When There Are No Consequences for Crime...

You will experience more crime. Here's Why San Francisco is Experiencing a Shoplifting Surge That’s Putting Some Stores Out of Business

One of the richest cities in the country has a problem with shoplifting.

In 2014, a ballot referendum passed that downgraded the theft of property less than $950 in value from a felony charge to a misdemeanor. In the years since, enforcement of shoplifting charges has waned significantly.

Walgreens has closed stores, because you can't stay in business if people just steal from you.

“Representatives from Walgreens said that thefts at its stores in San Francisco were four times the chain’s national average, and that it had closed 17 stores, largely because the scale of thefts had made business untenable,” Fuller reports. Meanwhile, CVS told him that San Francisco had become “one of the epicenters of organized retail crime” and that the chain has scaled back its security guards’ shoplifting enforcement because it’s become so dangerous.

And it isn't just San Francisco. Click thru for more of the insanity.

Protecting property and enforcing the rule of law is one of the core, legitimate functions of government. That the Golden State has chosen to focus its government’s robust spending and involvement in social life elsewhere speaks to a grave misalignment in priorities.