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> When comparing 2021 larceny theft figures to pre-pandemic 2019 figures, one will find that reports of theft are actually down. From Jan. 1, 2021, to Oct. 10,
by SV_BubbleTime 5y ago
> When comparing 2021 larceny theft figures to pre-pandemic 2019 figures, one will find that reports of theft are actually down. From Jan. 1, 2021, to Oct. 10, 2021, there have been 21,842 reports of larceny theft, and there were 31,958 reports over the same period in 2019, which is a 31.6% decrease.
Ok, but this might be very misleading. Wallgreen’s chief complaint is that the laws were changed and police no longer respond to theft under $950. Encouraging small incidence but relatively safe repeated thefts.
So wouldn’t it make complete sense that larceny numbers where police were called, an arrest was made, and a conviction secured would drop if police were instructed to respond only to larger crimes?
If anything I would expect a larger decrease if Walgreen’s is correct.
Not saying this was any plan to “decrease crime by under reporting” or that I can prove the videos I’ve seen of carefree shoplifters weren’t happening previous to the law changes. Just that this might not be the point they are intending to make.
- mc32 5y agoIt would also be useful to know what the average haul of the thefts pre-pandemic and now.
- gota 5y agoThis, I think, is the core issue. The typical theft before the changes could have been of trivially low values. As soon as people know that the strongest negative incentives only kick in after a total value (e.g. 1000 USD) they may start to "optimize" for that. I mean - if a person would shoplift item A; they may reason that there is very little additional negative incentive to not steal B, C...as well - to get closer to that threshold. This makes sense even if you assume that thefts of total value under the threshold are being always reported (as commented elsewhere here). Lower numbers of instances, higher value of theft. Then again, maybe there are underlying mechanisms in the motivations of shoplifting that make this completely wrong. I'd accept and appreciate the input of someone with expertise in this subject
- taurath 5y agoWalgreens has the data on this so they can choose to put it up, if they care about people believing them.
- jet_32951 5y agoWalgreen's are not perceiving local support for their stores. They are not alone. There is a Walgreen's in the Castro and it is likely from my reading they share a lot of the complaints in this article [0] which says law enforcement is no longer to be counted on to help. [0]https://www.ebar.com/news/latest_news/302626 https://www.ebar.com/news/latest_news/302626