The SF Shoplifting Surge

If you’ve been on the internet lately, you’ve probably seen one of the two recent San Francisco shoplifting videos that have gone viral. They are shocking, because in both of the videos the thieves are incredibly open and brazen about what they are doing. One video shows a guy on a bicycle, inside a San Francisco area drug store, stuffing stolen merchandise into a garbage bag before cycling out of the store. And just as that video was hitting viral status, another video surfaced of a gang of thieves stealing expensive purses from a high-end department store and sprinting out the door, their arms filled with loot.

This doesn’t appear to be another example of a random video causing an internet frenzy that is hyping something as a huge problem when the problem doesn’t really exist. The stories linked above, from a local San Francisco news station, report an alarming rise in shoplifting–so much so that according to the California Retailers Association, San Francisco is now one of the ten worst cities in America for shoplifting. And retailers are reacting to the alarming surge by shutting down stores or curtailing their hours–although the latter approach might not have an impact given that the thefts in the two videos happened in broad daylight. When retailers close stores or reduce hours of operation, and thereby cut into their revenue streams, you know there is a real problem.

According to one San Francisco official, the increase in shoplifting is the result of a concerted effort by organized criminal gangs, rather than unplanned crimes of opportunity. The S.F. police department and district attorney’s office have been asked to come up with a plan to deal with the problem before it gets worse and more stores close.

The answer to the problem seems pretty obvious: stationing more police, and establishing a more visible police presence, in the retail areas that are experiencing the surge, putting a priority on catching shoplifters, and then prosecuting the apprehended criminals to the fullest extent of the law. The bicycle bandit in one of the viral videos apparently has been caught and is in custody, and that news may help to discourage future theft.

I hope San Francisco takes this effort seriously. I’ve enjoyed my trips to the City by the Bay in the past, but no one wants to go to a place where open criminal activity is occurring. Viral videos like these suggest an atmosphere of lawlessness and insecurity. A would-be visitor’s concern is that if criminals are audaciously engaging in open retail theft, they might be emboldened to engage in other criminal acts, like crimes against people. When people have that perception, they’ll find another place to visit–or live.