[monero-xmr]

I’m friends with the manager of my neighborhood convenience store and he is extremely angry that he has shoplifting caught on tape, trespassed people, begged and pleaded with the police but they won’t do anything. I’m not sure if you actually know anyone operating a retail store but it’s pretty grim in the blue cities

[Spooky23]

The police rarely have ever been super responsive on shoplifting and basic trespass. I worked at a big box electronics store in the 90s, and we got looted when management did stupid shit like put hard drives on a retail shelf to save labor. The police rarely cared with some specific exception.

These cases are both minor and hard to prosecute.

The difference isn’t enforcement, it’s demand. The retail model as it stands today wasn’t designed for a world where there is a global market for everything. 95% people are honest, and most dishonest people are disorganized and easy to deter.

If you were to raid a drug store in 1986, your ability to unload stolen toothpaste and hair spray was pretty limited - maybe some mafias had a network of bodegas or independent stores.

Today, you have a major corporation that prides itself at having the “world‘s largest selection”. It’s also the worlds largest fence — Amazon.

[mcphage]

You really need to figure out how to get the police to do their job.

[danaris]

...Do you, perhaps, detect some sort of a difference between your neighborhood convenience store, and Wal-Mart?

Perhaps some differences in level of power?

Perhaps some differences in the degree to which police are willing to bend over backward for them, vs blowing them off?

[Terr_]

The symptoms you're describing don't seem to match the proposed treatment.

Police: "You've caught them red-handed on camera, but we're very busy and we don't care. Or perhaps this is a place where we're deliberately doing-nothing as a revenge or pressure-tactic against local politicians."

Shopkeeper: "Ah, but this time I have the camera-footage and fancy biometrics of everyone in the store!"

Police: "Oh, well why didn't you say so? That completely changes things, we're always willing to help out a fellow biometrics fan."

[mlrtime]

You forgot the local DA that run on a political stance to NOT be tough on crime. Police will not arrest if the DA won't prosecute.

[mcphage]

> Police will not arrest if the DA won't prosecute.

Why not? If the police are frustrated that the DAs aren’t doing their job, I don’t think it helps the police any to choose to also not do their job. Especially since DAs are often elected, which means it’s easier to replace them if the police can show that they (the DA) are the bottleneck. But if the police don’t do their job first, then the police are the bottleneck.

[mlrtime]

That is great and I agree with you, but not how things work on the streets, at least in NYC.

[mcphage]

> but not how things work on the streets, at least in NYC

Then how do things work on the streets in NYC?

[mlrtime]

Criminals walk into a store, steal things and leave.

Or you have criminals walking around with 80+ arrests that are let go same day over and over again.

[rurban]

Depends on the judges. If police cannot prove the crime in front of the judge, they wasted their time. With proper evidence it's not a waste of time anymore.

[Eisenstein]

So the reason is that they are afraid of bringing case with witnesses and video footage to a judge because it might be too flimsy?

[monero-xmr]

Progressive prosecutors don’t care. Judges let repeat offenders out with a wrist slap. Demoralizes police - what’s the point of all the effort if they are back out on the street tomorrow?

[Eisenstein]

Sounds like you have a narrative that you are going to believe no matter what.

[monero-xmr]

My narrative is living here forever and seeing everything go to shit