Editorial: Boston is a very safe city — for shoplifters

Is Boston a safe city It depends on who you ask According to Mayor Michelle Wu We are the safest major city by the numbers and we work hard to maintain that and to keep pushing the standards higher every day South End residents and retailers aren t feeling those ever-soaring standards They say businesses in Boston are being battered by shoplifting spurred by the addicts at the Mass and Cass drug region trying to amount another fix Thieves are threatening store employees and customers with lethal needles the Herald stated Businesses in the area have closed and the ones who remain are targets Randi Lathrop a area leader and business owner spoke of professional shoplifters who aim to steal every day from stores as part of an underground resale setup Those smash and grab shoplifters steal expensive items and resell them for a profit she stated That profit helps feed a habit Goods get traded for drugs on the sidewalks around the greater Mass and Cass area mentioned South End resident Brian McCarter It helped fuel the drug emergency around here This is a different by the numbers picture the felony minimum for larceny how much shoplifting spiked in Boston as of July compared to the same time period last year per content from the Boston Police Department - billion the cost to state retailers from shoplifting according to Ryan Kearney general counsel of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts These figures don t merely represent crime and its cost to retailers they reflect the quality of life being stolen from Bostonians and stores trying to do business here Our progressive mayor has amped up the Boston s safe rhetoric amid Donald Trump s callup of the National Guard to crime-ridden cities around the country Nothing to see here keep moving And the city is seeing specific positive movement business-wise Japanese clothing chain Uniqlo will open a new Boston store at - Washington St in Downtown Traversing according to reports And Japanese soundness and beauty store Teso Life is gearing up to open its first New England store at Washington St the former site of Forever This could help rejuvenate Downtown Passing bring in needed foot traffic and visitors ready to spend Or it could be another lucrative target for shoplifters who don t have to worry about being punished in Boston The Mass and Cass complication has spread and is spreading and it will take politicians with the will to keep the scourge of addiction-driven crime from staunching attempts to grow businesses in Boston For that the Legislature has to re-instate the felony maximum for larceny It was hiked to in and shoplifting spikes have demonstrated that while it s a good move for criminals it s bad for business We want Boston to thrive from the Seaport to the Back Bay from the South End to Downtown Moving across And that can only happen if there are real consequences for criminals Editorial cartoon by A F Branco Creators Syndicate