Shoplifting

Governments often pass laws without anticipating the unintended consequences. Prop 47 passed in California made shoplifting less than $950 a misdemeanor instead of a felony. This in and of itself would have been acceptable to most people but the criminals were not arrested. The crime became so wide spread that the police and the courts were overwhelmed. Police no longer have the time to investigate and when arrest are made prosecutors let it go. What they did not anticipate was a person stealing $900 worth of merchandise and selling it on E Bay and then going back for $900 more. Store employees were told not to interfere as someone could get hurt or it could result in law suits. Local officials advised businesses to invest in private security. This is just one more example of treating the symptoms instead of the cause. All to soon this led to large groups of people going into a store and filling up leaf yard bags full of merchandise and walking out with store employees standing idly by recording the thefts on their phones. This not only resulted in an increase in shoplifting but also in other crimes. It is what some describe as a break down in civilized behavior. Some stores have moved out of certain areas to avoid this situation and this hurts shoppers in those areas who then have to travel to other neighborhoods to buy their goods.