as the media makes it out to be? Not even close. Is there perhaps a political motive behind the spread of this narrative? (See also "Democrats are soft on crime" and "Democrat-run cities are hell-holes" Much of this blew up around the effort to recall the reform-leaning DA in SF.)
I suspect Walgreens would disagree.
The recent closings bring to 22 the number of stores that Walgreens has shut in the city since 2016. “Theft in Walgreens’ San Francisco stores is four times the average for stores elsewhere in the country, and the chain spends 35 times more on security guards in the city than elsewhere,” reported the San Francisco Chronicle. Local lawmakers have said that Walgreens is too preoccupied with boosting profits, that theft isn’t that bad, and that the chain should just suck up the losses.
That argument might have more credibility if Walgreens was alone in airing concerns about shoplifting, but other large retailers have had similar problems. Earlier this year, a spokesman for CVS, which has closed at least two stores, told CNN that of its 155 locations in the Bay Area, the 12 in San Francisco account for 26% of all shoplifting incidents in the region.
Much of this lawlessness can be linked to Proposition 47, a California ballot initiative passed in 2014, under which theft of less than $950 in goods is treated as a nonviolent misdemeanor and rarely prosecuted. Out of concern for safety and potential lawsuits, stores tell employees and security guards not to intervene when they witness a crime. Most suspects, if they are pursued at all by police, are soon released. Californians effectively decriminalized shoplifting. Not surprisingly, they have more of it.
The recent closings bring to 22 the number of stores that Walgreens has shut in the city since 2016. “Theft in Walgreens’ San Francisco stores is four times the average for stores elsewhere in the country, and the chain spends 35 times more on security guards in the city than elsewhere,” reported the San Francisco Chronicle. Local lawmakers have said that Walgreens is too preoccupied with boosting profits, that theft isn’t that bad, and that the chain should just suck up the losses.
That argument might have more credibility if Walgreens was alone in airing concerns about shoplifting, but other large retailers have had similar problems. Earlier this year, a spokesman for CVS, which has closed at least two stores, told CNN that of its 155 locations in the Bay Area, the 12 in San Francisco account for 26% of all shoplifting incidents in the region.
Much of this lawlessness can be linked to Proposition 47, a California ballot initiative passed in 2014, under which theft of less than $950 in goods is treated as a nonviolent misdemeanor and rarely prosecuted. Out of concern for safety and potential lawsuits, stores tell employees and security guards not to intervene when they witness a crime. Most suspects, if they are pursued at all by police, are soon released. Californians effectively decriminalized shoplifting. Not surprisingly, they have more of it.
Apparently, the prior DA refused to prosecute theft crimes and characterized them as racist and a victimless crimes.
Probably one of many reasons he got recalled. Someone has to pay for all the theft guess who? me and you by paying higher prices for goods.
I hope everyday Phoenix doesn't become like SF, Portland, Seattle etc.
No, the DA's political opponents claimed that, but it was a gross mischaracterization. The DA merely opposed racist policies.
Also, the shoplifting claims, which Walgreens later walked back, were an attempt justify their previously planned store closings in poor areas.
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When the company announced it was closing five stores in San Francisco due to rampant theft, police data obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle revealed that “the five stores slated to close had fewer than two recorded shoplifting incidents a month on average since 2018.” Moreover, the company’s claims that thefts at its San Francisco stores were four times its national average were not reflected in citywide crime data
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The rhetoric linking shoplifting with reform measures is out of sync with the research. An analysis of arrest data in New York shows few people committed new crimes while out on bail. And crime-deterrence research demonstrates that harsher penalties do little to prevent crime.
"This is not a contested finding in the field of criminology,” said Jake Horowitz, director of the Pew Charitable Trusts’ safety and justice research. “Even a severe sanction like a potential felony, in which you’ll spend more than a year in prison, is not an effective deterrent.”
Happens here in our local grocery store. Big heavily built guy with a shopping basket brazenly walks out the door with his stuff. He wasn’t even confronted by the store security guy. He was petrified to even be near the guy. And me of course, retired on fixed income, pays through the nose for my inflated grocery items.
When the company announced it was closing five stores in San Francisco due to rampant theft, police data obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle revealed that “the five stores slated to close had fewer than two recorded shoplifting incidents a month on average since 2018.” Moreover, the company’s claims that thefts at its San Francisco stores were four times its national average were not reflected in citywide crime data
One of the stores set to close, on Ocean Avenue, had only seven reported shoplifting incidents this year and a total of 23 since 2018, the data showed. While not all shoplifting incidents are reported to police, the five stores slated to close had fewer than two recorded shoplifting incidents a month https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/artic...n-16536960.php
Of course, shoplifting incidents aren't being reported. Since 2014 you can steal up to $950 PER DAY in California and it's considered a misdemeanor. There is no reason to involve the police unless something out of the ordinary occurred.
This from the WSJ Local lawmakers have said that Walgreens is too preoccupied with boosting profits, that theft isn’t that bad, and that the chain should just suck up the losses.
That argument might have more credibility if Walgreens was alone in airing concerns about shoplifting,but other large retailers have had similar problems. Earlier this year, a spokesman for CVS, which has closed at least two stores, told CNN that of its 155 locations in the Bay Area, the 12 in San Francisco account for 26% of all shoplifting incidents in the region.
But this forum is about the Phx metro and I live in E. Mesa. So...
From what I have seen in the local Fry store theft is not permitted. There are employees watching. The nearby Red Mountain park closes at 10 pm and opens again at 5:00 am (?) I believe the restrooms are locked at night. You can't camp there, get high or whatever. It's a family park and the Mesa Sheriff Dept patrols the area. I like what Mesa is doing.
Now, Mesa is considered the ugly step child when compared with the big three sisters (Gilbert, Tempe and Chandler.)
However, gentrification is taking place and I think the future is promising.
I had to get a few things at Target today while shopping I noticed two males in their teens maybe early 20s walk up to the Deli and take a few items off the hot case and walk out of the store like it was nothing.
A few minutes later another individual rode one of those scooters for the handicapped full of merchandise out of the store. Granted the loss prevention person caught them and took the stuff back but no consequences for the thief or thieves.
Seems every week I go to this store I see thieves mostly vagrants/druggies walking out with items without the security people or the employees doing anything to stop it.
I did ask a few of the employees what is going on I was informed management has told them they cannot apprehend or touch any of the thieves and that because the store is insured it's not a big priority for the store I was floored say what? Are you telling me theft is now no big deal at Target?
Retailers with these lax attitudes are only encouraging shoplifting. If it's not stopped, it often moves on to other more serious crimes: stealing larger ticket items, breaking & entering, robbing people at gunpoint, etc. I don't buy the reasoning that the store is insured, so it's not a big deal. These stores have been insured for as long as I can remember, but management & employees used to be much less tolerant about stealing. Blowing it off by saying "oh well, the insurance will cover the loss" causes insurance rates (and prices) to increase across the board.
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Originally Posted by Goofball86
the employee also said it's because of covid.
I would have told that employee that he's spewing a load of horse sh*t. They're using COVID as an easy scapegoat, just like many others have done over the last 3 years. COVID is not a valid excuse for inaction & laziness then, now, nor anytime!
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Originally Posted by FlurryCat
Is shoplifting a real problem? Yes. Always has been. Is it as big a problem as the media makes it out to be? Not even close. Is there perhaps a political motive behind the spread of this narrative? (See also "Democrats are soft on crime" and "Democrat-run cities are hell-holes" Much of this blew up around the effort to recall the reform-leaning DA in SF.)
This isn't a political issue ... it's a criminal issue. Shoplifting is stealing, and stealing is criminal, plain & simple. If these thieves are not stopped in their tracks & prosecuted, they'll keep getting away with stealing, and it's the consumers (you and I) who end up paying higher prices as a result.
Retailers with these lax attitudes are only encouraging shoplifting. If it's not stopped, it often moves on to other more serious crimes: stealing larger ticket items, breaking & entering, robbing people at gunpoint, etc. I don't buy the reasoning that the store is insured, so it's not a big deal. These stores have been insured for as long as I can remember, but management & employees used to be much less tolerant about stealing. Blowing it off by saying "oh well, the insurance will cover the loss" causes insurance rates (and prices) to increase across the board.
I would have told that employee that he's spewing a load of horse sh*t. They're using COVID as an easy scapegoat, just like many others have done over the last 3 years. COVID is not a valid excuse for inaction & laziness then, now, nor anytime!
This isn't a political issue ... it's a criminal issue. Shoplifting is stealing, and stealing is criminal, plain & simple. If these thieves are not stopped in their tracks & prosecuted, they'll keep getting away with stealing, and it's the consumers (you and I) who end up paying higher prices as a result.
The Target in question is part of Christown. That whole area is full of thieves, vagrants, druggies, you name it. Phoenix in general seems to get more lawless by the day.
The Target in question is part of Christown. That whole area is full of thieves, vagrants, druggies, you name it. Phoenix in general seems to get more lawless by the day.
Well, it had better get its act together and fast if it wants to attract major companies.
They won't come if the downtown area turns into a complete mess like we see in other major cities.
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say what? Are you telling me theft is now no big deal at Target?
