Voice of San Francisco
Shoplifting is a plague that continues to grow with John Rothmann
This is John Rothman, and you are listening to the voice of San Francisco. I walked into Walgreens this weekend, I had to pick something up. And one thing I noticed, and it's funny, I guess, sometimes you don't notice the obvious things, but cabinets were locked. If you wanted to purchase certain items, you had to call an employee over with a key to unlock so you could secure the item you wanted to buy. And, of course, I took a walk down Castro recently, and I noticed that Cliff's variety in the Castro district of San Francisco, well, they now have a security guard. Why? Because of shoplifting, they also have locks on things. And the question becomes, as we go into a mares race, and the whole question about whether to vote for or against a proposition which would stiffen the ability to go after shoplifters, well, I had a fundamental question, and that is, you can pass Prop 36. We can do everything we can to alert ourselves to what goes on. But do you understand guards are now being hired, tasers are being used. There are thieves coming into stores and simply shoplifting and walking away with whatever they want. And by the way, it was very interesting. I talked with one of the guards, and I asked, what do you do if you see a shoplifter? And the answer was nothing. I said nothing. So what are you here for? They answered with a clear question. By the way, I spoke with more than just one about this, I've done it in several different locations when I say they, having a uniform security officer is used as an attempt to discourage shoplifting, not prevented. And this is a real question. The Chronicle in this morning's story describes this, two encounters the urban outfitter guard who was not authorized to speak to the media, shook his head. His expression resigned. He said he had not bothered calling police, chasing shoplifters is not a good use of their time and guard the guard insisted, citing shifts in California law. You know, it's a curious thing when people who own shops cannot protect themselves from shoplifting. I had an experience in our supermarket, and they have a fair amount of shoplifting going on there. And I spoke to the owner, and I asked him, what do you do about shoplifting? And the answer was nothing. We have instructed our employees to do nothing because there's nothing you really can do. And, and will the police come when you call them? Well, first of all, it's not a priority in terms of crime. There are other things far more serious. Second of all, by the time you call them, by the time they get there, the issue may have been concluded, the shoplifter will have left. So we are left with a feeling of lawlessness. Now, I've been listening to the candidates for mayor and candidates for the Board of Supervisors very carefully, and I want everyone to know that as sincere as I believe all of those candidates are, there is little they as candidates or potential officeholders can really do the shoplifters who come into a store to term it a shoplift, particularly when they come in in groups. What do you do in that situation? This is important. The Chronicle observed today that guards add a uniform presence, supplementing an already high concentration of police patrols. But having all those eyes on the street didn't seem to matter on a recent Wednesday morning when thieves struck two stores at the intersection. That's the Chronicle account, but it's my account, it's your account. There is only one thing we can do, remind people, all people, that if shoplifters can get away with doing what they're doing, it hurts all of us, and yes, in the end it hurts them as well. I have to comment on the fact that we have had a law here in San Francisco about street vendors, and some of the street vendors get very upset because they are cleared off the streets if they don't have licenses. But more than that, I took a stroll in the mission, and I saw street vendors who clearly were selling stolen goods. That's the point, isn't it, that we have a handicap in trying to prevent thieves from thieving. I guess the only thing we can do is to mount our patrols to make sure the police are well funded to hope that store security is kept at a level where it's not oppressive, but where store owners feel better. And if there are rising prices, and if there are fewer opportunities to shop, and if people who are planning to open businesses become more reluctant to open those businesses because of shoplifting, it's a sad day for our society. We need to work together as a community to discourage that kind of shoplifting. Yes, I know it's not easy, I know I've not given you an answer, I know that it is not an easy time to live, not just in San Francisco, but across this country. But unless we have order in our society, unless shopkeepers have the security of knowing that their stores are safe, we are all going to suffer. I'll be blunt, I don't have an answer, but I think we have to discuss the questions, we have to be alert to what's going on, we have to recognize that in our lives in the future, it'll be much tougher to walk into a store and get an object without asking a clerk to unlock and make available to us the object we want. It's a sad commentary on where we are, and I don't like sad commentaries, I'm a very hopeful person. But let's be aware of what has happened and what is changing in our day-to-day lives. It impacts our community profoundly. Wish I had a better answer. I am John Rothman, and you are listening to The Voice of San Francisco.