“I’m new to San Francisco,” New York Times journalist Thomas Fuller told a grocery store clerk shortly after moving to the city. “Is it optional to pay for things here?”
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.
https://fee.org/articles/why-san-francisco-is-experiencing-a-shoplifting-surge-that-s-putting-some-stores-out-of-business/
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.
https://fee.org/articles/why-san-francisco-is-experiencing-a-shoplifting-surge-that-s-putting-some-stores-out-of-business/
