We’re blaming the wrong things for San Francisco retail theft

&gt; these types of thefts with multiple people running into a store and grabbing items are not new [..] Nor are they isolated to the Bay Area or even to progressive cities<p>But have they become more <i>common</i> recently&#x2F;in San Francisco? It&#x27;s very specious to consider only <i>if</i> a crime ever occurs, and ignore the <i>rate</i> at which it occurs.

&gt; We’re blaming the wrong things for San Francisco retail theft<p>Seems a little callous to call these shoplifters “things,” but what the heck, I’m on board.

&gt; For context, police have made arrests in just 8.8% of commercial burglary cases this year.<p>Isn’t this a data point for more&#x2F;better policing? I get that they’re using it to push back on the “nobody prosecutes” messaging, but it feels like it cuts into their core argument.

Make S.F. Great Again - New Breed of S.F.ians.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.foxnews.com&#x2F;politics&#x2F;cartoons-slideshow" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.foxnews.com&#x2F;politics&#x2F;cartoons-slideshow</a>

DA Chesa seems to think that shopkeepers are victim-less.

I think people are going to find way to criticize Chesa here, and there probably are some valid ones, but at the core I think he&#x27;s right. It seems obvious to me that you need to get to the root of the problem if you care about solving the problem at all. Just prosecuting people won&#x27;t prevent the next criminal, we need to meet people where they are and make sure they have skin in the game too.