Have you ever wondered where all that stone booty in San Francisco ends up? A lot of the shoplifted items end up being sold out in the open by street vendors.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed has been trying to crack down on the lawlessness by shutting down the illegal street vendors. But that has proven to be difficult.
First, a 2018 state law has made it nearly impossible to enforce a ban because it prevents police officers from being involved in any crackdown.
Only in California.
But that's only half the problem. Civil rights groups, Hispanic advocacy organizations, and the far left have all been quick to scream about taking the livelihood away from poor, honest, immigrants.
Apparently, knowingly buying shoplifted goods shouldn't be a crime for these honest folks.
Because of the ban on using police to enforce the law, Breed is forced to use other unarmed city employees to shut down the vendors. That, as you can imagine, has made the public works employees a little skittish after a few enraged vendors threatened them. So the cops are accompanying the city employees when shutting down the criminals' operations.
The San Francisco police department is about 600 officers short of being fully manned. Sending a police officer along just to evict some street vendors is a waste of manpower.
So Breed is stuck. And running for re-election when two opponents are riding her for her weak response to the epidemic of shoplifting has her scrambling for other solutions.
“When people are out there basically with Walgreens on the sidewalk, our officers should be able to walk up,” Breed told Politico.
Sen. Scott Weiner (D-11th District) has introduced legislation that would enable cops to shut the crooked vendors down.
Wiener, a Breed ally, has yet to unveil a bill and might not endorse the policing approach. He said he’s exploring legislation that would clamp down on illegal fencing and also make it easier for above-board vendors to obtain permits and find spaces to operate.
“Street vendors make San Francisco a better place — reflecting our rich, diverse cultures (and) providing opportunities for people to earn a living,” Wiener said. “At the same time, people shouldn’t be selling shoplifted goods on the streets.”
But any legislative effort is likely to face strong opposition. Breed has already faced backlash for enacting a temporary ban along Mission Street, an immigrant neighborhood with a tradition of street vendors selling food, handmade jewelry and reused clothing and furniture.
Breed's milquetoast response to the epidemic of shoplifting and "smash and grab" robberies has frightened ordinary people and driven the political opposition that now threatens to unseat her.
She has drawn sharp criticism from the right and left over her handling of the problem. Several of her challengers in the November mayoral election, including Daniel Lurie and Mark Farrell, say she hasn’t done enough as major retailers, Walgreens included, continue to close stores.
Neighborhood and immigrant-rights groups in the Mission, meanwhile, say her approach — blanket moratoriums on all street vending in certain areas — threatens to criminalize legitimate mom-and-pop merchants.
San Francisco is being hollowed out first by the pandemic destroying downtown office space and then the loss of retail stores that can't make money when gangs of thieves rob them blind.
It's not all Breed's fault. But her response to the crisis could have been more timely and stronger.
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