San Francisco has seen some tough times even before the pandemic, particularly with the criminal element. The petty crimes committed in the area are so severe that businesses are permanently closing and become more common due to the severity of the pandemic. What has made it so prevalent recently was the fact that Walgreens felt they had no choice but to close many of their chains within San Francisco and go so far as to explain why.

5 Stores

With the rise of theft and burglary in the area, retail stores have been feeling hurt, targeting them in particular. This rise in crime has led Walgreens to go out of the way to close 5 of its stores in San Francisco, feeling that it simply isn’t worth constantly restocking stolen items within said stores. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time they’ve had to close their doors permanently, as five other stores have closed since 2019. Meaning they’ve had to close ten stores in total within San Francisco, showing how dire the situation has become for many retail stores that are similar to it.

Why?

There’s no doubt that a great deal of retail crime occurs throughout the country whenever it’s convenient to commit such. Still, there’s no denying that it is exceptionally fortunate in California, more specifically San Francisco, to commit such crimes. Back in 2014, when stealing property under the value of $950 was deemed a misdemeanor, the penalty was less severe. Given the high poverty rate in San Francisco, it’s a dangerous combination for the city, which has seen several of its stores pilfered for their products, making it untenable for them to survive with a profit.

The police response

The police naturally have seen what has been happening plain to as much as everyone else and made it a priority to improve their security presence to allow them to fight the rise in crime. However, many residents in San Francisco question the effectiveness of police, given that most perpetrators are released shortly after arrest due to how low of a threat these crimes are. 

Neiman Marcus

Matters have become so dire that thieves are growing bold enough to steal items over that $950 threshold to turn a higher profit. Such a fact was plain to see from the robberies back in August and more specifically at Neiman Marcus, where stolen handbags have a value of $50,000. It’s not as if such robberies occur every day in San Francisco; still, it concerns everyone all the same. 

Conclusion

There’s no doubt that theft issues in San Francisco are pretty severe, and even though police report shows that overall crime is down from last year, burglary is definitely on the rise. If a chain as big as Walgreens is willing to pull its stores to stop hemorrhaging money, it begs the question of wondering where it could happen next.