Philadelphia convenience-store merchants are warning that the city’s lax law enforcement amid coronavirus has resulted in rising rates of shoplifting.
In March, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said that her department would halt arrests for non-violent crimes — including drug offenses, theft, vandalism, prostitution, and more — to prevent the overcrowding of jails during the pandemic. But 20 store owners told local news outlet ABC6 that criminals were emboldened by the lack of police presence.
“I’ve been facing a lot of shoplifting. Every day I try to call and sometimes when I call 911 nobody answers,” one store owner said. “People are coming in the store, they’re loading their bag and they’re actually telling us the law, that they’re not gonna get locked up,” another added.
Members of the Delaware Valley Franchise Owners Association called the situation “lawless” and “the Wild West,” and pleaded for help.
“I have three people quit last week, they don’t want to work anymore because of safety issues,” president Manzoor Chughta said.
A spokeswoman for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office said that the situation sounded “terroristic.”
“If police are making arrests in cases like that, our office would charge appropriately,” she said.
State and local governments have grappled with how to deal with crime during the pandemic.
New Jersey said last month that it would release up to 1,000 inmates from jails, citing fears that holding inmates could lead to outbreaks in prisons. In Baltimore, mayor Jack Young warned city residents that police would “come after” those who “want to continue to shoot and kill people in this city,” warning that hospitals needed to be free to deal with coronavirus patients.