In recent years, San Francisco’s reputation has been tarnished by viral videos of “takeover-style” retail thefts, in which a mob of masked thieves rushes a Walgreens, Safeway, or CVS store, making off with whatever they can carry to sell in illegal street markets.
But as the cops crack down on organized shoplifting crackdown with what they’ve been calling “blitz operations,” the San Francisco Police Department will now set up stings at any business with the space to hide a cop in. All the owners have to do is send an email to sfpd.retailtheft@sfgov.org.
The operations began in the fall and were immediately hailed as successful, racking up around 200 arrests by the end of 2023. Last week, Chief Bill Scott said the department had arrested “well over 400 people this year alone.” Police were asked for firm data on the number of arrests and a breakdown of operations by store size but did not respond by publication time.
The department funds the operations through a $15.3 million state grant, which aims to target organized retail crime.
“The retail theft grant that the city received last year is being put to good use, and a lot of those blitz operations are funded by that grant,” Scott said at the city’s most recent Police Commission hearing.
