SHOPLIFTING IS CONSUMPTION

Shoplifting is illegal in San Francisco, contrary to online claims

• Published on July 12, 2024 at 09:31
• 
  
• By Nahiara S. ALONSO, AFP USA 
• Translation and adaptation Marisha GOLDHAMER

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Theft is among several reasons retail chains are closing stores in the US city of San Francisco, but social media posts sharing an image of a sign implying stealing merchandise worth up to $950 will go unpunished are false. Shoplifting is a crime in the state of California, and the municipality did not authorize the notice circulating online.

A July 3, 2024 Facebook post appears to show a sign outside a Louis Vuitton store in San Francisco that says: "Stolen goods must remain under $950."

The post caption blames such crimes on Democrat Gavin Newsom, former mayor and current California governor.

"The only business going 'gangbusters' in SF is the THEFT BUSINESS because it only has one regulation," says another post alluding to the city's ongoing battle with organized retail theft rings.

Similar posts spread in English and Spanish across Facebook, Threads, Instagram and X as Newsom rejected suggestions that he should replace US President Joe Biden as the Democratic candidate in the upcoming election.

Image

Screenshot of a Facebook post taken July 10, 2024

Despite media coverage of brazen thefts in San Francisco, stealing is illegal in the city and across the state.

"Theft of any amount of merchandise is a crime in California," David Sklansky, co-director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center (archived here), previously told AFP.

Why $950?

The figure on the sign refers to a threshold established under Proposition 47, which state voters approved in 2014 (archived here).

The law made shoplifting a misdemeanor offense, defined as "entering a commercial establishment with intent to commit larceny while that establishment is open during regular business hours" (archived here).

When the amount stolen is less than $950, California's criminal code says it "is punishable by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or both" (archived here).

The law's aim was to focus prison spending on violent crimes. But a decade later, California politicians continue to fight over whether to amend or scrap the law.

"Proposition 47 made retail theft of under $950 worth of merchandise a misdemeanor instead of a felony," Sklansky said. "There are bills, which I believe are still pending, that would lower the threshold for felony theft from $950 to $400. But all of this has to do with when theft is a felony and when it is a misdemeanor -- not whether it's a crime." 

The posts also fail to distinguish between petty theft, when someone takes something for personal gain, and organized retail crime, when a group coordinates to steal merchandise "for the purpose of reselling items on the black market for financial gain," according to the nonprofit Brennan Center for Justice (archived here). 

A 2020 survey by the US National Retail Federation found organized retail crime "costs retailers an average of $719,548 per $1 billion dollars in sales" (archived here). 

The office of state Attorney General Rob Bonta says online that organized retail crime is a felony and will not be prosecuted as petty theft or shoplifting (archived here).

In 2023, Newsom announced the state would send $267 million to 55 cities and counties in the "largest-ever single investment to combat organized retail crime in California" (archived here). 

Unofficial sign

AFP was unable to determine the origin of the sign. Officials said retailers reported them, but city crews did not find any on the streets.

Rachel Gordon, spokeswoman for the San Francisco Department of Public Works (archived here), said the notice pictured in the posts "was not a sign installed by the city."

This is not the first time unofficial notices have appeared around town.

In 2015, tourists were fooled by signs announcing "no technology zones." In July 2023, local media reported on prank placards criticizing a new bike lane.

Google Maps Street View confirms the photo in the posts could have been taken outside the Louis Vuitton store in Union Square, but the San Francisco mayor's office said it could not locate any such signs in the neighborhood.

"If found, they would have been removed immediately," the office said in a July 3, 2024 statement to AFP.

Local media report nearly half of the stores in the city's Union Square shopping district have closed since 2019. But crime is just one factor cited for the exodus, along with shifts toward online shopping and decreased foot traffic with the rise of remote work.

While crime spiked from September 2021 to April 2022, the Council on Criminal Justice found San Francisco has returned to pre-pandemic levels of reported incidents (archived here).

AFP has previously fact-checked false claims about penalties for shoplifting in California.