San Francisco's 'Caren Act' makes placing racist 911 calls a hate crime - "Fed up with white people calling 911 about people of color selling water bottles, barbecuing or otherwise going about their lives, San Francisco leaders unanimously approved hate crime legislation giving the targets of those calls the ability to sue the caller... All 11 supervisors signed on to the legislation, despite some criticism that the name is sexist and divisive... In San Francisco, a white couple was criticized on social media after video was widely shared of them questioning a Filipino American stenciling “Black Lives Matter” on a retaining wall in front of his home in June. They later called police.James Juanillo said he chose yellow chalk to match the color of the house. When the couple approached him, they repeatedly demanded to know if it was his home because he was defacing private property... Other places have moved to make placing racist 911 calls a hate crime. California’s governor recently signed a measure making the crime a misdemeanor punishable by jail time and a fine. New York approved legislation allowing the victims of racist 911 calls to sue.The San Francisco legislation gives people the right to sue a 911 caller in civil court, and supporters hope it will make some think twice before turning to police. The discrimination need not be only racial; it can also be due to the person’s sex, age, religion, disability, gender identity, weight or height."
Good way to reduce police workload
Intersectionality means being racist and sexist to white women is good, because they're "oppressing" black men
Rampant shoplifting forces another San Francisco Walgreens to close - "theft has been happening for months and the store's shelves are empty or near-empty.Most of the remaining products are locked behind plastic theft guards... it's the seventh Walgreens store to close in the city this year. According to the Chronicle, Caruso added, "the safety of our team members and customers is our top concern.""All of us knew it was coming. Whenever we go in there, they always have problems with shoplifters, " longtime customer Sebastian Luke said to the Matier. He lives a block away and is a frequent customer who has been posting photos of the thefts for months."
When you can't call the police because it's "racist"
San Francisco’s Shoplifting Surge - The New York Times - "representatives from Walgreens said that thefts at its stores in San Francisco were four times the chain’s national average, and that it had closed 17 stores, largely because the scale of thefts had made business untenable. Brendan Dugan, the director of the retail crime division at CVS Health, called San Francisco “one of the epicenters of organized retail crime” and said employees were instructed not to pursue suspected thieves because encounters had become too dangerous. “We’ve had incidents where our security officers are assaulted on a pretty regular basis in San Francisco,” Dugan said. The retail executives and police officers emphasized the role of organized crime in the thefts. And they told the supervisors that Proposition 47, the 2014 ballot measure that reclassified nonviolent thefts as misdemeanors if the stolen goods are worth less than $950, had emboldened thieves. “The one trend we are seeing is more violence and escalating — and much more bold,” said Commander Raj Vaswani, the head of the investigations bureau at the San Francisco Police Department. “We see a lot of repeat offenders.”"
Damn structural racism!
Here's Why San Francisco is Experiencing a Shoplifting Surge That’s Putting Some Stores Out of Business - "One study found that in Santa Monica, California, crimes unaffected by the ballot referendum fell by 9 percent but those that were downgraded increased 15 percent. Another analysis found that statewide, larceny thefts increased 9 percent after the 2014 change."
Interestingly, the Santa Monica study found public transit increased crime too
California's Prop 47 leads to rise in shoplifting, thefts, criminal activity across state - "Proposition 47 is seen by critics as one of California's biggest blunders. Supported by the state Democratic Party and championed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the referendum was passed by a wide margin in 2014. The idea behind it was to reduce certain non-violent felonies to misdemeanors in order to free up resources for cops and prosecutors to focus on violent offenders... fencers – often from Mexico and Guatemala – set up shop in the middle of the day and night around the city's United Nations Plaza area. He said he's also noticed that the stealers and dealers have gotten bolder by the day. The retail heists taking place, he said, aren't some small-time operation but instead a sophisticated network of international dealers who cross the border to buy stolen goods. What's worse is that a majority of the handoffs happen in view of San Francisco's City Hall... The problem isn't just San Francisco-based. Across the state, retailers say they have been hit hard by shoplifters since Prop 47 went into effect... black-market dealers frequently cross state lines because they know California will go easy on them if caught. "They know what they're doing. They will bring in calculators and get all the way up to the $950 limit," Michelin told Fox News, adding that "one person will go into a store, fill up their backpack, come out, dump it out and go right back in and do it all over again." Michelin said she's seen footage from member retailers that she described as "completely insane."... Many out-of-state crime rings use children to do their dirty work because they know they're low on the totem pole of prosecutions... California is one of a handful of states that doesn't hand out plastic shopping bags. To get one, the purchaser has to pay an additional dime. Residents looking to save ten cents and spare the environment typically put merchandise in a purse, backpack or have it in their hand when they walk out, an unintended consequence of which is shoplifters can easily "fit in and walk out" with the paying crowd. "It's nuts," Michelin said. "Stores are going to be forced to lock up all their merchandise." Frustrated business owners say they feel their needs are being ignored by elected officials."
California, the Shoplifting State - WSJ - "Several retailers in the state have been sued by people caught shoplifting who claimed to be victims of racial profiling. Businesses understandably fear bad publicity and hefty payouts that may exceed their losses from the theft. Some large retailers including Goodwill, Walmart and Bloomingdale’s sought to punish shoplifters by requiring them to take a class in “life skills” to avoid a criminal complaint. The San Francisco city attorney then sued the educational company that provided the classes for extortion and false imprisonment. In California, in short, trying to protect one’s property can be a criminal offense. Looters, on the other hand, typically go free thanks to a 2014 referendum that turned theft of property valued at less than $950 into a misdemeanor. Police stopped apprehending shoplifters because it wasn’t worth their time as thieves were released. Larceny exploded after the initiative passed and has cost businesses in the state billions of dollars. Retailers have been pushing a referendum on Tuesday’s ballot (Prop. 20) that would increase the criminal penalties for shoplifting, especially for serial thieves who work with teams, which is now common in San Francisco. But look who’s spending to oppose it: Unions and Silicon Valley gentry including billionaire investor Tom Steyer, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the wife of Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. As ever, the rich can insulate themselves from social disorder caused by progressive policies. Everyone else can’t."
Grocery stores are pushing California to be tougher on crime - Los Angeles Times - "While Proposition 20 was launched and financed primarily by law enforcement groups, grocery outlets served as early partners in the effort. They are taking a controversial stance at a sensitive time for corporate America, when companies of every stripe have taken pains to demonstrate support for the Black Lives Matter movement and its goals of tearing down racist systems of policing and mass incarceration... Whereas before, property theft of above $450 could be charged as a felony, now that threshold is $950. Proposition 57, approved two years later, hastened the release of some nonviolent offenders from prisons... Proposition 20’s opponents have made efforts to connect grocers’ support of the measure to the broader national dialogue on racist policing. California Safety and Justice, a group that opposes the measure, called out Safeway and Ralphs in an ad in June. Over grainy Black Lives Matter protest footage, a narrator pilloried the grocers for supporting a law that would put more people behind bars and increase prison spending at the expense of investing in community programs. (The Yes on 20 campaign countered with an ad thanking the corporations for their support of crime victims.)"
Obeying the law is racist
Walmart will stop putting 'multicultural' products in locked cases - "Walmart will no longer place "multicultural hair care and beauty products" in locked cases in any of its stores... The practice, which Walmart says was only in place "in about a dozen" of its 4,700 U.S. stores, has received criticism for the implication that the customers who buy these products, largely people of color, can't be trusted. The cases must be unlocked by a store associate, and the products are usually then taken to the front of the store for purchase... Walmart customer Judah Bell said the process is "humiliating" and is something she's noticed at select locations across the country, usually those in more "urban, less affluent areas."Bell said that because her local Walmart uses the locked cases, she will drive 11 minutes further to a more affluent area and shop at that Walmart, where she doesn't have to deal with such treatment. She said the longer drive can sometimes end up saving time... She shared photos taken on Wednesday at two different Walmart stores located in economically different neighborhoods. Neither location had "multicultural" beauty products in cases, but the location in the less affluent community had many more items locked in cases, including cold medicine, children's medicine, body wash, and cosmetics... “As a retailer serving millions of customers every day from diverse backgrounds, Walmart does not tolerate discrimination of any kind. Like other retailers, the cases were put in place to deter shoplifters from some products such as electronics, automotive, cosmetics and other personal care products," Lopez said.While many of these personal care products were placed in cases, equivalent products targeted at a less "multicultural" customer received no such placement.Bell said she once asked a Walmart employee why they kept those products under lock and key and was told that those products have higher theft rates... Walmart isn't alone in facing scrutiny for this practice. Many other personal care stores and national chains such as CVS and Walgreens have been accused of doing this"
Businesses are greedy, but they are even more evil than greedy, since they will spend money discriminating against black people despite the risk of lower sales
Shoplifting Is to Blame for Locked Up Items, Not Walmart - Black Voice News - "43-year-old Essie Grundy announced, with her attorney Gloria Allred, that she was suing a California Walmart for racially discriminating against Black customers by selectively locking up beauty products inside of glass cabinets.As a frequent equal opportunity shopper, I can tell you that large retailers like Target, CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid and nearly all grocery stores lock up the products that are being shoplifted the most. Be it Tide, coffee, diapers, baby formula, razors, deodorant, condoms, alcohol, products to make illegal drugs or that people use to get high—if a store notices that certain items are being stolen, they take certain measures to mitigate their losses.In 2014, California voters approved Proposition 47, which ended the possibility of charging shoplifting as a felony and don’t think for one moment that shoplifters are unaware of the change in the law. They know, like retailers and law enforcement know, that now, anything stolen valued below $950 is a misdemeanor. That means shoplifters are unlikely to be detained, arrested, or prosecuted for stealing. At most, staff and security guards can demand that a shoplifter give back the products but even that’s a daunting task when you don’t know who is armed.In addition to shoplifting being more commonplace, it has become more blatant.I’ve actually seen people stealing who then get caught and dare the security guard and staff to do anything about it. They know like we all know, nothing can really be done.According to a report by the Associated Press, large retailers in California say shoplifting increased at least 15 percent, and in some cases doubled, since voters approved Proposition 47. Plainly stated, people are stealing and without measures like locking up products in glass cabinets or putting hard-to-remove sensors on them—a store really has only two other viable options available to them. They can decide to not carry the items that you want because they are getting stolen, or they can pass on the extra cost of shoplifting losses to the consumer. I know we don’t want to return back to the days of being followed up and down aisles just because of the color of our skin. So, which is more of an inconvenience? Waiting for a customer service rep to open a locked cabinet or the product not being available at all or paying more for the product because it’s an item that gets stolen a lot? I’ll take my chances with the customer service rep.And while we can debate the reasons that people steal another time, I will say that electronics, cosmetics, and most personal care products are hardly considered life or death items like baby formula, tampons, maxi pads, water and food. More often than not, most of the products being stolen end up being sold for a discount on the streets or over the internet... Perhaps if Walmart had a practice of only locking up items that were marketed towards Black people, then maybe the case could be that the practice is discriminatory. But Walmart—like many retailers—locks up a variety of products that are used by different races of people.The bottom line is that products marketed towards Blacks are being stolen the most. Ms. Gundy and Gloria Allred’s beef is with the people stealing those products—be they Black, Latino, Asian or White—or the systems put into place that are preventing the shoplifter from being able to afford to buy the product. I get that where Walmart is involved, emotions tend to run high for some, but that shouldn’t get in the way of common sense. The same goes for supporters of Proposition 47. The majority of California voters wanted to see lesser penalties for crimes like shoplifting and the resulting consequence is that we have more products locked up. To complain about that now is like Monday morning quarterbacking."
Who actually steals? A study of covertly observed shoplifters - "Logistic regression analysis reveals that, while members of some demographic groups shoplifted more often than others, behavioral indicators carried far more predictive power... a significantly larger proportion of the shoplifters were male, black, Hispanic, between the ages of 35 and 54, low or working class, displayed suspicious cues, failed to make a purchase, or shopped during the summer months... the odds of stealing for a person who exhibits one of the three cues of shoplifting (e.g., "scans" the store, tampers with products, displays awareness of security countermeasures, or sample products) are 6.25 times higher than for those who exhibit no such behavior. Finally, those who exit the store without having made a purchase are almost six times more likely to be carrying a stolen product... after controlling for other variables, three demographic variables remain significantly associated with theft. Adults between the ages of 35 to 54 have nearly 1.7 greater odds of shoplifting than do persons younger than 35. And finally, the data indicate that, for every 23 lower- or working-class persons who shoplift, there are 10 middle- or upper-class persons who also shoplift... Hispanic females are more likely than any other race/gender grouping to shoplift, black females are just as prone to shoplifting as all males, and white females are least likely to steal... 8.5% of the persons entering a retail drug store over the course of a year-long period of data collection (April 2000 through March 2001) were observed to commit an act of shoplifting while on the premises."
So much for "stereotypes"
Too bad using behavioral indicators also gets you accused of racism
