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> The owner of the Westfield mall, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, told the publication that the department store’s exit from the city “underscores the deteriorating

> The owner of the Westfield mall, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, told the publication that the department store’s exit from the city “underscores the deteriorating situation in Downtown San Francisco.” Did the news publications invent this quote just for clicks as well?

eesmith 3y ago
"Deteriorating situation" is a very broad term. The article also points out the city placed two officers in the store. How many more police officers and/or security guards are needed to get the level of security they want? More specifically, why doesn't the mall have enough security guards already? Was the number of guards removed, perhaps to cut costs? Is the mall trying to get the city pay for mall security, rather than hire additional private security? We've seen this already, like when railroads save money by under-provisioning their own police force, then blame "far-left" policies as the primary cause for the resulting thefts. Quoting the subtitle from https://newrepublic.com/article/165146/union-pacific-package-theft-panic https://newrepublic.com/article/165146/union-pacific-package... "Police unions, the retail lobby, and other critics of criminal justice reform have seized on viral images of package theft and shoplifting to push for a rollback of California’s efforts to reduce its prison population."
- twelve40 3y ago
  two cops and security guards are a band-aid. If you approach the Westfield from the Mission St garage, the entire Mission-facing side of the whole mall reeks of human excrement, has camping tents and incoherent people lying on the sidewalk. Two feet away from a shiny Bloomingdale, which is a miracle how it's still in business and will probably soon quit like Nordstrom did here. It's like a wave of crap sweeping over previously decent locations. Two assigned cops are not very useful against a tsunami of crap. I also had my car broken into right there on 4th St with crowds walking by, but that's a different story.
  - eesmith 3y ago
    Yet "Crime and homelessness concerns were not cited as the precipitating factors".

eesmith 3y ago

"Deteriorating situation" is a very broad term. The article also points out the city placed two officers in the store. How many more police officers and/or security guards are needed to get the level of security they want? More specifically, why doesn't the mall have enough security guards already? Was the number of guards removed, perhaps to cut costs? Is the mall trying to get the city pay for mall security, rather than hire additional private security? We've seen this already, like when railroads save money by under-provisioning their own police force, then blame "far-left" policies as the primary cause for the resulting thefts. Quoting the subtitle from https://newrepublic.com/article/165146/union-pacific-package-theft-panic https://newrepublic.com/article/165146/union-pacific-package... "Police unions, the retail lobby, and other critics of criminal justice reform have seized on viral images of package theft and shoplifting to push for a rollback of California’s efforts to reduce its prison population."

twelve40 3y ago
two cops and security guards are a band-aid. If you approach the Westfield from the Mission St garage, the entire Mission-facing side of the whole mall reeks of human excrement, has camping tents and incoherent people lying on the sidewalk. Two feet away from a shiny Bloomingdale, which is a miracle how it's still in business and will probably soon quit like Nordstrom did here. It's like a wave of crap sweeping over previously decent locations. Two assigned cops are not very useful against a tsunami of crap. I also had my car broken into right there on 4th St with crowds walking by, but that's a different story.
- eesmith 3y ago
  Yet "Crime and homelessness concerns were not cited as the precipitating factors".