It's been trotted out to justify more cops and the usual law-and-order narrative to counter things like defunding the police. The SF Chronicle suggested that it

It's been trotted out to justify more cops and the usual law-and-order narrative to counter things like defunding the police. The SF Chronicle suggested that it was used as cover to spin already planned mass closures at being a result of something other than just losing business. <https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/Is-shoplifting-forcing-Walgreens-to-cut-back-in-16536960.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/Is-shoplifting-forcin...> The Marshall Project article linked from your CNN piece suggests several forces at work <https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/02/27/shoplifting-retail-theft-lawmakers-response https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/02/27/shoplifting-re...>, one of which is that companies don't want to pay for private security any more and may want local law enforcement funding raised up to externalize the costs on taxpayers.