SF Police solve only 3.6% of larcenies in 2023.

Shoplifting in San Francisco: A Rampant Problem

Shoplifting might as well be legal in San Francisco. A story published today by the San Francisco Chronicle confirms that only a tiny fraction of petty theft cases get solved in the city.

The Reality of Shoplifting

At a Metro PCS store near City Hall in San Francisco, clerk Maria Gonzalez said shoplifters invade at least twice a week, at times jumping over the counter to swipe phones, cords and anything else they can snatch…

“We tell them to get out, but they’re going to take what they’re going to take,” Gonzalez said. “More than anything, I feel scared for my life.”

Across California, clearance rates for petty larcenies — thefts without the use of force or threat of force — have fallen substantially over the past three decades, records show. In 2019, police across the state solved about 9% of such crimes. In San Francisco, police have solved roughly 3.6% of larcenies reported in 2023, a slight increase from the same time last year.

Store thefts are often going to be caught on video or witnessed by employees. And yet, people who do this have about a 1 in 30 chance of facing any kind of consequences. It’s no wonder the problem is rampant where the punishment is non-existent.

The Root of the Problem

A bit later in the story we get some refreshingly honest admissions from a homeless man about why shoplifting is so common: Homeless people need food and drugs.

“Panhandling doesn’t get me enough for my food and drugs,” said Antonio Ortega, 33, as he spread out his latest haul of spices, coloring markers and socks on Turk Street. “You think I like shoplifting? Hell no. But most of us doing it are doing bare essentials to get by.”

He said he often gets questioned by security guards, “but they can’t do anything, really.”

“It’s brutal out here,” he added, explaining that he needs to boost to buy food and drugs.

Big surprise. Homeless junkies only care about getting more drugs and they’ll steal to get what they need. How would this problem be helped by giving people free housing? It wouldn’t really. These same people would still be junkies and would still be stealing to feed their habit. And the city of San Francisco would still be turning a blind eye to all of it even as their retailers close from the pressure of the rampant theft. An Australian owned retailer called Coco Republic announced Wednesday it was closing after just seven months.

“[It] has become clear that downtown San Francisco is no longer a viable option for Coco Republic’s flagship store,” the spokesperson wrote in an email, adding, “It was a difficult decision and one that was not taken lightly. The recent closings of Whole Foods, Nordstrom, Saks Off 5th and Anthropologie show that ours is not an isolated problem in Union Square, and we hope the city will be able to address the issues that are making it so challenging to do business there.”

Of course crime isn’t the only factor here but it’s certainly a factor and one for which the city seems to have no solution. For every person you see doing drugs on the street, they are stealing daily to keep this going.