Retail theft — Blog

Book 'em, Danno

Today, in things you love to see: a notorious retail thief was convicted last week of stealing from our local Target store. This is a win for those us who follow the rules and pay for the stuff we buy. I sure hope San Francisco will continue enforcing laws and put some actual consequences to offenders. (Please do traffic violators next.) The citizenry deserves to live in a civilized society that is free of these nuisances.

I point any defeatist attitudes towards the island nation of Japan. There I can leave stuff in the backseat of our rental car, with the full expectation that the items will still be there upon returning. We - the United States - can and should also have such nice things. To say otherwise is simply tyranny of low expectations.

To the people who say Target’s insurance will make the company whole - therefore the few thievery should de-facto be tolerated: do you actively try to get into car accidents? Your auto insurance will repair your vehicle fully, am I right? That asshole in a truck not merging properly: I’m going to let him hit me. That will teach him! I am in the right!

Retail-theft is not a victimless crime. Regular, law-abiding shoppers are victims when we have to summon a staff person just to buy a tub of detergent. The workers are victims when they witness the thefts happening, and can do nothing about it (nor should they, from a safety perspective). The community can potentially be victims when the problem becomes so bad that entire stores shut down.

I don’t know about you, but I rather enjoying have a Target within walking distance.

A scourge on civilized society

I really want to support my local Target store. I try to buy stuff there (instead of Amazon) as often as possible. However, when the thing I want to buy is locked up behind security boxes - requiring the assistance of a store clerk to open - I immediately give up and order that same item from Amazon. Sorry, I really cannot be bothered to talk to someone just to buy something.

I remember a time visiting Austin, Texas. The local CVS there has no such funny business. Every item was out in the open, not a security case to be seen. What a revelation that a well-functioning society should not subject its local populace to rampant retail thievery. Worse, there’s hardly any consequences for that sort of crime in the San Francisco Bay Area. Go to the 24th and Mission BART station and you can see vendors selling goods stolen from the likes of Target, Walgreens, and CVS. It’s madness.

I was at a Walgreens recently. Three young teens that looks to be of high school age walked in, and I immediately knew they were trouble. They took their sweet time to find items they wanted, stuffed them into their bags and jackets, then simply walked right out. Nobody working at the store paid any attention, not one person said anything.

And I don’t blame them. This is America, after all: you have no idea who has a gun and can shoot you for speaking out. Fellow shoppers just want to be left alone in peace. The minimum-wage store clerks definitely do not get paid enough to deal with this shit. Even for dedicated loss-prevention officers, potentially losing your life over theft is absolutely not a worthy tradeoff.

I don’t know what the solutions are. Smarter people have to figure out a solution to retail theft. It creates a wholly unpleasant situation for anyone. People coming into stores to steal utterly terrorize other shoppers while the act is being committed. Stores, in order to stem the tide, erect barriers that inconveniences otherwise law-abiding citizens. Eventually, it spirals into the store closing, like the Whole Foods in the heart of downtown San Francisco.

For the teens doing retail theft, I ask: “Where the heck are the parents?”