Utah-based Cotopaxi CEO Davis Smith said on LinkedIn that the company is closing a retail store it opened just last year in San Francisco. Smith wrote the city has become a “city of chaos ... overrun with drugs, criminals, and homelessness,” on Tuesday in a social media post. He said the inaction of local leadership and law enforcement led to the Golden City’s problems.
Smith explained that Cotopaxi, a sustainable outdoor apparel and gear company, opened a retail storefront in a San Francisco shopping district last year but is now closing the store after “rampant organized theft and a lack of safety for our team.” The first break-in at the store happened during the opening week. The windows were smashed and thousands of dollars of product were stolen, he said. They ended up replacing the window four times.
“I grew up in Latin America,” Smith said. “I never felt this unsafe.”
Store management added additional security measures including “a metal security gate” on the windows. However, this didn’t stop getting hit by organized theft rings several times per week in broad daylight, Smith said. “Our team is terrified. They feel unsafe,” he said, explaining that even the presence of security guards didn’t deter the theft rings.
“It’s impossible for a retail store to operate in these circumstances, especially when cities refuse to take any action,” Smith said. “Despite us paying taxes well above any other state we operate in.” The Cotopaxi executive said they and other retail stores have been battling the lawlessness for months only for the city to recently announce “a reduction of police presence in the neighborhood, despite mass-scale crime.”
Smith said his family’s personal experiences with thieves breaking into their vehicles and confronting them on the street have been terrifying. He said when they reported the crimes to the police, the officers said these kinds of crimes were happening “hundreds of times per day in the city.”
“I grew up in Latin America,” Smith said. “I never felt this unsafe.”
Local anxiety over the rising crime rates hit a boil this summer when San Francisco voters overwhelmingly voted to recall Democratic District Attorney Chesa Boudin. The recall campaign said Boudin was soft on crime and used a wave of high-profile smash-and-grab robberies, similar to what happened to Cotopaxi, to condemn his criminal reform policies.
The Major Cities Chiefs Association’s annual midyear survey found that some crime rates are still higher than pre-pandemic levels. Overall violent crime spiked 42% in the first half of 2022 compared to the same period of time the previous year. Robbery skyrocketed to almost 12% and aggravated assaults increased by around 3% according to the 70 agencies in large cities who participated in the study.
Republican candidates are expecting a boost in support in the final weeks before midterm elections as they continue to advocate for tough-on-crime policies. Polls show crime is a top voter concern following inflation and other economic issues.
A Monmouth University poll published last week shows that 72% of adults surveyed said crime is extremely or very important. Other polls found similar results, including 60% of registered voters in a Pew Research poll who said crime is very important in how they will vote in the 2022 midterm elections.
“Violent crime is on the rise in Democrat-run cities, and families know Democrat policies are to blame,” a Republican National Committee spokesman told The Hill. Last month, before Congress adjourned for the campaign season, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed a collection of bills earmarking additional funds to supply federal grants to local law enforcement agencies.