[artemist]

It's really strange (though logical if you think about who controls them) seeing these articles from supposedly neutral news sources with a very strong right slant. If you look at actual data there is no crime surge and thefts from retailers hurt almost no one (except maybe investors for insurance companies making slightly less money). On the other hand large retailers such as Target blatantly steal millions from employees through overtime violations and minimum wage violations. In fact, if you look at the numbers, both completely legal civil asset forfeiture and illegal (but not criminal and extremely lacking in enforcement) theft from employees outnumber total value stolen from burglaries.

And for feces and needles: There's an obvious solution more effective than arresting people: public toilets. Many of these cities like to think of themselves as "liberal" while refusing to do the absolute minimum for any of their poorer residents.

[refurb]

This is such a cop out response. Some crime stats are down, others are up, but it ignores the lack of reporting that goes on as well. People just don’t report repeated minor crimes because, what difference does it make?

And thefts from retailers certainly hurt owners (who can’t insure against it). Large retailers might be able absorb it but small ones just go under. Then the community suffers for lack retail shopping.

And blah, blah, wage theft. Sure, that’s the problem too. But it doesn’t make crime NOT a problem.

It’s this exact attitude that has so many people pissed off. There is clearly a bunch of people in SF who have a strong incentive to ignore crime.

[darawk]

This is exactly right. The crime stats are down because there is no point in making a report to a police force who won't make arrests because the DA won't prosecute. Simple as that. Blind reliance on "data" without reference to its inputs and construction is a recipe for bad decisions.

[bmarquez]

> People just don’t report repeated minor crimes because, what difference does it make?

Yup. Living in big cities trying to file police reports against broken windows or attempted theft is a frustrating exercise. Police officers have straight up told me they wont bother to investigate or improve security but they can give me a police report number to file a claim against insurance. If it's under the insurance deductible, why bother?

[foogazi]

> and thefts from retailers hurt almost no one

Huh ? It’s free money then