They ran in grabbed stuff and the security guard stood by and did nothing.

People just stuffing meat into backpacks and walking out. In the daytime, not at night.

Dealt with it all through my decades in the grocery business and it really sucked to find empty packages stuffed behind other product, to see someone make it out the door with a load of steaks or booze. Just pisses you off when you work all day just to see the product stolen.

Security. Ones that act. More people on floor.

theft under $950 is considered a misdemeanor, so the cops won’t bother to arrest anybody, if they even show up.

Last edited Sun Oct 31, 2021, 06:17 PM - Edit history (1)

When I left San Francisco fifteen-plus years ago, the Board of Supervisors was loaded with pseduo-progressive fringe loons more concerned with making "statements" on international matters than dealing with local issues. Because of all these stories about store closures and in-your-face shoplifting, I presume that's still the case.

Security, as things stand now, cannot act to stop shoplifters. If you touch a criminal in SF, especially if you're not a cop, there are lawyers waiting to try to redistribute your "wealth" and the wealth of your employer.

I have personal experience with this. A few years ago an obscenity-screaming idiot attacked me at a bus stop while I was still dressed for work, and when I defended myself they tried (but failed) to have me arrested. Because I was wearing my work uniform--and had reported the incident to my employer, since the bus stop was right in front of my workplace--a few weeks later my employer told me lawyers were threatening to sue them on behalf of my attacker. Unfortunately for the lawyers, this threat opened access to the arrest report to me, complete with my attacker's rather unique name. A couple of minutes Googling revealed that my attacker has a lengthy history of pulling this shit, and the occasional peek at public records shows that they get arrested every two or three months on average for physical assault. Yet they somehow had legal representation that I can't even afford to fantasize about.

Throughout the Bay Area, criminals and violent individuals are left to their own devices because it's easier for the public to do nothing--and demand everyone else do nothing--than make tough choices. This is the result. Stores don't stay open in high-crime areas.

I was in my prime before Reagan started all this garbage. At least all this garbage in the current era, it's happened over and over. I still remember coming back to San Diego from a business trip to San Francisco and crying because I thought I was coming back to Hicksville. Ah, the good old days. Anyway, I'm still looking for a good place to be before I croak, not that I deserve it, but, as Dr. Brown said, what the hell.

I have lived in San Francisco for 30 years and loved my car-free life here, but if I could retire anywhere near the ocean in SD I would be there in a heartbeat.

At least it was in the eighties which is the most recent I can vouch for. I mean I thought San Francisco was even better.