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When you read about crime in NYC, sometimes you get that feeling that half the city’s residents are criminals and tens of thousands of people routinely break the law. In the case of shoplifting, however, a very small number of cheats are actually to blame for an amazing percentage of the crime—in fact, 327 individuals are responsible for over a third of such thefts and have been arrested an outrageous 6,000 times.

The New York Times reports:

Nearly a third of all shoplifting arrests in New York City last year involved just 327 people, the police said. Collectively, they were arrested and rearrested more than 6,000 times, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said. Some engage in shoplifting as a trade, while others are driven by addiction or mental illness; the police did not identify the 327 people in the analysis.

Not only do a small number of robbers account for such a huge percentage, but they also tend to target a relatively small number of stores:

The victims are also concentrated: 18 department stores and seven chain pharmacy locations accounted for 20 percent of all complaints, the police said.

The situation is using up a “perpetual carousel of police resources,” Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell admitted at a recent news conference.

We regularly see stories of big-box retailers getting hit by smash-and-grab robberies, as well as videos of folks brazenly walking out of pharmacies with carts full of “free” merchandise—but owners of smaller stores and bodegas are scared too. Times Square deli owner Youssef Mubarez describes what small proprietors are facing when they open their doors:

“Every day, they’re going into work as they usually do and they’re not sure if the person walking in is there to rob them, going to steal from their store or start an issue where it just escalates to a point where they can’t control it,” he said.

The problem is not unique to the Big Apple. CVS, Walgreens, Starbucks, WalMart, and now a brand-new San Franciso Whole Foods have all closed locations across the nation in the last few years at least partly because of rampant theft and crime.

But what’s causing it? Naturally the Do-Gooder crowd sides with the criminals:

Shoplifting is a crime of poverty, said Arielle Reid, supervising attorney of the Decarceration Project at the Legal Aid Society, New York’s largest provider of criminal and civil services for indigent clients. It can’t be solved by a continued reliance on “the heavy hand of law enforcement,” she said.

READ RELATED: Legendary Coach Phil Jackson Blasts the Woke NBA, Says He Doesn't Watch Games Anymore

She’s wrong—it absolutely can be controlled by law enforcement and effective policy. The truth is actually quite simple: if you allow people to break the law without consequence, people will take advantage. It’s not rocket science.

The insane “defund the police” movement, the lowering of many crimes in some states from felonies to misdemeanors, and the removal of cash bail requirements have turned the justice system in many blue cities into revolving doors of criminality. Arrest the shoplifter, let him out a few hours later, and watch as he meanders back to Walgreens to grab some supplies.

And no, it’s not anti-Semitic to point out that leftist financier George Soros backs many of the soft-on-crime, criminal-loving district attorneys that are continually freeing criminals across our country. He absolutely is.

It’s been baffling to me to watch Democrats enact legislation that is ruining our greatest cities, and it’s been equally confusing that voters haven’t made them pay a higher price for it. I can only hope that will change as people watch their metropolises continue to degrade into further anarchy.

See also:

Unrepentant: George Soros Vows to Continue Backing Woke Prosecutors Despite the Lives They’ve Ruined

Lawless LA: Insane Video Shows Flash Mob Raiding 7-Eleven

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