https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/petty-theft-shoplifting-burglary-hayes-valley-13544921.php 'I'm so fed up': With shoplifting all too frequent in Hayes Valley, some merchants are at wits' end Owning a small business in a pricey city like San Francisco is challenging enough, but shoplifting "is the thing that deflates me the most," said Elizabeth Leu, the owner of Fiddlesticks, children's clothing and toy store in Hayes Valley. "It feels like someone running into your house and grabbing your throw pillows." In the span of a year, Leu estimates between $6,000 and $10,000 worth of merchandise is pilfered from her shop, with about two thefts occurring each month. Leu says she has little recourse. Often the items thieves grab are not worth enough to qualify as grand theft, which has a minimum threshold of $950, and filing petty theft claims only increases the business owner's liability insurance.
https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/05/14/shoplifting-california-prop-47-reduced-penalties/ Spike In Shoplifting Blamed On California Prop 47’s Reduced Penalties ROCKLIN (CBS/AP) — Perry Lutz says his struggle to survive as a small businessman became a lot harder after California voters reduced theft penalties 1 1/2 years ago. About a half-dozen times this year, shoplifters have stolen expensive drones or another of the remote-controlled toys he sells in HobbyTown USA, a small shop in Rocklin, northeast of Sacramento. “It’s just pretty much open season,” Lutz said. “They’ll pick the $800 unit and just grab it and run out the door.” Anything below $950 keeps the crime a misdemeanor — and likely means the thieves face no pursuit and no punishment, say retailers and law enforcement officials. Large retailers including Safeway, Target, Rite Aid and CVS pharmacies say shoplifting increased at least 15 percent, and in some cases, doubled since voters approved Proposition 47 and ended the possibility of charging shoplifting as a felony with the potential for a prison sentence.