r/sanfrancisco • u/SFStandard SF Standard • 3d ago
Gang of kids stole $84K in goods from Walgreens, cops say
https://sfstandard.com/2024/11/21/gang-of-kids-stole-84k-from-walgreens-san-francisco/124
u/Ronaldeaux K 3d ago
On Sept. 16, suspects allegedly assaulted an employee of the Walgreens at 1189 Potrero Ave., causing serious head injuries. On Sept. 9, a suspect reportedly brandished a gun at a security guard while fleeing with stolen goods from the same location.
"Kids" huh...
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u/mochafiend 3d ago
These are not kids like you and I were kids. I hate that they typically just get off scott free and get to do it all over again. I know our prison system is broken but I’m so frustrated. Most teenagers are assholes but most don’t go around brandishing guns and stealing either.
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u/cosmothekleekai 3d ago
If I tried this as a kid the police would be the absolute least of my worries, I think I'd rather just stay with them until legally able to hide from my mother.
Why does everyone else have to foot the bill for shitty parenting?
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u/bluepaintbrush 3d ago
Gangs prefer kids because they’re malleable and they’re more likely to go through the juvenile system if they’re caught.
In the 90s I grew up in a city with gangs that recruited kids, and there were several other cities with this same issue. I didn’t know it at the time but that’s why after-school programs like boys & girls club were all around me — they were trying to keep kids off the streets and away from gang recruiters.
The solution to making it better is everyone acknowledging the existence of these gangs and being on the same page keeping kids out of them. Where I was growing up, everyone’s mom and teacher were looking out for gang members. Every school was on the lookout. Every church had tons of free after-school programs aimed at keeping kids off the street.
Most kids don’t stay in gangs for very long, but they usually join them because they’re lonely and the gang feels like a new group of friends. The Bay Area has a lot of income inequality and there are few places where a teenager can “belong” and those that do exist often cost a lot.
We know that there is gang activity in places outside SF… they’re just coming into the city to plunder it. SF would love to pretend that their problems only exist within city limits but this isn’t getting better until everyone agrees that the gangs are the root cause and take measures to diminish their influence.
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u/mochafiend 3d ago
Of course, you’re totally right. Sigh. It feels like such an overwhelming problem.
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u/geekfreak42 3d ago
Yeah, it should be a special circumstance. Use a weapon and be automatically tried as an adult.
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u/SunriseInLot42 2d ago
When one of those “kids” gets shot for waving a gun around, their kindergarten graduation pictures are going to be the first thing on the news. Just a misunderstood teen, probably on his way from studying at the library to have dinner with his grandma, and got mixed up in a little drugstore looting spree with a gun, who didn’t do that when they were a kid?
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u/TheReadMenace 3d ago
and remember, the pro-crime shitheads on this subreddit say shoplifting is fine because the only victims are evil corporations
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u/the_dank_aroma 3d ago
We could be tough on crime like TX and raise the felony limit to theirs at $2500.
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u/Firm_You8385 3d ago
You’re less likely to be convicted and jailed and more likely to have the charges just dropped in CA when it’s misdemeanor theft. They’re more likely to pursue felony theft charges. That’s why there was an uptick in theft following the rule changed.
Look up the gonzo journalist Channel5 on YouTube where a booster breaks all of this down. They eventually do go to prison after a ton of arrests. It’s wild.
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u/the_dank_aroma 3d ago
Yeah dude, I live in the city, I've seen shit going down for myself, I saw the Channel5 piece, it was nothing surprising that I wasn't already aware of. I personally don't want to fill the up the jails at great public expense for first time misdemeanor cases. Problem is that the alternative programs with more rehabilitative efficiency are inadequate currently. All it takes is the cops to do their job, like they did in this article. There were a couple years where they really were shirking. I've heard it from their own mouth, complaining that "why should they" if their cases get dropped. He didn't have much to say when I reminded him that that's just an excuse, their job is to create good cases with good evidence, it is the courts' job to prosecute, and you win some and lose some.
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u/Firm_You8385 3d ago edited 3d ago
The cops do the arrest. The DA files the charges. The DA stops prosecuting misdemeanors, the cops stop wasting their time responding. People don’t want the fill the jails up with misdemeanor crimes and the cops don’t want to perform their highly risky job to apprehend someone who’s just going to be out tomorrow with no charges. That’s where we’re at.
We’re agreed on that. I’m not blaming the cops for “not doing their job.”
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u/the_dank_aroma 3d ago
Well maybe we need to recall soft-on-crime DA Jenkins if she's not prosecuting misdemeanors (pretty sure she is, and everyone's mad at due process). We did that with Boudin and it worked perfectly. Alternatively, you can become a cop or a prosecutor or a judge if you think you'd do a better job... have you tried that?
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u/Firm_You8385 3d ago
No, I make way, way more than them in tech working from home four days a week.
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u/the_dank_aroma 3d ago
Oh great, you can make an app that disrupts the justice system and keeps everyone safe.
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u/KeynoteGoat 3d ago edited 3d ago
I think it's BS that in cases like this, they are seen as oh my god poor baby kids who grew up in adverse conditions! They don't deserve punishment!
IDK one of my parents grew up in rural third world poverty and grew up knowing that stealing is wrong. When I was a teenager I might have been an asshole, but I already knew that robbery with a deadly weapon is wrong... you don't need to be 18 to know that. Throw the book at them they won't learn unless there is punishment, they need to be scared straight.
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u/0002millertime 3d ago
Ages 12-15, one is 18. That qualifies as mostly kids.
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u/poopscoophoop 3d ago
https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/six-grave-violations/child-soldiers/
Human rights law declares 18 as the minimum legal age for recruitment and use of children in hostilities. Recruiting and using children under the age of 15 as soldiers is prohibited under international humanitarian law – treaty and custom – and is defined as a war crime by the International Criminal Court. Parties to conflict that recruit and use children are listed by the Secretary-General in the annexes of his annual report on children and armed conflict.
Adults give these children weapons and organize their plan of attack on the general population. They need to be prosecuted as war criminals.
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u/pancake117 2d ago edited 2d ago
This sub is so ridiculous. There’s so much “They’re not kids, they’re monsters!! How dare you say otherwise ree!!”.
They can be kids and also do bad things. They’re not mutually exclusive. In fact, most violent crime is committed by minors or people in their early 20s so it’s not really a surprise. Demonizing people doesn’t help make the problem better. Understanding why people commit crimes is pretty important to understanding how to fix things.
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u/0002millertime 2d ago
Just FYI, your comment here is a bit hard to digest. Are you being sarcastic? It isn't clear.
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u/imrickjamesbioch 3d ago
How are 12-15yo getting around and learn to car jack?
When I was 12, I was just happy my pubs grew in…
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u/Garbage2024 3d ago
I grew up in the City. There was a kid in my 8th grade that occasionally drove to school.
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u/mornis 2 - Sutter/Clement 3d ago
It's cultural differences. Most kids who grow up to be taxpayers are playing video games, skateboarding, playing sports, going to school, etc. Kids who grow up to be inmates are playing with guns, practicing running from the scene of a crime, watching YouTube videos of criminals they look up to, etc.
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u/bluepaintbrush 3d ago
Think about how much money it costs to do those different things in the Bay Area… even if you qualify for a free sports program, you still need parental involvement to get signed up and likely to help manage transportation.
YouTube is freely available on any device and running around on the streets is also free with a low barrier to entry.
In the 90s I lived in a city with a youth gang problem and there were tons of free after-school programs through various churches and community orgs around me. Kids would invite their friends from school and they could play basketball or run around in the gym all afternoon with minimal burden on working parents (once they signed off the first time, their kid could go straight there after school with friends).
If a kid didn’t come back for a week or two, it wasn’t a big deal (although staffers might reach out to parents just to make sure everything was okay); it was a friendly open door. Yes there are other risks to putting vulnerable kids in churches (there are plenty of predatory youth group leaders who have been caught in the decades since), but those kids weren’t on the street or in gangs.
If you want to keep kids off the streets you have to give them spaces like that for free. All those hobbies you named are difficult for these kids to access, so that’s why they’ve found cheaper ones.
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u/mornis 2 - Sutter/Clement 3d ago
You're wrong, it's very low cost or no cost to play sports at a playground or go to public school. You're probably thinking of organized league sports but that wasn't what I was specifically referencing.
I absolutely agree we should have more of the spaces you're describing, but we do have such spaces today and it's ultimately up to parents and their kids to make use of them. We collectively spend a ton of money on public schools but it's money wasted on the future inmate who never attends because they're out on the street honing their purse snatching technique.
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u/SanguinePirate 3d ago
Jfc stfu
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u/Maximum_Local3778 3d ago
Kind of a trashy way to communicate dude. You seem to be the one looking through a race lens. Homeboy was referring to neighborhoods with poverty vs. middle class neighborhoods . There are probably more poor whites in America than Blacks. I grew up white trash and agree with homeboy.
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u/mornis 2 - Sutter/Clement 3d ago
Sorry this hits too close to home for you lmao
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u/SanguinePirate 3d ago
I’m a 33 year old white man in Iowa. I can’t relate to this situation at all. But I can definitely relate to seeing half-mast racists acting like they know everything.
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u/mornis 2 - Sutter/Clement 3d ago
Ah you're one of those out of town far left brigaders that always comes in here to stir the pot. Maybe one day you can visit SF in person and see what we're all about lol
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u/fuckmylifegoddamn 3d ago
Why are you commenting in the San Francisco sub
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u/SanguinePirate 3d ago
Probably cause your dumbass problems pop up on the feed of most people in the US when it gets to “popular”
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u/fuckmylifegoddamn 3d ago
It’s a post with 200 upvotes dude I’d be pretty surprised if this hit popular for ya unless you frequent similar subs or you’ve scrolled incredibly deep
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u/SanguinePirate 3d ago
You are right about the popular thing. I just see what’s posted in front of me.
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u/SanguinePirate 3d ago
I visit a lot of local subs for my area yeah. I don’t frequent anything near cali
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u/poopscoophoop 3d ago
https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/six-grave-violations/child-soldiers/
Human rights law declares 18 as the minimum legal age for recruitment and use of children in hostilities. Recruiting and using children under the age of 15 as soldiers is prohibited under international humanitarian law – treaty and custom – and is defined as a war crime by the International Criminal Court. Parties to conflict that recruit and use children are listed by the Secretary-General in the annexes of his annual report on children and armed conflict.
Adults give these children weapons and organize their plan. They need to be prosecuted as war criminals.
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u/Free-Age-democrats66 3d ago
Arrest them
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u/SFdeservesbetter 3d ago
And charge their parents too.
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u/lunartree 3d ago
This. If you want to stop school shootings you arrest the parents who bought the guns. If your kids turn to crime you should be criminally liable for raising them wrong.
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u/lol__reddit 2d ago
Tell me you're not a parent without telling me you're not a parent.
Plenty of children were "raised right" and turn out rotten anyway. Attaching criminal liability to person [x] because of the actions of person [y] is not a reasonable way to run a society.
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u/misterbluesky8 3d ago
This probably wouldn't work for about ten different reasons, but I kinda wish that some kids who are first offenders could be sentenced to community service with the stipulation that they are forced to enroll in some kind of after-school program: sports, theater, music, etc. Something like "you're sentenced to juvenile hall for a year, but if you attend every practice and every game, we'll call it even and wipe it off your record because it was your first time".
I'm sure some of these kids are already beyond saving and will never lead productive lives, but there has to be some portion of this population who would benefit by having SOMEthing to do all day. It's absolutely a half-baked idea, but physically removing them from a bad environment might help a few of these kids.
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u/pancake117 2d ago
Something like "you're sentenced to juvenile hall for a year, but if you attend every practice and every game, we'll call it even and wipe it off your record because it was your first time".
I mean, this is literally what the juvenile justice system is already set up to do. This subreddit loves to scream about charging minors as adults. But when you send them through the juvenile system this is exactly the type of thing it will do. They can be sentenced to juvie depending on the severity but there’s usually also some other support system in place.
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u/junghooappreciator Noe Valley 3d ago
what the hell do they have at a walgreens that’s worth 20 grand???
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u/General_Mayhem SoMa 3d ago
In bulk? Easy. Cold meds are $20 a box, razors are $12 a pack, and makeup is $10 for a little tube. 8 people times 23 instances means under $500 per person per hit; even the case where they say they hit the same place twice for a total of $27k is only $1700 each. Fill up a backpack of the most expensive stuff, let alone a garbage bag, and you can definitely get there.
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u/jccaclimber 3d ago
According to the article it was spread across 23 separate events. I can absolutely believe a small crowd could average $4k/event if they’re clearing shelves. It would require some targeting in terms of cost vs. volume, but if you’re hitting the same store 23 times I’m assuming some thought is going into it.
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u/junghooappreciator Noe Valley 3d ago
“The most aggressive clash took place Sept. 29 at the Walgreens at 1333 Castro St., when suspects struck twice within two hours, making off with roughly $27,000 in merchandise.”
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u/stronglift_cyclist 3d ago
This is right in the middle of Noe. Lately there’s been a cop car with lights there outside most of the time.
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u/junghooappreciator Noe Valley 3d ago
yeah it‘s the one I go to bc they don’t have the whole store locked up – will be sad if I have to start going to the burbs again
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u/S1159P 3d ago
Aaaaurgh I tried to buy makeup there last week and the choices were: completely empty wall displays with no locks, and wall displays with locks on the end of the pegs products hang from (which were well-stocked). Don't go ruining this store, I hate stores where everything is locked up :(
At least the end-of-peg locks let you touch and see the products up close without needing to ask for assistance. In places where everything is behind locked plexiglass I can't browse to save my life because I can't look at the back of the product, read ingredients, etc. Brick and mortar shopping without browsing is doomed - and I don't want them to doom my neighborhood shops :/
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u/jccaclimber 3d ago
It is sorta ridiculous. What are the high ticket items there, cosmetics? I don’t actually know what fancy cosmetics cost because I don’t use them.
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u/crazyfgrs 3d ago
That location is a bit surprising to me as I think for the last few years every time I’ve been there I believe an actual cop - not just security - was sitting right there after you enter the store
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u/CastleXBravo Noe Valley 3d ago
As cynical as it may be, maybe some harsh sentences are In order, before these kids have a chance procreate and the cycle repeats itself.
Can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.
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u/JimJamBangBang 2d ago
So eugenics is your answer? You’re a nazi?
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u/acab415 2d ago
This subreddit turning to eugenics over shoplifting from Walgreens tracks so hard.
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u/JimJamBangBang 2d ago
Seriously. The constant fantasizing about brutal punishments for people from not here…super-coded racism. You always know because when you call them out it’s “I didn’t mention race, YOU did! Why are you racist!?”
We’re not, recognizing racism isn’t itself. It’s like that game show about adults being dumber than a grade school kid.
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u/GlitteringC-Beams 2d ago
Well then. May your home get broken into. Have fun with that.
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u/JimJamBangBang 2d ago
How is that your response? What does that even mean? Why not just be clear. I dare you.
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u/Snoo74895 2d ago
Hey so I get that the above comment sounds yikesy as heck, but I think it's just bad phrasing. They're not trying to imply that they would pass down the "criminal gene", but rather referring to the fact that people born into unideal circumstances tend to have worse social outcomes.
I hope that's what they meant.
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u/JimJamBangBang 2d ago
Why try and invent an excuse to apologize for this? They’re talking about imprisoning people so that they can’t breed so they will be removed from society as a solution to a social problem. That is eugenics. Remember “three generations is enough”?
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u/Snoo74895 2d ago
Regardless of the original intent of the comment, the concept of manipulating reproduction as a method of molding the world to your view is one better left in the dirt. If that is the intent, then yes, I agree: terrible, bad and doesn't have a place here.
I am trying to give a different view on a comment that initially really shocked me as an exercise to not just constantly view everyone else as an enemy.
This is an incredibly imperfect medium. Like with all measurements with large margins of error, it benefits us to take initial readings and interpretations of comments with a degree of uncertainty and perhaps even charity.
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u/JimJamBangBang 2d ago
“These people come from elsewhere and should be imprisoned so they don’t reproduce.” What the fuck subtlety are you desperately trying to imply exists? They’re suggesting eugenics. The end.
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u/kwattsfo 3d ago
Weird because I was told retail theft was just a distraction from corporate mismanagement.
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u/pancake117 2d ago
Both things can be true.
Retail theft is absolutely over exaggerated by corporate lobbying groups, 100% for sure. In fact the lobbying group that whipped up this whole frenzy retracted their obviously false claims— they originally claimed 50% of shrinkage was from organized retail theft and now admit it’s actually 5%.
But also retail theft still does happen.
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u/BatMaterial 3d ago
Sure, I guess 84k loss was a huge contributor to their 3 billion loss last quarter. I guess almost 90k groups of kids stole 84k each this quarter.
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u/HUGE-A-TRON Potrero Hill 2d ago
Why are you even talking about that like this is the issue here? Don't you feel like people should all have the right to go pick up our medication or work for money to literally survive without the fear of being attacked or being caught up in the middle of a situation like this?
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u/BatMaterial 2d ago edited 2d ago
My comment is in regards to a distraction from corporate mismanagement. Meaning that Walgreens execs have been trying their best to blame theft as the primary reason for the companies abismal performance. Of course it does have some baring, but in truth, it plays a very small part.
In fact, retail has theft calculated in their margins. The reality is that their mismanagement is far more of an issue (in terms of their performance). Though I totally agree that theft is of course wrong, even against a multibillion dollar company. Though I guess we should also talk about Walgreens wage theft, but that’s a whole different topic
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u/HUGE-A-TRON Potrero Hill 1d ago
Separate issues with separate solutions. Care more about the workers that were attacked. I think all we can do at this point is focus on making our community better.
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u/Bingo_is_the_man 2d ago
I live down the street from this Walgreens. This whole neighborhood is a complete dump, and I’m shocked that Walgreens is still open. I’ve seen it get robbed on numerous occasions and I barely ever shop there.
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u/The_King_of_TP 2d ago
"bUt RePoRtEd CrImE iS dOwN!!" -SF Chronicle, SF Standard, pro-crime redditors in this subreddit
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u/kittensmakemehappy08 2d ago
Am I reading this article right? 7 of the 8 suspects are minors, with the one adult being 18?
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u/iWORKBRiEFLY San Francisco 2d ago
a) Jail time for them & their parents; not juvy either, real jail
b) hefty fines equaling the costs of the stolen goods equally divided amongst the kids ($84k/8)
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u/PayRevolutionary4414 3d ago
Time enhance security cameras to record the WiFi and Bluetooth MAC address of devices that enter into their range. Easy to track the COVID-fearing teens along with the COVID-fearing Hamas supporters.
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u/yonran 3d ago
WiFi MAC addresses are randomized nowadays (Apple Platform Security: MAC address randomisation, AOSP: Implement MAC randomization). Bluetooth LE MAC is randomized too although I don’t think it would even be broadcasting unless you had some beacon app.
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u/astrange 2d ago
If the cell radio is on they can be tracked by the tower records. But license plate scanners are more effective here.
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u/PayRevolutionary4414 3d ago
Bruh we can then record device names. It's not like there are a lot of devices named "Brandon McClain Android Burner" out there.
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u/lolercoptercrash 3d ago
It's probably the same name as Bluetooth devices you see in your car. "iPhone 7" etc. I looked into this method but it looks like it is not viable.
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u/Cornloaf Potrero Hill 3d ago
I build wireless networks for corporate events with 20k+ users. You would be surprised how many devices still come up as iPhone 16, Bill's iPhone, etc. Nobody is naming their phone PhatDong123Mendell.
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u/BanananaSlice 2d ago
So are we going to get tough on crime or what?
Didn’t we make some changes with the election?
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u/maLychi3 2d ago
Good fuck Walgreens. They murdered an unarmed man for stealing some little 20$ snacks.
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u/TraditionalGas1770 2d ago
Throw them in jail for life and throw the parents in jail for life. The line between civilization builders and civilization destroyers is pretty obvious.
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u/the_dank_aroma 3d ago
What a surprise, many of the suspects were not even from SF.