Store Owners Take Desperate Measures As Crime And Shoplifting Skyrocket
(UnitedReader.com) – With prices and crime both on the rise across several areas in America, it is common for consumers to find electronics and other expensive items locked in cases due to their high value. But theft has become so bad that stores in some areas of New York City (NYC) are beginning to encase even the cheapest goods, particularly canned meat, in lock boxes.
Shoplift Special
The New York Post recently reported on a Duane Reade’s store in NYC that is securing several food products, including SPAM, in plastic boxes to prevent people from stealing them. This isn’t the only place locking up cheap items. Locations across the city are putting toothpaste, soap, and other household staples in security cases. The trend has unfortunately become a necessity as crime runs rampant through the streets of New York and inflation has residents more desperate than ever.
SPAM goes on lockdown due to inflation https://t.co/mzsH4Kv2Tr pic.twitter.com/cTjFtzD4ep
— New York Post (@nypost) July 30, 2022
Some people believe thieves are stealing these products to sell them on the street or online to make a profit, possibly to buy drugs. Others feel offenders are simply the hungry and homeless resorting to desperate measures to obtain the bare necessities. Employees working for the Duane Reade’s store noted they typically see at least four cases of shoplifting every day during the evening shift. Some employees feel as though it’s useless to put the products in the security boxes, explaining that if someone wanted an item badly enough, they would just break the plastic container.
Inflation and Consumer Sentiment
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is 9.1% higher in June 2022 than it was over the previous 12 months. That’s the highest rate of inflation in four decades. Prices continue to climb despite the US economy shrinking for the second year in a row, a telltale sign of a recession. However, President Biden has yet to admit or tell the American people their nation is experiencing an economic downturn. Perhaps the threat of a decline is what is driving so many citizens to steal food and other common household goods. Or maybe it’s just the price of everything.
Inflation has created an easy market for thieves to lift and sell products at discounted prices from what consumers would find in stores. Meanwhile, honest, hard-working people are struggling to afford food, rent, gas, and their utilities.
Are these crimes simply acts of desperation? Maybe they’re part of what’s just another day in crime-riddled NYC. What are your thoughts?
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