Walgreens plans to close 5 San Francisco stores, citing rampant shoplifting and 'organized retail crime'

"I am completely devastated by this news - this Walgreens is less than a mile from seven schools and has been a staple for seniors, families and children for decades. This closure will significantly impact this community," Ahsha Safaí, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, wrote on Twitter about the upcoming closures.

What about all the crime Ahsha that is significantly impacting your community? Maybe that should devastate you. Jesus people are dopes.

Can someone explain why cities run by Democrats have the highest crime rates?

Oh, r2, bless your heart.

What is "organized retail crime?"

Meanwhile NYC drugstores are empty of most merchandise because of shoplifting. It’s like living in a third world country. This is a huge issue and defund the police and more bail reform aren’t going to cut it.

Organized retail crime is organized shoplifting which seems to no longer be a crime the police enforce.

[quote]Can someone explain why cities run by Democrats have the highest crime rates?

LOL. Not even gonna touch that one with a 30-foot pole, dawg.

The super rich got a 1.6 trillion dollar gift from Trump. This isn't an issue

[quote] This isn't an issue

It’s an issue for me. I’m elderly and rely on retail. I don’t have unlimited funds to cover prices that include massive theft.

Is delivery an option for you, R8?

It's hard to spin this as good news, but the activists will try. Lady time Walgreens announced closures in SF, the activists on the board of supervisors called them racist. I guess that didn't work though. Maybe it will work this time?

R8,then vote Democrat! Lower drug prescription prices, real Healthcare, and taxing the rich

[quote] This isn't an issue

What an attitude. Explains a lot.

When people are sick it’s essential to have a drugstore nearby to meds and their perscriptions filled. Delivery isn’t an option especially in an area of high Crome. Fuck the,person who said this wasn’t an issue.

…crime. This is potentially a life or death problem for some people.

The wealthy don't shop there. They don't care.

[quote] then vote Democrat! Lower drug prescription prices

The issue is a lawless, outlaw society in SF now.

[quote] This isn't an issue

Since theft and prices to cover it doesn’t affect you, then not a problem. Such a selfish attitude.

Enforcing the laws against theft is racist.

Too bad, this is what you get by non enforcement, cry me a river.

[quote]Can someone explain why cities run by Democrats have the highest crime rates?

r2, it's a mystery isn't it? It's almost as if defunding the police, making shoplifting under $950 a misdemeanor and making it impossible for judges to hold criminals for all but the most serious crimes (even if, for example, that person has robbed the same store every day for the last month) are incredibly stupid and irresponsible policy decisions that end of hurting the poor. I wouldn't lump all Democrats in these ridiculous decisions but the party has taken a disturbing move towards the far-left as a whole.

It isn’t something like the mob R4. It is usually an organized smash and grab. 10 people enter the state in quick succession. On cue, they grab everything in sight and run. Even if the store has security, which of the ten do you peruse?

Try Safeway delivery, and find pharmacys that deliver.

And just strolls away. No rush.

[quote]"I am completely devastated by this news - this Walgreens is less than a mile from seven schools and has been a staple for seniors, families and children for decades. This closure will significantly impact this community," Ahsha Safaí, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, wrote on Twitter about the upcoming closures.

"We've demonstrated through inaction our tacit approval of organized theft and other crimes against companies because we think that we don't have to uphold the law or protect them from illegal activity. Of course, we don't want to live with the consequences of our choice not to act and expect them to suck it up to follow our warped social agenda."

There. fixed it for her.

Is 'Frisco ripe for Squid Games?

Most grocery store chains have a pharmacy (like CVS) inside of them.

San Francisco has become the Wild West. Defund the police is dumb also.

We're going to have fewer and fewer retail stores if theft and loss can't be remediated.

R19 These policies have little to do with the real left. If you actually talk to poor people they'll tell you how they want competent policing. It's rich liberals who have a real fetish for anarcho tyranny.

R26 It's curious how rich tech people benefit from fewer retail stores. They order everything online anyway, even prescriptions so Walgreens closing doesn't effect them. Fewer retail stores = fewer poor people = city becomes a playground for just the super rich.

They're lying. They're closing stores because they aren't getting enough customers. Btw, theft isn't going up in San Francisco

You Republicans are just looking to grandstand about "defunding the police" even though crime went down in Newark when they defended the police. European countries don't have enormous police budgets but most of them are a lot safer than the US

R26 hasn't actually checked San Francisco's crime statistics, probably because he's too strung out on meth in his West Virginia trailer park

R23, you are the one with the warped agenda because you're taking these lies at face value. They were planning on closing these stores anyway

R19, shoplifting isn't going up. For a supposed Dem, you just love right-wing talking points don't you?

New York had more crime under Giuliani than it does now. Weird how all the freepers want to ignore that

Ignore r2 and r19, r32. That's their only posts. Hmmmm.

Ignore r34. He's a right-wing troll

"Meanwhile NYC drugstores are empty of most merchandise because of shoplifting. It’s like living in a third world country. This is a huge issue and defund the police and more bail reform aren’t going to cut it."

In fiscal year 2020 New York City’s expenses for the New York City Police Department (NYPD) will total $10.9 billion.

Nearly $11 billion yet the drugstores are empty due to shoplifting.

How much more funding does the NYPD need? $20 billion? $200 billion? Will that put shampoo back on the shelves at Duane Reade?

A common tactic of right-wing trolls is to create a bunch of threads whining about blue cities like New York, San Francisco, and L.A while ignoring all the poverty and hopelessness is places like Mississippi, Alabama, and West Virginia. And the state with the highest rape rate is.....Alaska

How so, r32 , r35? Read my post again. I was pointing out to *you* that r2 and r19 were trolls.

In the summer of 2020 this wasn't theft and we were told that "this is why stores have insurance" as people looted and destroyed businesses. Which month did theft and vandalism become illegal again?

The radical lefties, who are young and thus believe they know everything, argued for so-called petty crimes to be decriminalized, or at least to stop arresting people for committing them. They figured minorities were being targeted and it was unfair to give people a criminal record for fairly minor (in their eyes) offenses, since that affects their ability to get jobs and housing.

The result is blatant thievery. When they know they won't get busted, the organized retail crime gangs recruit people to go into stores and steal for them. They then resell the merchandise online or to independent thrift/small stores.

Retail theft has become a big gang-controlled business. And for all you fools who've deluded yourselves that decriminalizing drugs will solve the gang problem - see, it won't. Because they just diversify into other profitable types of crime.

I worked at a pharmacy in a nice area of London (Battersea) in the early 00s. We regularly dealt with this problem (brazen shoplifting, usually of razor blades, diapers and baby formula because apparently the resale value is high) and the shoplifters knew as well as the employees did that the police, unless they were literally on-site at the time, weren't going to do anything. Our store manager was directed from above not to do anything (and this was a chain pharmacy so this was all-stores policy) and so we were also directed not to do anything. It was 2-3x a week that I would watch people walk out with armfuls of goods.

This isn't a new problem. It's not a San Francisco problem or even a USA problem. Police not having the resources (or the will? which is it? and if it's both which it very likely is, what's the solution besides more funding?) to respond to petty or low level crime is ongoing, and the Conservatives in the UK have slashed police budgets. American cops seem generally badly trained and trigger happy as well, which doesn't appear to help when it comes to earning the trust of communities (which anyone who wants to have a serious conversation about this knows).

This is definitely a favourite topic of right wing trolls, though, and as ever is far more complex than they'll admit.

[quote] European countries don't have enormous police budgets but most of them are a lot safer than the US

Gee I WONDER WHY?

[quote]Will that put shampoo back on the shelves at Duane Reade?

No because it will get stolen

Where are all the Koreans with their shotguns?

[quote] This isn't a new problem. It's not a San Francisco problem or even a USA problem. Police not having the resources (or the will? which is it? and if it's both which it very likely is, what's the solution besides more funding?) to respond to petty or low level crime is ongoing, and the Conservatives in the UK have slashed police budgets.

Solutions?

Maybe design an automatic lock system so that no one can leave the store until the cops arrive.

Or just shoot on-sight.

I mean, since it's the Wild West and all.

whew reading these comments makes me believe the right just wants to live happily in a police state.

CVS is next, in Manhattan.

It is so fucking depressing going in there. Everything is locked up, the shelves are empty, the poor employees are totally demoralized. I have seen the shoplifters. I have attended community meeting with police for years now.

Interestingly, they are going to be working closely with the new Target that’s coming to our neighborhood soon, to catch shoplifters. I’ll have to dig a little deeper to see why that is. Target is known to be proactive in prosecuting shoplifters. Target does not play. Maybe they don’t care about looking racist.

It's not a question of how much you fund the police if the policymakers, prosecutors, and judges decree the work of the police will be useless.

Dorothy, in the upcoming movie "Wizard of Walgreens":

[italic]Gee, I wonder why the prices for everything are so high here![/italic]

[quote] crime. This is potentially a life or death problem for some people.

Yup, real life consequences

R36

Since you seem woefully ignorant about how criminal justice system operates, let me break things down for you like a fraction.

NYPD or any LE can only make arrests. Everything that happens afterwards is work of prosecutors and court system.

New York has joined several other places with "bail reform" laws that basically treat shoplifting as not such a big deal. Arrests *are* made, but thieves are released in < 24 hours with nothing more than a desk appearance ticket. Often criminals are back out on streets before LE has even completed their paperwork. Liberal, progressive and socialist judges have bought into "no bail" or whatever and refuse to hear anything prosecutors have to say.

Long story short it doesn't fucking matter how many arrests NYPD or any LE make if courts are just going to let people back out on street.

R48

If a Walmart security camera operator catches you shoplifting, they just identify you and wait for you to shoplift again. Once it reaches the felony level they arrest you. They track you from store to store, state by state.

They know that the cops won't do jack shit about petty theft, so they wait until you reach the felony level before they release all of the video evidence showing you stole from them.

The closure of these pharmacies will be devastating to minority communities they serve. Unfortunately, when the government allows people to steal with impunity, it makes business unprofitable.

This is proof that shoplifting from chain stores is good for society. Fuck Walgreens lol

End-stage liberalism. Not until the social anarchy infests the wealthy liberal residential areas will attitudes change.

Oh no r54 that means Robin DiAngelo will have to move out of her affluent, lily-white neighborhood!

R2 Your claim is easily disputed:

Austin has had sixty murders this year, the highest number since 1984, which was either 59 or 60. (We average about 35/year.) Further, Austin consistently votes 75%+ Democratic. I’m sure others can weigh in with more data.

My city brands itself super liberal and it’s a nightmare. People are leaving county government positions in droves because the mayor is an idiot who brands any criticism as racism.

We haven’t reached the SF level of lawlessness. But now I know how it begins.

[quote] People are leaving county government positions in droves because the mayor is an idiot who brands any criticism as racism.

And those positions will all be filled with people like the mayor and the problem will snowball

r51 The bail reform measures are done so that we no longer spend $1000 per week keeping people locked up while they wait for trial. During that time, they're evicted from their apartments, cars get repossessed, child support goes unpaid, they lose their jobs, and then four, six, or eight weeks later many don't even end up going to trial and are released. Or they make a plea agreement and are released. They are now homeless, jobless, lack transportation, and god knows where their kids have been this whole time but they don't have money to feed them.

I don't know that this was the right answer. I do know that DECADES of Republican bullshit (along with Dems who didn't want to look soft on crime at election time) resulted in many judges routinely requesting $10-25k bail for minor crimes. There was one judge who just requested $25k of anyone who appeared before him for more than a decade. Few could pay. Countless lives ruined at taxpayer expense. Especially those who shouldnt have been arrested and were released after police realized they'd made a mistake.

Think of what they sell in drug stores. Baby forumula. Diapers. Band-aids. Detergent to wash clothes. Tylenol. Might be cheaper to just give people what they need.

Is delivery always free? If not then how does it help people on limited incomes.

Next someone will suggest they send their maid out to get things

Poor people who need to steal to buy shampoo can easily afford internet fees and delivery fees. Everyone knows that.

Bail reform was an idea with good intentions but needs reform itself. If not, nobody has to worry about Democratic cities having all the crime because they won’t be led by Dems anymore. Crime in NYC got us Rudy and 20 years of Republican mayors. If Republicans weren’t contaminated with the Trump stink they’d be cleaning up in all future elections. Now NYC will get Eric Adams as Mayor ( a former Republican ex cop,) just a heads up to what the blue cities can expect. And defund the police has been a flop and disaster just as every sane person predicted.

in Tucson Az...Walgreen's has closed 3 stores within the last 5 years that were renovated within the last 10 years all along a major east west corridor... i don't get it.

Some of you don't have a clue, not a single one...

These people are not shoplifting out of need, but for resale. Just go onto eBay, CL, FB Marketplace, and any other online where you'll find pages and pages of Tide detergent, toothpaste and every other household goods, cleaning products, clothing, etc.... All from sellers who seem to have an inexhaustible supply.

It's either that or these people steal to resell to bodegas and other down market shops who cannot afford to get merchandise through normal distribution channels.

In short no one is stealing a fucking entire case of Hagen Daz ice cream because they are hungry.

More:

[quote] If Republicans weren’t contaminated with the Trump stink they’d be cleaning up in all future elections.

October 13, 2021 --- Republican Jon Dunwell has won a special election for the Iowa House, flipping a Newton-based district that Democrats have held for years.

It's the second special election win for the GOP this fall. Last month, Republican Mike Bousselot won a competitive race to keep an Ankeny-based Iowa House seat under GOP control.

I can do this all day....

Still more....

Much more profitable when you don't have to pay for the merchandise you sell

Thing is these idiots are selling Tide and other products for twice or more what you can find at local stores, especially when things are on sale. When you add shipping and taxes these things aren't a very good deal.

Usually you can find same products on Amazon for less and get free shipping, especially if you're on Prime.

Hmm, come to mention it I *did* think it was odd that there was so much sunscreen for sale on eBay this summer when I couldn’t find it at my local CVS, R68.

To the people who think being soft on shoplifting is better than being harsh: are you glad that minority communities will no longer have drug stores once they all close because of excessive shrink? And do you think the people who join retail theft gangs have personal agency, or no?

Furthermore now some of you may understand why federal government is cracking down on eBay, PayPal, and other such places with reporting requirements. It also explains Biden's proposal requiring financial institutions to report yearly in and out flows of accounts in aggregate if over "X" USD per month (current number is $600).

Ebay long ago stopped allowing sellers to accept checks or other payments by mail or in person. You have to use PayPal or some other credit or debit card.

Oh and there is still more fresh hell to come out of Congress. Currently being crafted and debated is the Shop Safe Act that would wreck havoc on all online sellers and various platforms.

eBay is already fucking their sellers, taking twice as much as they used to from my profits.

R59

If the same persons weren't arrested again and again after being let out with little to no bail it would lend more weight to your post.

As things stand now same people who commit these "minor" crimes or offenses go right back to business as usual once released from custody.

When you consider how much effort goes into finding these persons by LE, for someone to be arrested nearly fifty times in a short window of time take some doing.

R70 I’m glad that any community can be protected from a ‘pharmacy’ that makes most of its money selling shitty food, cigarettes, makeup and alcohol rather than perform the service it’s supposed to be providing.

Srsly wtf is wrong with the American concept of a pharmacy. It’s supposed to be things like sunscreen and prescription medication, not some fucking off license. The sooner these places shut down the better.

why can't companies just say they are closing stores? This LIE about shoplifting has to stop. It is very racist.

Okay, so once all the pharmacies that are selling things they shouldn’t be selling shut down, and proper pharmacies rise up in their place (?), THEN will it be wrong for organized shoplifting rings to pillage them? Or will it still be acceptable for some other reason?

R75

You are either very young and or just ignorant.

Going back ages "drug stores" sold everything from personal care items to household goods and camera equipment. Many also did a brisk business in film developing services as well. Oh and they also had "soda fountains" as well.

Dr. Anthony Fauci's family owned one such pharmacy in Brooklyn, NY.

I don’t think R75 has thought through his position very far.

r74 those people just need to be shot. Take out the trash and do society a favor.

[quote] This LIE about shoplifting has to stop. It is very racist.

???

R33 Violent crime has consistently gone down everywhere in the US since it peaked in the early 90s. The US was still trending downwards until 2020. 2020-2021 has been the first time in nearly 20 years that the violent crime rate rose. SF doesn't even prosecute for property crime under $1000 anymore, meaning the police are less likely to make arrests so the stats aren't consistent.

R78 and cigarettes and vodka? No pharmacy in this day and age that does responsible business should be selling cigarettes wtf. Honestly try and argue your way out of that I’d like to see it.

What godforsaken pharmacies are you shop(lifting) at, R83?!

Cigarettes and vodka??

r83 you forgot to post your picture

Drugstores in LA sell hard liquor and cigarettes. It's really no big deal.

R84 every single Walgreens / CVS / riteaid I’ve ever been in sells cigarettes and booze. USA at its trashiest. And people on here acting like it’s a social center, that will represent some kind of cultural disaster and community decimation if they closed. So stupid.

They should just do away with these stores and move to a delivery / virtual consulting model. As a SF resident, it’s just messed up how coddled the drug addicts and homeless are now. The City budget for homeless is over $100,000 per homeless person! It’s just getting worse without any restrictions.

While they’re at it, they should just stop prosecuting armed robberies and murder. What a waste of resources!

Good heavens r87! Keep clutching those pearls!

Better spend it tackling poverty which would lower the prevalence of violent crime R89, but unfortunately we have types like R88 that would describe a homeless person as ‘coddled’ for getting any help.

A lot of the homeless are batshit crazy and hopeless drug addicts, it's not a question of poverty. They are completely, totally non-functional as human beings.

The homeless are coddled in SF. If you lived here you would know this. Other cities and towns send their homeless to SF to get rid of them. It’s not a viable model, is unsafe, and is unfair to residents who pay taxes.

R93 homeless people are never coddled. They don’t have homes. Just because other places treat them worse doesn’t mean they’re treated well by society in SF.

And girl shut up with your taxes nobody cares.

You have the right progressive philosophy to lead society into the future, R94. You’re young, right?

Homelessness is a multidimensional issue that no one can really solve because no one really wants to. Conservatives just want to let them rot because conservatives are terrible cunts, but liberals and leftists can't admit that while some people some people are genuinely downtrodden and have been fucked by capitalism, many enjoy the homeless lifestyle of vagrancy, crime, and drug addiction. Nothing will help the latter group.

R95 I don’t think age relates to understanding some basics about responsible business and what’s actually beneficial for communities, as well as having empathy for the less fortunate. You’ve hardly any good friends, right?

Speaking as an erstwhile urbanist, it really grates that the American left has given up on the concept of promoting safety and community in large cities. Why are we all supposed to live in cities again? So we can step over human shit, be hassled by mentally ill people off their meds, and have to order everything we use day-to-day online because all the stores are closed?

Cities will not be desirable places to live until the left gets a damn grip.

[quote]Can someone explain why cities run by Democrats have the highest crime rates?

I love how all the idiot Repugs on this thread are pretending it has to do with a Democrat being in charge and not the fact that Democrats just happen to be in charge of every area of the country where people actually live.

Pay them to stop stealing.

.,.,

R52 my ex friend stole a 50” TV from Walmart last year and was arrested and convicted of shoplifting.

But in what kind of city did your ex-friend try this caper?

Laws still exist in some areas of the country.

There isn't one city that defunded the police. Not one.

Are there cities run by Republicans? If not, why not?

Do Republican governors bear any responsibility for crime levels in cities in their states? Especially when funding for police is a mix of state and local sources?

Or is hate-posting about Democrats just fun and facts be damned?

R2 liberal policies that don't work. NYC is in bad shape as is Chicago and Baltimore. Interesting that in NY teens are being shot on an almost daily basis and yet there is no outrage like that which followed Jussie Smollett's hoax?

If NYC is in such bad shape, why are rents rocketing back to where they were pre-Covid? Maybe you're just a deluded Fox News zombie? Or a paranoid racist? Or just a cynical asshole?

None are good options.

The only reason so called progressives are arguing about this is to have a whole new wave of reason to write hand wringing articles about food deserts. Crime is the reason these so called deserts exist. IT IS BECAUSE OF CRIME. That's why those blind spots exist. The grocery store closest to me has had all of their shopping baskets and most of their carts stolen within the past few months. ALL OF THEM. I'm sure there are so many poor people in dire need of shopping baskets and carts, we should just look away, and feel so bad about those tragic souls. Meanwhile the rest of us don't shop there except for the couple of items we can hold in our arms. I'm sure that doesn't effect their business at all.

R104 Compare the number of Dems to Republicans.

(CBS News - Nov. 9th 2020 )

Can someone explain why cities run by Democrats have the highest crime rates?

Because they're cities, not because the politicians are Democrats.

They would've closed them anyway. It's just an excuse corporations use to justify their already made decisions.

[quote]whew reading these comments makes me believe the right just wants to live happily in a police state.

Corporations want a country where they run everything and can monetize every element of society. A corporate republic would give them basically the same profits that a police state would, and that's probably the true goal here. They'd get cheap labor with prisoners in privatized prisons, and would make money providing equipment, technology, even things like food and toilet paper to massive governmental departments that would monitor every last cent, control things like individual employment and licensing, surveil everyone, you get the drift.

That's the Republican dream, and Republicans, including their trolls (both paid and, er, "hobbyists") are pushing for that kind of world, sometimes without even realizing that's what they're doing.

Pelosi.

[quote]those people just need to be shot

It should REALLY concern you all that someone who says (twice so far, in this thread at least) people should be murdered by the police for minor crimes is a regular on here.

This shitstain has started Tasteful Friends threads, for instance. He's one of us.

Don't give me any of this "oh that's just a troll" shit, he is a Datalounger, a regular, and he is repeatedly posting that someone who steals a bottle of Suave should be shot dead for it.

I'm assuming at least one or two of you care about these things, right? Or has DL devolved so much that there's no one left to actually care?

I'm 107, and I'd like to know how many of you apologists to theft would allow anyone to come into your own personal home again after knowing for a fact that they had stolen your things, held you at gun point, forced you to do all sorts of things for their own benefit. How often has that happened to you, and how often have you wanted them to come back over for more of the same? Seriously, I'd like to know but I know damn well you won't give an honest answer.

Shoplifters stick around in the store, holding people at gunpoint and make them "do all sorts of things," r114?

Do you even fucking know what a shoplifter IS?

[quote]Because they're cities, not because the politicians are Democrats.

Bullshit.

It's the same story with small towns.

Yes. R115. I've been robbed. I know many people who have been at their place of work.

[quote]Srsly wtf is wrong with the American concept of a pharmacy. It’s supposed to be things like sunscreen and prescription medication, not some fucking off license.

According to who exactly?

The traditional American pharmacy always sold all sorts of things and even had soda fountains and lunch counters.

We're talking about shoplifters, r117. You're saying shoplifters show up with guns and make people "do things" for their own amusement.

They do not. Shoplifters grab and hide and sneak out, or they grab and run.

The home equivalent of that would be inviting someone over and having them pocket some of your silverware or go through your bathroom cabinets. I would wager many people here have had that happen and they don't invite them back, but they also don't call the cops.

THAT is the equivalence here.

These stores aren't "inviting" shoplifters back, anyway. It seems only Walmart has the kind of surveillance necessary to force the cops to do something, and cops weren't doing anything about petty theft and shoplifting LONG before "defunding" came around. Cops in Topeka don't go after a shoplifter any more than they do in Chicago.

Your theoretical is bullshit.

{quote]Srsly wtf is wrong with the American concept of a pharmacy. It’s supposed to be things like sunscreen and prescription medication, not some fucking off license.

Rexall Drugstore

R115 Go talk to anyone who works at any of stores in locations of high-crime, and what they've experienced. Go ask them how they feel about this situation after they've even had to deal with a customer who gets loud and hateful, just in speech. Go ask any of the customers who frequent, or would like to frequent these types of stores, but don't because of these situations.

Oh, speech is only hateful when it's done online, not in person and directly in your face and with a physically, again, in real life threat. Just you little princesses who live behind a keyboard to fight for the common man. You aren't fighting for the common man, you're fighting for assholes who have no desire to be anything other than assholes.

Ok:

#16 - Wichita, KA - Republican State

#15 - NOLA - Republican State

#13 - Anchorage - Republican State

#10 - Milwaukee - Republican State

#6 - Cleveland and Little Rock - Republican States

#5 - Springfield, MO - Republican State

#3 - Memphis - Republican State

#2 - St. Louis - Republican State

#1 - Detroit - Republican state

Please explain why all these Republican states are so violent? Failed right-wing ideology?

R113, R80 is a Meghan Markle troll. Check out their racist posts not only on here but the "Klan Fuckers" thread. It appears they post on trans threads as well.

I've been saying for months that the Meghan Markle trolls are our right-wing trolls and nobody seems to pay attention. I'd wager no one actually cares, that most of the people left on here are people who think that kind of response is just fine, or not extreme enough to even be noticeable.

Detroit is in Michigan and it's light blue, not red, but all the others are absolutely in red states.

I didn't realize Missouri was such a mess these days.

The Michigan state legislature is rabidly right-wing and stripped the governor of a lot of her power. All over the country, state governments determine tax rates and determine aid for cities for jails, cops, social work support, unemployment insurance, and all sorts of benefits.

It's interesting that cities in rabidly right-wing states do poorly. Why, i wonder? Is it because the crazy, paranoid, white-racist base of the Republican party hate cities and immigrants and brown people and resent spending any money there, no matter how much tax money cities generate?

[quote]Please explain why all these Republican states are so violent?

No, those States are not violent.

People living in those cities listed are violent.

Those cities are in those states. Are state governments only responsible for suburbs?

Might also have something to do with the fact Walgreens is getting pushed out by CVS in San Francisco. CVS is everywhere. All drug stores are putting the most frequently stolen stuff in locked cases.

That's curious r123, I was just in a Meghan Markle thread where one of the crazies accusing me of being a rabid Markle defender was posting racist and anti-immigrant stuff on other threads. They really ARE responsible for a lot of the trolling around here. Now I wonder if they're also KiwiFarms regulars like the anti-trans crowd are. It might explain a lot.

Wow, that's honestly sad.

To some extent, the cost of the theft is built into the global commodity exchange systems set up. The same as returns for online purchases. Which are simply destroyed. In fact so much of what we buy is basically worth PENNIES in ingredients. So colossal waste is built in. Levis sells 501 jeans for under 50 bucks retail in USA: Why should they cost 150 in Paris? Why should they cost more than 20 dollar jeans at H&M? H&M makes a profit on 20 dollar jeans. Why should a bottle of shampoo be 8 dollars, not 2 dollars? Why should it be 2 dollars and not 5 cents. So I'm middle class and go and buy the shit I need an pay the fucking insulting markup, because I have the salary to do it. I completely understand the the theft, if someone is making 10 or 15 bucks an hour. Or nothing an hour. I don't support it, I don't agree with it, but I understand what is happening. My brother makes half a million a year, and he's no genius, and he can pay whatever the price is for these commodities that are in fact worth a few pennies.

r113 = sarcasm impaired. Calm down, girlina.

[quote]not some fucking off license.

Americans have no idea what this means, FYI

r123 calling out Meghan Markle for being a sleazy, grifting narcissist is in no way racist. Think before you post.

They should just have order online and pick up service at these locations. No browsing. No shoplifting.

[quote] IT IS BECAUSE OF CRIME

IT IS BECAUSE OF POVERTY

to be honest it's both. its crime and poverty. its people turned into desperate thieves in some cases, and brazen immoral thieves in other cases.

The same shit is happening at the Walmart near my house. I watched it happen….

Who knew I could steal???

R48 Yes. We don't talk enough how the police are only pursuing what the DA will prosecute. They take the blowback when that department needs to catch some flack.

What’s the big deal? People of all ages, races and creeds can order everything they need from Amazon. There’s no reason anyone has to physically go to a CVS anymore. Brick and mortar is dead.

The problem is there are computer illiterates and genuine word illiterates. There are poor people who do not have internet connected gadgets and no credit cards. There are old people who can barely see.

Lock the doors, trap the shoplifters, retrieve the stolen items, then cut their hands off. End of problem!

r141 I know that ordering everything online appeals to DL's shut-ins, but some of us like to get out and do things.

Hudud punishments range from public lashing to publicly stoning to death, amputation of hands and crucifixion.[11] Hudud crimes cannot be pardoned by the victim or by the state, and the punishments must be carried out in public.[12] These punishments were rarely implemented in practice, however, because the evidentiary standards were often impossibly high.[5][2] For example, meeting hudud requirements for zina and theft was virtually impossible without a confession in court, which could be invalidated by a retraction.[13][5] Based on a hadith, jurists stipulated that hudud punishments should be averted by the slightest doubts or ambiguities (shubuhat, sing. shubha).[13][5] The harsher hudud punishments were meant to deter and to convey the gravity of offenses against God, rather than to be carried out.[5]

R141, you are ridiculous.

Not ridiculous at all. We all by everything online. If someone chooses to go to a store, fine, but there’s no reason anyone has to go to a retail location.

I don’t know why some of you are pretending that elderly and lower income people don’t have smart phones- they do. You can’t function in our society without one. If everyone can figure out social media and streaming shows on Netflix, then I have faith they can figure out how to purchase toothpaste on Amazon as well.

Again, it's nice to go out and have human interaction.

My 81-year-old mother would never order drug store items online. She has almost never ordered anything online.

And Amazon doesn’t always deliver on the same day, you know… when people NEED things sometimes. Jesus fuck, this isn’t difficult to understand. There are lots of reasons to go buy something in person.

I can’t tell if you’re high, retarded, or just trolling.

Seriously, sometimes you need a douche and some lube RIGHT NOW.

You have no idea what you are talking about, R147. I don't know if you are a troll or just a well, I'm not sure what you are. You don't realize how many people have "smart" phones who do not have a bank account, thus do not have debit cards. How many do not know how to order an uber or anything other than a cab. I am referring to the very special minorities that I'm sure you are super concerned about in your words, but not your deeds.

R151, I think we’re better off not trying to understand R147. His post was immaculately stupid.

I know tons of older people who don't have smartphones. Some don't even have cell phones.

Why doesn't the city run its own drugstores? If it's such an important public service...

R154 are you mentally challenged? Or maybe posting from a foreign country like Moldovia?

[quote]I don’t know why some of you are pretending that elderly and lower income people don’t have smart phones- they do.

They don't have the credit cards needed to order online, and using a debit card is a bad idea for a variety of reasons. They can't spend $20 on Amazon on a debit card, have the card do a temporary hold on the order amount which overlaps with the actual amount paid, causing basically a "double charge" for a day or two. They probably don't even have an order amount large enough for free shipping and they can't shell out $120/year for Prime.

They also need items that day, often because that's the day they have the cash to actually buy what they need.

I have two credit cards, but I've used my debit card for Amazon purchases for years.

Only 10 of the 50 largest cities in the US have Repug mayors. And, the first one isn't until number 14 on the list. No one wants to live where Repugs are and Repugs can only get elected where there aren't any people.

This is not about poverty. No one who understands what's going on thinks that's the cause.

I do fear for a huge backlash and we will lose it all once again. So who exists as a moderate left leaning Democrat? Anyone? Hello? Is anyone there?

Not just about crime but other stupid OTT extreme left shit. We need someone with guts as well.

There really isn't one city where the police were defunded. And to say that the DA and the Mayor of this or that city give orders to their PD, which follows it, ignores reality. Most cities have a unionized police force and the union leaders have enormous power and influence.

R160, your little meme is not reality.

There ARE cities where the police budget has been cut to the point where they are struggling to do their jobs. The unions have no power over that. Stop union bashing. The evidence and reports of this can be found online - you know, at your finger tips - if you bother to look.

Further the entire toxicity that has been injected into trying to keep police from doing their jobs has spread into the mainstream zeitgeist to the point where people think they can do whatever they want with no consequences. Often with deadly consequences.

Failing to see this just shows you are not very bright or you want to deliberately obfuscate the issue.

R160

You are rather stupid aren't you.

This is a high class problem.

[quote]Again, it's nice to go out and have human interaction

This is simply sick. Who in the fuck wants to interact with strangers?

At some point those "shoplifting" raids are going to turn deadly. People are speaking up more and objecting to them. They destroy the safety of neighborhoods and make people not want to shop there. In their rush to grab their items in this dystopian Supermarket Sweep game they are willing to knock people down and next they will be willing to use weapons to get away if need be.

Stores need to have a vestibule creating a space between the store proper and the outside door and be able to lock thieves in that until police come. Maybe equipped with a water spray or something. There will arise a competition among stores as to who is best as "capturing" them. Points deducted for capturing a regular customer. Of course it will be compared to slave captures so this should be fun. Ordering my popcorn.

Okay maybe just use some kind of nets. Okay here's one for feral hogs.

Wow those videos of the shoplifters are grim and hellscapish.

The states or cities should put back laws so over 200 bucks is prosecuted.

[quote] This is simply sick. Who in the fuck wants to interact with strangers?

Ahem r164

[quote] This is simply sick. Who in the fuck wants to interact with strangers?

Yikes. This place has some real weirdos. You’d rather just lock yourself in the basement all day and watch endless episodes of Match Game 76 and Family Feud?

I get plenty of social interaction by meeting my friends for dinner, the theater and other social outings. If your only source of human contact is going to CVS, then I condole you.

I’m shocked to hear that some people don’t have smartphones, let alone not having a cell phone. Everyone of every economic status I know has a smartphone. It’s more essential to have a phone than any other accessory besides shelter, food and clothing.

This argument about ordering something the day you need it is also easily remedied, although Amazon prime now does delivery in two hours and this issue is affecting urban stores and not rural areas. All of my household necessities are set to subscribe & save, which ensures I never run out and save even more in the process. (I subscribe on chewy for my cat food/litter and it’s a life saver.)

It’s a harmful stereotype to claim that the elderly don’t understand or can’t handle technology. Plenty of seniors are very tech savvy.

Oh DO fuck off, R170.

Hilarious. If you click through to the actual evidence the Guardian article presents, the headline is "Many cities want to defund the police. Their budgets say otherwise."

And, oh, i dunno. Is it possible that municipal budgets were slammed by the economic impact of a massive epidemic? And didn't the Democrats in Washington want to give cities enormous amounts of money to stop that? And didn't the Republicans oppose that? And even now, don't state governments (in Wisconsin and Michigan and Texas) divert that money for their own dumb right-wing ideas?

Also, learn what a meme is.

[quote]I’m shocked to hear that some people don’t have smartphones, let alone not having a cell phone. Everyone of every economic status I know has a smartphone. It’s more essential to have a phone than any other accessory besides shelter, food and clothing.

I know wealthy older people who could probably buy and sell your ass four times over who don't have smartphones.

[quote]Can someone explain why cities run by Democrats have the highest crime rates?

Can someone explain why 9 out of the 10 safest cities in America are led by Democrats? (The 10th is run by an independent.)

Just call it Reparations

[quote Can someone explain why cities run by Democrats have the highest crime rates?

Can someone explain why Republicans can't get themselves elected to run a city?

Oh look - here's a paragraph buried in the copaganda article from the Liberal New York Times:

[quote] Walgreens disclosed in an August 2019 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it would be closing 200 locations in the United States as part of a cost-savings initiative.

R141 I guess you think everyone should just work from home too, like all the people at Amazon who prepare and send your shitty orders to you. Likewise the mailman or UPS person who delivers it to you. Fuck your elitist self.

The homeless solution involves kerosine and a match.

R177

That bit of information cannot be taken into account without also going into the whole Walgreens buying Rite Aid mess.

More....

Still more...

In short it would be helpful to know what Walgreens locations were closing, were they former Rite Aid stores, and or situations where a Walgreens (who also owns Duane Reade) had stores too close to Rite Aid.

R164=friendless What are friends, but former strangers.

.,.,

Meds nurse at institution where Dead or Alive troll is being kept must be late again making her rounds.

National news now.

Thugs & ho breeders are going to steal.

It's a VERY bad situation and it's not limited to drugstores. I had a long conversation with a manager at my local Target store in NYC the other day. She told me about the rampant shoplifting and she said there's very little they can do about it because, even if they see someone leaving the store with a large item they haven't paid for, the store staff is not allowed to physically restrain the person for fear of being sued. And even when police are present right there at the entrance to the store, THEY also have to be very careful about how they confront shoplifters.

Of course, this is only going to lead to the disappearance of even more brick and mortar stores, and someday soon, the ONLY way to buy anything will be online.

This makes no sense. Why don't these stores hire security guards?

[quote]This makes no sense. Why don't these stores hire security guards?

See my comment directly above:

[quote]I had a long conversation with a manager at my local Target store in NYC the other day. She told me about the rampant shoplifting and she said there's very little they can do about it because, even if they see someone leaving the store with a large item they haven't paid for, the store staff is not allowed to physically restrain the person for fear of being sued. And even when police are present right there at the entrance to the store, THEY also have to be very careful about how they confront shoplifters.

And WHY, you my ask, are security guards no longer allowed to physically restrain shoplifters? I think we all know the answer to that. It's a ridiculous, infuriating reason. And as I said, unless things change, it will lead to the disappearance of all brick and mortar stores.

I really don't know why.

I want to see more. "John Galt" the shitty cities that are soft on crime: leave them to rot.

R189 have you read/watched a single piece about it? They have security guards, but they aren't allowed to apprehend the thieves. They spent 46x the amount on security in those stores than in their typical store.

Yes - bring back debtors prisons and penal colonies! Petty thieves get the chair!!!!

Supposedly the Target Mission St. store will be closing too.

I feel that there is a grim parallel here to "the Great Resignation" of workers, which is being discussed in another thread.

Workers are saying, "fuck it, I'm not gonna work under shit conditions for a pittance."

Stores and businesses are saying, "fuck it, I'm not gonna stay open under shit conditions for a pittance." And yes, if there is sufficient shoplifting, even the most prosperous business can end up losing money or just breaking even.

Bosses don't give a fuck about employees, employees don't give a fuck about customers, customers don't give a fuck about businesses, businesses don't give a fuck about communities, no one has a single fuck left to give any more.

R195 So much love to go around!

Even Amazon doesn’t guarantee freedom from theft. I have had two items taken from my porch. Fortunately, Amazon didn’t charge me for the item and reshipped it to me at my work address.

"The capitalists will sell us the rope with which to hang them."

R198...And the socialists will make you tie your own noose and dig your own grave

When social norms become acceptable, then you’ll see these normative behavior being carried out in public without shame or reproach. Thus is why here in SF it’s now a normal day to see people openly stealing. Just yesterday I was at a Target here and saw a young mom”shopping” with her 4 young kids (under 7-8 years old). Her shopping involved getting her kids to stuff merchandise under their clothes and and inside their kiddie backpacks. She even gave her feral children bananas from the store, which they ate while “shopping” with mom. One of the young kids ate his banana and tossed the peel on the floor in front of the security guard, who just stood there shaking his head. Then when I went to pay for my stuff, I saw 2 security guards talking to a guy who was apprehended for both stealing and talking to imaginary demons.

I actually live a couple of doors down from a Walgreens. There’s a regular homeless bum who camps out right next to the store. The elderly Chinese-American residents nearby give him money to buy food. He only leaves when his poop starts to pike up. Then he goes elsewhere until the corner spot is cleaned (minimally) by the poop patrol that we have to call every week, sometimes twice a week.

Armed guards who shoot muthafucjers will shut this down.

Anyone who has worked in retail, and or studied that sector of business (such as students at Fashion Institute of Technology), knows why you cannot physically restrain shoplifters. This isn't news, and reasons have been know for ages.

First of all until someone actually leaves premises (or gets near enough to an exit) they can always claim are going to purchase merchandise in question. But the larger reason has to do with statues involving assault.

Basically you are not allowed to put your hands upon another person without their consent. LE and some others have latitude in this area, but only just so much.

When you are in hospital or seek medical treatment you must give consent for doctors, nurses or others to touch you. This is reason why there are pages upon pages of consent forms that must be signed before people can undergo an operation or anything else that requires healthcare, dental or any other professional to lay hands upon someone, and certainly open them up... All nursing, medical and dental students learn this.

This being said retail employees who are "loss prevention" are on level of LE in that they can touch, restrain etc.. those suspected of stealing, but again there are restrictions. Many stores such as Rite Aid, Walgreens, etc... simply have told their "rent a cop" security guards not to intervene for various reasons.

Primary among trend for not stopping shoplifters is the whole BLM bullshit.

In many areas majority of shoplifting is done by POC, this has lead to high rates of criminal records, incarceration, etc.. Enter those seeking to reduce that "inequity" that causes blacks, POC, etc... to have higher rates of incarceration, rap sheets, and so forth.

More:

As things relate to CA, you can thank Newsom for uptick in shoplifting. The crime is largely only able to be prosecuted as a felony if value of things stolen exceeds $950 *and* if involved in organized crime.

The Hoover Institution is a totally unbiased source and aren't paid shills of the Chamber of Commerce.

[quote]Retail employees who are "loss prevention" are on level of LE in that they can touch, restrain etc.. those suspected of stealing, but again there are restrictions. Many stores such as Rite Aid, Walgreens, etc... simply have told their "rent a cop" security guards not to intervene for various reasons. Primary among trend for not stopping shoplifters is the whole BLM bullshit.

That was exactly what the point of my post.

R204 is spreading right-wing propaganda

So is r206, who is making shit up to attack BLM

R200 is making shit up. Love how you freeper trolls go on and on about San Francisco (without using any stats to back up your claims) but pretend West Virginia, Alabama, and Mississippi aren't meth-ridden hellholes

Arm cashiers. Fucking shoot them.

Walgreen's security guard.

r208 have you even fucking been to SF lately? It's getting increasingly dystopian.

R2 They don't. You're just lying.

R202 It's not "BLM bullshit," you moronic hick, it's that the criminal justice system has been out commission for almost two years because of the pandemic. It's open for business again now but there's an enormous backlog.

Not making anything up, R207. This recent "hands-off" approach to shoplifters and other criminals is partly a result of the BLM movement. Not completely, but partly. Without question.

r96, I could not agree with you more. In the last three years the face of the homeless in Portland, OR has changed a lot. Now, the visible ones are hard core meth heads who are running wild in the city. My level of compassion for them is nil. I wish there was a way to sort out those who need help getting back on their feet, those that want mental health help, those that want to end their addiction from those who don't want to become productive members of society.

R215 some people aren’t able to be ‘productive’ for society, based on a wide variety of things, mainly health. Addiction is included in health. Your intolerance for homeless drug addicts is pretty shitty. The people you should be holding to account are the politicians and local representatives. Funnel your energy somewhere useful.

Many homeless are hopelessly mentally ill and addicted. They will never be able to be independent. The only way to get them off the streets would be to house them in a facility where they would be taken care of for the rest of their lives.

Or Soylent Green, of course.

[quote] Your intolerance for homeless drug addicts is pretty shitty.

YOU live around these fucking feral animals and YOU try to help them. They are nuts. They are hopeless, useless wastes of oxygen.

I love how it's somehow the fault of black people reacting to a spate of flagrantly racist police shootings that the Walgreens in Downtown SFO is closing.

I guess the message here is for black people to endure these shootings with a smile? Because 2 years later an old person looking for a prescription in the SF financial district may be inconvenienced?

[quote]I love how it's somehow the fault of black people reacting to a spate of flagrantly racist police shootings that the Walgreens in Downtown SFO is closing.

No, no, no. It's the result of the fact that the much of the reaction to those shootings has been so ridiculous and terribly damaging to society. For example, the idea that a really good way to reduce or eliminate those racist shootings is to allow not only black people but people of all colors and ethnicities to shoplift with complete freedom.

Speaking of racist police shootings

OAKLAND (CBS SF) — A decorated, retired Oakland police captain, Ersie Joyner, was shot in an robbery attempt Thursday afternoon at gas station off Interstate 980 in Oakland.

Ersie Joyner was at Highland Hospital being treated for multiple gunshot wounds, Alameda County Sheriff spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly confirmed to KPIX. A law enforcement source confirmed that Joyner was out of surgery and recovering in the ICU at Highland Hospital after being shot six times.

From start to finish, the incident lasted less than a minute.

Surveillance video shows Joyner pumping gas when three men rush him from a vehicle on the other side of the pump. One suspect grabs the cellphone Joyner was holding and other suspect appear to be digging in Joyner’s pockets, then pulls a chain off his neck. Joyner does not struggle with the men but, as the suspects open Joyner’s car’s doors and one appears to take his backpack, Joyner pulls out a pistol and opens fire.

The video shows Joyner shooting and killing one suspect who died at the scene, while two others fled in a black Nissan sedan.

Joyner served with the Oakland police department for 28 years. Currently, Joyner is a security consultant for several cannabis businesses in Oakland. Investigators believe it was a targeted attack.

R220 preferred the status quo of doing nothing about police wantonly killing black people.

Maybe there's a middle ground possible between "everyone can steal" and "everyone has to smile and be ok as police murder people for no reason."

America can't seem to find middles.

There's a CVS, a small one in downtown Richmond, VA that is closing soon. It was a fixture in that area for many years; anybody who worked downtown could pop in there on their lunch hour and shop for things they needed and get their prescriptions filled. Since the onset of covid there is not as much traffic downtown now but after the period when covid was at its height business picked up again and the store is doing fine financially. But this month people coming in the store were notified that it was closing. Why? The people who worked in the store said they were told nothing; they didn't know why it was closed. This will be a great loss to many people, myself included. What is going on with all these pharmacies closing? Crime? Finances? At any rate, it causes a great deal of hardship to people who can ill afford it.

R224 how will you and Richmond get over this terrible terrible loss. The whole in your life will maybe never be filled!

Does it have anything to do with the hangover from Covid where people who commuted to work downtown don't have to anymore? It's not just commercial landlords who will be facing a wrenching change. All the support industries will too.

[quote] how will you and Richmond get over this terrible terrible loss. The whole in your life will maybe never be filled!

"Whole?" Oh my fucking dear!

r227 needs her smelling salts. Typos on internet forums do that to her.

R227

R227

[quote]Maybe there's a middle ground possible between "everyone can steal" and "everyone has to smile and be ok as police murder people for no reason." America can't seem to find middles.

That's exactly the point, R223. Now, please explain it to the complete idiot at R222. Amazing how some people are SO INCREDIBLY STUPID that any concept involving a gray area or a reasonable middle ground is just too complex for them to wrap their tiny brains around it.

I haven't read all the comments but here's some breaking news if someone hasn't already mentioned it:

WALGREENS IS LYING ABOUT WHY IT IS CLOSING STORES:

Caught up in the brick-and-mortar meltdown, it faces its own botched decisions of prior years and a market that has horribly turned against its pharmacies.

I haven't read the article at R232, but even if every word of it it's true, that doesn't change the FACT that many businesses -- not just Walgreen's -- are suffering due to rampant shoplifting that can no longer be properly policed.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

R233 Because you would rather have fake news as long as it supports your belief that the bums are to blame for everything?

R232 That article is absurd.

If shoplifting and local politics are not the problem then another chain would be swooping in to replace Walgreens.

Not gonna happen.

Why? Because shoplifting and local politics are the problem.

What was absurd about it R236? Or just admit you didn't read it.

Walgreen's knew that the headline claiming shoplifting was closing their stores would go viral. I don't like corporations covering up their greed and incompetence with dog whistles about crime and crazies.

No one is saying shoplifting isn't a big problem, the article itself says so, if you had read it you'd know.

R235, if you're claiming it's "fake news" that there has been a tremendous uptick in shoplifting, and that it's now far more difficult for security and police to combat it, then I don't know how to respond to you.

Oh for fuck's sake the fake news is Walgreens saying they are closing BECAUSE of shoplifting when it's clearly not the reason, not that shoplifting isn't a problem.

I'm not gonna spoon feed this piece to you anymore if you won't read it.

"Organized shoplifting for commercial purposes is real. It is fed by the easy profitability with which the stolen goods can be sold on Amazon and other platforms to law-abiding Americans. When you buy a brand-name shampoo on Amazon from a third-party vendor, you have no idea where the shampoo came from. Brick-and-mortar retail stores have become the cost-free suppliers to those online sellers.

And this is getting to be a big business. But it’s a national problem for brick-and-mortar retailers."

The article at R232 is ridiculous.

"And this is getting to be a big business. But when someone takes a video of one of those escapades in San Francisco, it naturally goes viral, as just about everything that happens in San Francisco goes viral, under the category: “Look at what these crazies in San Francisco are doing again.” But it’s a national problem for brick-and-mortar retailers."

Uh, no. It's not a national problem. It is a problem in specific areas.

San Fransisco being one of the prime examples.

R240 You're ridiculous. It's San Francisco btw.

So if I'm getting this, the problem isn't that Walgreens overexpanded in a saturated market, nor that ecommerce has had an impact on retail, nor that Covid has gutted downtown economies as workers don't commute like they used to, nor is it part of a clearly articulated plan by the corporation.

No, it's black people, thanks to BLM, are all thieves. And the Daily Mail says so.

I get it.

[quote] There’s a regular homeless bum who camps out right next to the store.

Bum? Jesus Christ, how fucking old are you? You think these people want to be homeless?? The majority of them are either mentally I’ll or addicted to drugs.

Liberals will twist themselves into a pretzel to excuse lawlessness. I just saw another article that tried to explain away black on black crime even though the statistics she cited didn’t support her argument. This article posted about Walgreens is more of the same bs. Liberals have become as dumb as conservatives.

That cheap as fuck Wolfstreet web site is run by a Bernie Bro and isn’t a real source. It’s propaganda. Nice try.

R242 believes "thieves" = "Black people." Then calls [italic]other[/italic] people racist.

Look in the mirror, R242.

[quote]So if I'm getting this, the problem isn't that Walgreens overexpanded in a saturated market, nor that ecommerce has had an impact on retail, nor that Covid has gutted downtown economies as workers don't commute like they used to, nor is it part of a clearly articulated plan by the corporation. No, it's black people, thanks to BLM, are all thieves. And the Daily Mail says so. I get it.

No. Incorrect. The point is that increased, rampant shoplifting as an effect of the very confused BLM movement, along with the inability of security and law enforcement to stop such theft, is an UNDENIABLE and very severe problem, at least in some areas of the country, IN ADDITION to whatever other problems businesses may have that are completely unrelated to BLM.

Maybe NOW you get it. Maybe.

I see, so no matter what other issues are in the mix here, BLM is the problem and we should eradicate it.

Got it.

[quote]I see, so no matter what other issues are in the mix here, BLM is the problem and we should eradicate it. Got it.

Nobody wrote anything like that. All joking aside, I think you need serious help with your reading comprehension.

Again, the problem is not the BLM movement per se, it's the ridiculous extremes of it that prevent security officers and police from confronting POC criminals in ANY way. Sort of like, "Well, of course, the only way to prevent police from killing non-violent criminals is to completely tie the hands of the police so they can't even stop the crime or arrest the criminal." Absolute insanity.

[quote]No, it's black people, thanks to BLM, are all thieves. And the Daily Mail says so.

See what you do?

No one, but no one, has said that "all black people are thieves. Funny that YOUR mind works that way.

And the DailyMail has said no such thing.

The reason you resort to straw man comments is because you have no good argument.

Thanks, R250. So many straw men turning up here, thanks to so many people who are unable to argue a point based on the facts.

I'm trying to figure out why it's wrong to look at Walgreen's corporate mistakes and larger retail trends as the real reason for these closures. I'm assured by the DL that that's foolish and the real reason are the thieves. Who I guess are (mostly?) black and are uppity thanks to BLM? Who is tying the hands of the police? How do you know? Do you believe what the police say? Because I don't. The police are a bunch of lying motherfuckers. And if you don't believe me, get drunk with some one day.

[quote]I'm trying to figure out why it's wrong to look at Walgreen's corporate mistakes and larger retail trends as the real reason for these closures. I'm assured by the DL that that's foolish and the real reason are the thieves.

Once again: low IQ straw-man arguments.

Corporate mistakes, the general state of the economy, effects of the pandemic on retail etc. are certainly reasons for closures...and retail theft is ONE MORE reason.

Do you honestly think, in that environment of brazen, blatant theft, another chain id going to replace Walgreens?

Would you open a shop in such an environment?

This is returning to the way it was in the late 70s, and still is in many poor ghetto neighorhoods.

Businesses close when loss exceeds profit, no matter the cause.

People know they can get away with this shit now because the police have their hands tied due to all the negative attention they're received. They're not going to bother being publicly pilloried by Twitter just to catch a shoplifter.

[quote] Organized shoplifting for commercial purposes is real

I'm not minimizing what's happening in SF and some other places.

But the guy stealing 20 cans of Axe body spray to resell is on one level - the kind of shit that's been going down in Chicago where 20-30 people enter a high end store and pick it clean is quite another.

I wouldn't open up a shop in a downtown financial district with high rents and a low possibility that commuters will return to work any time soon.

It's interesting that the loons on this thread are advocating for the death penalty for stealing some stuff from Walgreens, tho. They seem to think that's the bigger issue here.

Meanwhile the PR department of Walgreens is laughing their ass off at the serfs accepting their preferred reason for closures and ignoring the C-Suite mistakes. I'm sure their bonuses will reflect that, and they'll also bitch at high taxes needed to pay for the militarized police that is bound to come next.

[quote] Businesses close when loss exceeds profit, no matter the cause.

Worth the $2/mo for these fascinating business insights.

r257 it's not all corporate mistakes. It's feral animals looting the stores.

Pile of shit racist at R259

Sorry r260 but I live in the real fucking world.

Why don't these people hit high-end stores? Wipe out the jewelry and handbag depts in Neiman Marcus?

So if Walgreens is closing a bunch of stores due to mismanagement by Walgreens Corporate, then why aren't other stores swooping in to take their place?

[quote]I'm trying to figure out why it's wrong to look at Walgreen's corporate mistakes and larger retail trends as the real reason for these closures. I'm assured by the DL that that's foolish and the real reason are the thieves. Who I guess are (mostly?) black and are uppity thanks to BLM?

No. As others have patiently explained more than once, rampant theft is ONE big reason for the situation, IN ADDITION to whatever corporate mistakes the company has made.

[quote]Who is tying the hands of the police? How do you know? Do you believe what the police say?

Their hands are tied by the very real fear that anything they do to stop a criminal, even simple physical restraint, will be viewed as "police brutality." And I know this by speaking to merchants and store managers directly, NOT to the police. Now shut the fuck up.

R264 Since when have "others" explained "patiently" that shoplifting is ONE big reason in ADDITION to others... The point is you said it's THE REASON and only walked back due to the article.

Now YOU shut the fuck up.

It's funny. I spoke to merchants and store managers who say R264's pussy stinks and that's why they're closing.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

[quote]Since when have "others" explained "patiently" that shoplifting is ONE big reason in ADDITION to others... The point is you said it's THE REASON and only walked back due to the article.

R265: I never said (or wrote) that it was "the reason," as in the only reason or the major reason, even if others did -- and I don't believe they did, but I'm not going to take the time to go back through the whole thread.

Bottom line is that, even if it's true that Walgreen's lied about the main reason(s) for closing these stores, the FACT remains that rampant, unchecked shoplifting has become a HUGE problem. I'm sorry if you are too shockingly stupid the understand that BOTH things can be true at the same time, but you should at least have the decency to admit your stupidity and stop arguing with people whose ability to think logically is intact, because your idiotic posts are just wasting everyone's time.

R268 that ‘FACT’ doesn’t remain just because you say so. You were wrong about this whole thing, move on.

R269, I know for a FACT that rampant shoplifting has become a huge problem in New York City. I know this from first-hand observation of more and more merchandise in stores being locked behind glass or plastic cabinet doors, and also shelves being kept empty because the stores are keeping the actual merchandise -- even larger items, like coffee makers and blenders -- in the back somewhere, so it can't be stolen. How, you ask, can anyone steal something as large as a coffee maker in a large box? Because the security guards don't have the power to stop them. This has been told to me by store managers and other store workers when I asked them about what I have observed first-hand.

So again, I know for a fact that this is a huge problem in NYC. I can't specifically speak about San Francisco, because I don't live there, but I have no reason to doubt that the problem exists there also. Okay, that's my presentation, now it's up to YOU to support your insistence that rampant shoplifting is NOT a fact.

R270 you’re fucking nuts. Who in their right minds is going around ‘talking to store managers’. No store manager would randomly give that information to a customer you’re just making all this up. Shoplifting has always been a problem for stores, always will be. You don’t need to raise your blood pressure and involve yourself. Get a life.

R270 and others, you haven't caught on to the "game" yet.

The game is that trolls and shills come into a thread and start demanding "proof" of assertions. When proof is provided, they either discount it outright or they say it's not sufficient.

So you come up with more proof -- company websites, articles in the NY Times, personal experience, or what have you -- and that proof is brushed aside as "rabid right-wingers."

And then you get called a racist, a Trumper, or some other slur.

The game never ends and you can't win. The object is to keep you busily spinning your wheels trying to provide sufficient "proof." This keeps you busy and also keeps you demoralized.

[quote]Who in their right minds is going around ‘talking to store managers’. No store manager would randomly give that information to a customer you’re just making all this up.

R271, they didn't "randomly give that information." I recently spoke to a store manager at a Target in NYC to ask her why so many shelves were empty, and a few weeks before that, I spoke to a store manager at a Walgreen's in NYC to ask why so much of the merchandise was locked up. They both explained that it was because the shoplifting situation has become so horrendous.

OF COURSE it's true that shoplifting has always been a problem for stores, but the very fact that I see so many empty shelves (because merchandise is being kept safely out of sight) and so much merchandise locked up behind plastic or glass proves that the problem has gotten far worse in recent years. Or maybe you think stores moved a lot of their stuff off the shelves and installed those glass or plastic cases in which to lock up other stuff because they needed something to do to keep their workers busy?

I have to wonder why you're convinced that I'm lying and why you find it so unbelievable that any store managers would have said told me such things, but I really don't care, so I'll just ask you again to PLEASE shut the fuck up.

R272, thanks for giving me one possible explanation for all this idiocy. I will not continue to rise to the bait, but I did want to share the facts of what I have been told by store managers and workers.

Mmmm R272 the whole point is that personal experience does not equal ‘proof’. As was shown by the reality of why these Walgreens closing being company policy, which discounts the ‘personal experience’ of all the bigoted people on here trying to lie and say that it’s all black peoples faults.

The only trolls here are those ignoring the reality of this situation and sticking to their “it’s BLM’s fault!1!1!” mantra, like you.

Oh! Thanks for reminding me of the other tactic trolls & shills use, R274. They say you've said something that you've never said, or they intentionally radically mischaracterize something you've said. For example, R274 says I blame shoplifting on BLM, which I've never done, here or anywhere else.

Or you say something like "I think OJ Simpson was guilty" and they respond, "Got it. So you think all black men are murderers. Good to know where you're coming from."

This is part of the game that makes you want to come in and correct the record. You think they've misunderstood you. Nope. They understood you perfecctly well. This is how trolls work.

Oh for fuck's sake r274 do you even live in an American city or have any real-world experience at all? Here is the unpleasant truth: Black people are the majority of shoplifters and thieves in retail stores in cities like SF and NY. Stores that are located among populations of black people have major problems with crime and shoplifting. It's an unpleasant truth, but it's reality. Shoplifters aren't apprehended with with all the BLM and media attention about police misconduct, the cops don't want to go viral and have their lives ruined for arresting a black person over petty crime. Therefore, a lot of black people know they can get away with it and they're acting more brazen than ever. End of story.

You might live in a utopian fantasy world, but most of us don't and we know what the fuck is up in modern America. JFC.

R276 nails the very sad truth.

R275, thanks. Agreed that arguing with these trolls is not worth the effort, but again, I think it's good to get the facts out there for the benefit of people who are NOT trolls.

R274, if you believe that personal experience does not equal proof, then you must believe that these managers have gone to the considerable expense of installing lockable glass or plastic cabinet doors throughout their stores, and the great effort -- and inconvenience to honest shoppers -- of removing "high-theft" merchandise from the shelves and storing it safely elsewhere, just as some sort of a lark. You cretinous piece of shit.

Wow R277 do I really have to explain the concept of anecdotal evidence to you? You’re shockingly ignorant.

No, R278, it's you who are so shockingly ignorant that you have the nerve to use a phrase like "anecdotal evidence" even though you obviously have no concept of what it means. My seeing merchandise locked up in MULTIPLE stores in NYC is not "anecdotal evidence," it's first-hand observation of steps that have been taken to deter rampant shoplifting.

Stop talking down to me, you moronic bitch.

R279 mmm actually yes that’s exactly what anecdotal evidence is lol. Put the phone down you’re making a show of yourself.

It's interesting that you all are popping a vein coming to the defense of the poor, helpless national corporations, ravaged by marauding hoards of dusky poors.

It's also interesting that the "woke corporations" the same kind of people whine about on here are happy to create a fake story that they're closing because of shoplifting when really they're closing because of Covid changing the retail environment and corporate stumbles.

[quote]It's also interesting that the "woke corporations" the same kind of people whine about on here are happy to create a fake story that they're closing because of shoplifting when really they're closing because of Covid changing the retail environment and corporate stumbles

NONE OF WHICH changes the FACT that rampant shoplifting has ALSO become a huge problem.

[quote]Yes that’s exactly what anecdotal evidence is.

You must be a Trumpet, or at least a "Republican" -- someone who thinks if he keeps repeating a falsehood long enough, that will somehow make it true. Sorry, but words and phrases such as "anecdotal evidence" have actual meanings that people can look up, you scurrilous SOB.

R282 you don’t seem to be able to get it through your think skull that just because you say something, doesn’t mean it’s true. All of your evidence is anecdotal, it may be firsthand to you, but you do realize we don’t live in your head, therefore upon your relaying to us that information (without reference or backup to any of the instances you’ve discussed) its becomes anecdotal (you are telling us something is true with only your word as proof).

If you’re unable to grasp this concept there’s no point in engaging with you, you’re just too stupid to breathe.

Right back at you, R283. By your idiotic logic, no one on the face of the earth would ever believe anything that he didn't experience first-hand for himself.

I could give you the names and exact locations of the specific stores where I observed what I observed, and where I spoke with the managers, but I hope you understand why that's NOT going to happen. I would never unleash a loon like you on those poor managers, who obviously have enough to deal with already.

San Francisco residents are hiring private security to patrol their streets in bid to stay safe, amid crime spike that has left many fearful of going outside during the DAY

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — Fed up with brazen property crimes, residents in San Francisco’s Marina District are taking matters into their own hands to protect themselves.

“We don’t feel safe in our neighborhood,” said Beach Street resident Katie Lyons. “And we have an alarm, we have cameras on our property, but we want the extra security of having someone have eyes on our place.”

------------------

Want to bet these are the same sort of people who voted for the woke politicians that turned the criminals loose on the city

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

R284 yes those poor managers already have enough to deal with, what with a nutjob like you going down there and bothering them at work. Can you imagine their faces when they see you coming! They’d probably take a shoplifter any day over you ;)

Actually, R285, the Target manager and I had a very nice conversation about this. She seemed almost relieved to have the opportunity to explain why so many shelves were empty and so much merchandise was locked up when I asked her about it nicely. And I think she appreciated the fact that I was very sympathetic to this whole sad, pathetic situation.

And please don't smile and wink at me, you ridiculous POS.

;-)

Not for nothing, but local news is mostly a propaganda outlet for police. They will run with anything the cops tell them and don't give a shit if it's true or not.

The case I keep thinking about is the cops in NYC who claimed they were poisoned by a shake at Shake Shack. The union ran with the story, and so did the local news. The manager of the Shake Shack was bombarded with death threats and had to move out of his house. Of course the whole thing was a lie and now NYC tax money will go to cover up the cops' dumbness.

I have no idea what is happening in SFO, but local news crime stories must be taken in with a large dose of skepticism.

Move on folks...nothing to see here!

Right.. R289. Do you even live in any American city? In an actual "urban area"? I don't think you do because if you did you would know how much of what goes on is never reported in the news, local news or otherwise. You have no idea what you're talking about.

I think we’ve crossed a rubicon of total idiocy wherein R291 lectures another commenter that ‘not everything in real life gets featured on the news’, as if that’s what R289 meant in the first place. Just wow.

R288 you messed up your tag for who you were to reply to. Your messiness continues ;) will it ever end?

Sorry, you're right, my post at R288 was obviously meant for R287.

R293 apology accepted.

[quote] You think these people want to be homeless??

Yes. A lot of them do.

These are what's known as "mentally ill people." And here in America, we hate and fear the mentally ill. Except the rich ones. We make them president.

A lot of the homeless are drug addicts and today's drugs are permanently destroying their sanity. Many are beyond repair. It's chilling. Its not like a heroine addict or alcoholic who can dry out and be broken but more or less sane and even pleasant.

The Safeway in the Castro — one of SF's few grocery stores open 24 hours a day — has announced it will begin closing at 9 p.m. amid "out of control shoplifting.“. It’s is not really in the Castro but on Market and Church.

SF has become an outlaw city, much like Portland. The citizens need to clean the outhouse at City Hall. It really is unlivable from a quality of life view.

More bad news from “The City That Knows How”.

r21 said Try Safeway delivery

That remark didn't age well.

R298 The whole bullshit aspect of "Shithole Cities Run by Leftists" is that Republicans are immeasurably worse. Bizarre ideological extremists who don't even have the common sense to take measures against a deadly virus. I am perfectly happy to rag on PC woke leftists, but they're miles ahead of wingers in their concern for the common welfare. Right-wingers are nowhere. They're nuts.

[quote]Can someone explain why cities run by Democrats have the highest crime rates?

Blacks

R302 Fuck you, you KKK piece of shit.

Well it IS blacks. That's where nearly all of the crime in American cities comes from. That's just reality.

Well some action, a drop in bucket but still...

𝐀𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚

I reached out to Kroger with questions about the store closure and received the following statement:

“The store is temporarily closed due to a break-in at the store’s electrical facility which resulted in theft of critical wiring, as well as significant damage to the electrical infrastructure that supports the store. We are working to repair the damage as quickly as possible so the store can re-open. We don’t have a timeline yet, but this is a top priority for our team. In the meantime, we are currently directing customers to the Greenbriar Crossing Kroger and the Cascade-Citi Center Kroger.”

The company was also working on reassigning store employees to other locations so they wouldn’t be out of work, said the spokesman for Kroger.

It’s pretty wild that thieves hit up the local supermarket — not for groceries, but for electrical wiring. But it’s even wilder that shutting down one store has effectively turned several communities into food deserts.