> There's probably some of this, but I think it's driven by district attorney not prosecuting people. We see people that have 20+ prior arrests. How many times can a cop arrest the same person and do the paperwork if he's not going to be prosecuted?

There’s plenty of desire to increase prosecution rates in American jurisdictions but little desire to raise taxes high enough to pay for lawyers, judges, courthouses, and humane incarceration—let alone assistance for the otherwise innocent families of criminals. The victims of petty crime are usually poor or middle-class and therefore lack the political power to meaningfully change policy.

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bko a day ago | parent [-]

> victims of petty crime are usually poor or middle-class and therefore lack the political power to meaningfully change policy

This is just not true. Most of this is organized exploiting a lenient justice system. From my original NYT article:

> Last year, 41 people were indicted in New York City in connection with a theft ring that state prosecutors said shoplifted millions of dollars worth of beauty products and luxury goods that were sold online.

The idea that these 300 people are just stealing bread to feed their families is a myth.

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heavyset_go a day ago | parent | next [-]

The idea that organized retail theft is significant or "most" is a myth[1]

[1] https://www.brookings.edu/articles/retail-theft-in-us-cities...

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bko a day ago | parent [-]

Ah as long as Brookings Institute tells me it's a myth, I'll ignore the people selling basic toiletries right outside of drug stores, or bike messengers riding with suspicious taped up bikes that are poorly suited for heavy city use, or the videos of people coming in as a group, loading the bags and making off in get-away cars. Ignore what's in front of you, or the fact that nearly a third of shoplifting can be tracked down to ~300 people. These people maybe just have really big families to feed!

But you might ask why are stores closing? Why is deodorant behind lock and key?

> Finally, corporate claims are not holding up to scrutiny, and are being used to close stores that are essential assets for many communities.

Ah yes, evil corporations like to close stores and forgo profit for ... reasons.

Don't believe what's right in front of your eyes.

Nothing to see.

	▲	roughly 10 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		The Brookings institute is hardly a lefty rag - they're about as centrist/neoliberal capitalist as an institution comes. > Ignore what's in front of you Yes, the general advice is to look past specific notable anecdotes and try to identify actual data to validate whether your emotional experience of the world is reflective of the world or of you. In this case, the numbers suggest the problem is not the world, no matter how many videos you're seeing on TikTok or wherever. A real problem for assessing truth in the modern world is that anything that happens anywhere is instantly available to you as a decontextualized short-form video, and it's your job as a responsible media consumer to understand that ten videos on your feed are not a trend outside your feed. > Ah yes, evil corporations like to close stores and forgo profit for ... reasons. No, they're not forgoing profits, they're choosing to close stores with lower levels of profits than they'd prefer and using retail theft as an excuse. It wouldn't be the first time and it sure won't be the last time that a business tries to deflect blame for its poor planning onto the rest of us.
	▲	LorenPechtel a day ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Where does that ~300 people figure come from??

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TimorousBestie a day ago | parent | prev [-]

I think you misread? That sentence isn’t describing the criminals, it’s describing the victims.

Wealthy people (mostly) didn’t own the Kias and Hyundais that were stolen en masse during the early 2020’s for instance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kia_Challenge

Targeting a wealthy person for property crime is a high-risk, high-reward scenario, but there is still the risk of enforcement. A poor person is a much softer target and law enforcement will almost certainly tell them there’s no hope of being made whole.