A San Francisco business is implementing a new system of shopping to deter would-be criminals amid “rampant shoplifting,” KRON4 reported.
Fredrickson’s Hardware and Paint is reportedly attempting a one-on-one shopping experience during some hours of the day. With the entrance blocked off, customers wait to be assisted by an employee, who chaperons the individual customers around the store as they shop, according to the KRON4.
This system is meant to deter potential shoplifters by making stealing more complicated, hopefully prompting them to leave and try their luck on an easier target, according to the outlet.
Sam Black, a manager of Frederick’s, said that the stealing is the worst he has seen in his 24 years there, the outlet reported.
“It’s pretty bad,” Black told KRON4. “I mean, the dollar amounts are pretty significant, and with the tools and now we’re getting snatch-and-grabs when they take whole displays, so it’s getting kind of dangerous for the employees and the customers.”
Black claimed these measures were needed in part because they were not receiving enough support from the police and city officials, the outlet reported. (RELATED: San Francisco Politician Reverses Course On Pro-Cop Legislation: REPORT)
Teens rob Walgreens and took all the makeup at the West Portal store in San Francisco last night. Crime is way way up in the city as our mayor lies and says crime is down. Help @MarkFarrellSF we need you as mayor! pic.twitter.com/6AMb0twFsG
— Asian Crime Report (@activeasian) February 22, 2024
California voters passed Proposition 47 in 2014, which reportedly reclassified some crimes, such as shoplifting, from felonies to misdemeanors. Democrats such as San Francisco Mayor London Breed now support a ballot measure to repeal the proposition in favor of stricter penalties, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, as reported by the Daily Caller News Foundation.