San Francisco's Shoplifting Surge

[Hortensis]

5. "Organized retail crime." Sounds like it, contributed to by a perfect storm of

negative factors. Makes me wonder for the first time where the goods come from for a depressingly boring flea market we dropped by once. Discount "dollar store" under tarps by an interstate.

Fwiw, there's no evidence that increasing the felony threshhold is a significant factor; that's a typical ignorant assumption and RW notion that harsh penalties and school-to-prison pipelines reduce crime and stand between us and the abyss.

Other states increased the felony threshold for petty crimes, some to more than SF's $950. In TX it's $2500. Raising the misdemeanor-to-felony threshold has been studied, and it is not followed by increased crime. In SF, criminal misdemeanors are still crimes, and perps still go to jail. Break in and steal a Snickers or threaten or hurt anyone while grabbing a bottle of water and it's a felony.