Staff Reports
In a move to combat the rising tide of theft and retail crime, several San Francisco stores have taken a bold step by yanking out their self-checkout stations.
San Francisco stores removing self-checkout stations to curb theft and retail crime https://t.co/hQxXXVDKa4
I am not your typical religious guy. To me, the Universe is god, but I cannot help thinking that San Francisco is an excellent comparison to Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah,…— Gene Pavlova (@GenePavlova) December 15, 2023
Safeway and Target have shut down their self-checkout kiosks, putting an end to the free-for-all that has been plaguing their checkout lines. The Safeway on Webster Street, along with several other locations, has even gone so far as to install security gates at the self-checkout stations to crack down on those sticky-fingered bandits.
The Target on Mission and 4th streets has also thrown in the towel on self-checkout, citing rampant shoplifting as the catalyst for their decision.
The San Francisco Police Department has amped up its efforts, launching undercover operations to nab these sneaky thieves. They’ve got a whole operation called “Blitz ’23” to take down these retail criminals. Police managed to collar 17 shoplifting suspects in just one week at a popular retail hotspot.
San Francisco’s Police Chief William Scott even dropped some hard-hitting data to show just how serious the situation has become. Reports of theft over Thanksgiving dropped by a whopping 72% compared to last year. The crackdown is making a real dent in the thievery business.
The nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice released a report showing that retail theft in San Francisco has plummeted by 35% in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year.
