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For one, Walgreens has shuttered a portion of their SF fleet due to increased theft and lack of enforcement. I would trust their inventory theft statistics much

by No1 5y ago

For one, Walgreens has shuttered a portion of their SF fleet due to increased theft and lack of enforcement. I would trust their inventory theft statistics much more than the police department’s, and so do they. On the other hand, what evidence there that this effect is not more pronounced than it was in the past?

jljljl 5y ago
Walgreens shuttered a portion of their SF fleet as part of a pre-announced plan to shutter 200 stores nation wide: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/06/walgreens-to-close-200-stores-in-us.html https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/06/walgreens-to-close-200-store... I would consider their statistics, but I don’t think they have released any — they have just made claims that Shoplifting has increased. Have they released data showing that shrinkage has increased nationwide or in California, and that shrinkage has been driven by increases in shoplifting?
alamortsubite 5y ago
> On the other hand, what evidence there that this effect is not more pronounced than it was in the past? The viability of your claim that petty crimes are less likely to be reported now than they were in the past depends on you producing evidence to support it. You haven't offered this, or even a hypothesis to explain why you think it might be true. Again, I'm not debating that petty crimes are under-reported, but whether this phenomenon of under-reporting has increased over the past few decades to the point that police statistics are now "completely unreliable," as you put it. On a personal level, 20 years ago, I had something stolen from me in SF. I didn't report it, but I'd be just as likely not to report a similar theft now- no more, no less. What changed for Walgreens? I think a much more reasonable explanation for the perceived surge in crime in the face of police data indicating the opposite is 1) Walgreens was one of the few retailers that remained open during the pandemic, thus raising their risk profile, and 2) there's a self-reinforcing effect of viral videos showing people getting away with brazen shoplifting at Walgreens.

by No1 5y ago

jljljl 5y ago

Walgreens shuttered a portion of their SF fleet as part of a pre-announced plan to shutter 200 stores nation wide: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/06/walgreens-to-close-200-stores-in-us.html https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/06/walgreens-to-close-200-store... I would consider their statistics, but I don’t think they have released any — they have just made claims that Shoplifting has increased. Have they released data showing that shrinkage has increased nationwide or in California, and that shrinkage has been driven by increases in shoplifting?

alamortsubite 5y ago

> On the other hand, what evidence there that this effect is not more pronounced than it was in the past? The viability of your claim that petty crimes are less likely to be reported now than they were in the past depends on you producing evidence to support it. You haven't offered this, or even a hypothesis to explain why you think it might be true. Again, I'm not debating that petty crimes are under-reported, but whether this phenomenon of under-reporting has increased over the past few decades to the point that police statistics are now "completely unreliable," as you put it. On a personal level, 20 years ago, I had something stolen from me in SF. I didn't report it, but I'd be just as likely not to report a similar theft now- no more, no less. What changed for Walgreens? I think a much more reasonable explanation for the perceived surge in crime in the face of police data indicating the opposite is 1) Walgreens was one of the few retailers that remained open during the pandemic, thus raising their risk profile, and 2) there's a self-reinforcing effect of viral videos showing people getting away with brazen shoplifting at Walgreens.