redstate.com
It’s tough to manage or own a convenience store in California these days, since criminals have more rights than law-abiding people and if you dare fight back against the freeloaders and hoodlums who regularly take whatever they want from the shelves and the cash registers, you’ll be the one facing criminal charges.
And that’s just *inside* the store. Especially in places like Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Sacramento (not so much in the more sane areas of the state, which do exist, and I can’t list them because I’ve been sworn to secrecy), potential customers first have to navigate past the “unhoused” and even some unhoused communal living centers (a/k/a homeless encampments) to enter places like 7-11, AM/PM, or even CVS and Walgreens.
Nobody wants to actually physically confront these people, because sadly many are mentally ill, and many are violent. And, while COVID didn’t kill them in big numbers, they’re not exactly living in hygienic circumstances. If the cops do come to clear them out, they’re usually back soon. So, the best solution is for them to leave voluntarily, or to make your establishment an unattractive location. Promises of housing and services haven’t been very effective in enticing folks to leave their tents or shopping carts, and people who’ve erected barriers to prevent folks from sleeping on the sidewalk have had their hands slapped by code enforcement bureaucrats…
