Inaction by British police has led to an epidemic of shoplifting, reports The Spectator. Over the past year, retail shoplifting has risen by 19 per cent nationwide, and 27 per cent in the ten largest cities. Violence against retail workers has also increased. 89 per cent of employees have already experienced bullying in a variety of forms, from shouting to puncturing a lung and breaking ribs, says the British publication.
Shoplifting in the UK used to be frowned upon, considered a crime and punished accordingly, but recently, due to police inaction, such acts have been decriminalised, The Spectator writes. Over the past year, retail shoplifting has increased by 19 per cent nationwide and 27 per cent in the ten largest cities.
The theft epidemic has even reached the villages, the British publication continues. Robbers do not limit themselves to anything and steal even donations. Violence against retail workers has also increased since 2020. According to the British Association of Retail Stores, 89 per cent of employees have already experienced bullying in various forms, from shouting to punctured lungs and broken ribs.
And the US example shows what Brits should expect next. In San Francisco, where stealing anything under $950 is now considered a misdemeanour rather than a crime, and shop workers are punished for trying to stop thieves, parts of the city have become deserted. Everywhere, out of control thefts are causing shops to close.
The death of high street shops, pubs and churches in the UK is part of an inevitable atomisation of society that has been accelerated by the pandemic, the publication says. Lonely people have become even lonelier, lazy people have become lazier, and crazy people have become crazier.
“If slackers and parasites continue to attack hard-working and productive people without fear of punishment, we will turn from a nation of shopkeepers into a nation of shoplifters,” The Spectator concludes.
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