Word on the street is that sole In-N-Out burger location in Oakland is closing down. Not because that location isn't making money, but because that location has high crime. I get it: no amount of profit is worth it if your employees and customers aren't safe (or don't feel safe). The staff persons standing outside taking orders for the drive-thru lane must have PTSD from witnessing all the car break-ins. If it's anything like our local Target, the self-serve soda machines at that In-N-Out must be chaos. If you know, you know.
What I am not reading underneath the calls for 'the community to come together to address the issues' - whatever that means - is any concrete methods to deter crime, to stop and hold criminals accountable. In-N-Out management literally told us what the problem is - crime, and yet all people can say is we must come together, that city government must come together. Stop it. Stop the rampant crime from happening, so that people who work and visit that area feel safe.
Our local H Mart supermarket immediately implemented a phalanx of security guards (on electric golf carts, interestingly) on patrol, after a rash of vehicle break-ins in the parking lot. There's security at the front door checking receipts, too. While it is sad that in a first-world society we need such visual deterrents to crime, but at the very least, I feel safe whenever I visit that H Mart. Same with the local mall, where there's security at entrances to stores with high-priced items.
If on top of that, the municipal governments can arrest and prosecute the criminals, I think we'll be just fine moving forward. Because not everyone has the monetary power to hire private security. Let's not wait until bustling strip malls and thoroughfares all become empty ghost towns before the right thing is done.
Sunny afternoon.