Coordinated crime sprees in major cities in California, New York and elsewhere are forcing retailers to close stores and limit operating hours, as packs of shoplifters regularly make off with hundreds of dollars-worth in merchandise to be resold online, at street markets or returned for gift cards.
Amid a crime wave sweeping San Francisco, five Target store locations are reducing operating hours, closing at 6 p.m. instead of the usual 10 p.m., as managers seek to secure merchandise and employee safety, Forbes reported. Organized gangs brazenly steal branded items even with security present, as California raised the threshold for a felony charge from $450 to $950 in stolen goods.
San Francisco Police Chief William Scott told NBC Nightly News thieves calculate the worth of shoplifted goods to fall below the felony threshold, meaning officers cannot take action for misdemeanor theft and stores must be willing to hire security guards to make a private persons arrest.
For more than a month, Target has been experiencing “a significant and alarming” rise in theft and security incidents at San Francisco stores, a Target spokesman told Fox News. He cited similar decisions to reduce hours made by retailers in the Bay Area including H&M, Gap, Marshalls and Walgreens.
“Target is engaging local law enforcement, elected officials and community partners to address our concerns,” he said. “With the safety of our guests, team members and communities as our top priority, we’ve temporarily reduced our operating hours in five San Francisco stores.”
Walgreens has closed 17 locations in San Francisco over the last five years citing this sort of theft, the San Francisco Chronicle reported in May. Jason Cunningham, regional vice president for pharmacy and retail operations in California and Hawaii, said at a hearing at the time that theft in Walgreens stores in San Francisco is four times the average of stores elsewhere in the country. – READ MORE
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