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Image#2 one of the retail theft incidents 

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Image#2 one of the retail theft incidents 

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Hi all, I went to the downtown walnut creek shopping center to interview local shoppers, I asked them these questions. Do you enjoy your shopping experience in downtown walnut creek?How do you feel about the recent organized retail crime?What changes do you think need to be made? Do you feel safe shopping in person or online? While doing this assignment it gave me a better perspective on how others view the downtown walnut creek shopping center.

After doing these interviews it seemed like a lot of people had similar opinions, this has impacted my thinking about my critical question a lot because if local people have similar thoughts then there clearly is an issue that needs to be addressed. Interviewing the security guard relates to my critical question because he sees retail crime in a regular business and he handles it. The local shopper relates to my critical question because they are potential witnesses and they are the ones experiencing how unsafe it makes them feel.

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The downtown shopping center in walnut creek also known as broadway plaza shopping was built in 1951, with originally Macys and lucky's. This was one of first “open- air” shopping centers to be built in the country. This center was built so people can have a safe retail space and shop around for entertainment. This place was also created to hold office spaces for companies.

With all the recent organized retail crime it is not becoming safe anymore. There are hardly any people who go there to shop. The shopping life is slowly declining because people are not wanting to leave their homes for their own safety. When interviewing with local shoppers most of them have similar responses with how they don't feel safe going out shopping and how they don't want to risk their lives or potentially putting themselves in danger because they came across a robbery. About a year ago Nordstrom was invaded by several robbers who when they swiped out the store, people were hurt during this incident.

During my research it has made me realize how out of control this problem is getting. There have been lots of robberies that I was unaware of before doing some research. Robberies are practically happening on a weekly basis which is very unfortunate for companies and for the people who have to experience this.

Digging deeper into my research it opened my eyes on how often this happens not just in my area but throughout the bay area. Sadly organized retail theft is becoming the “new thing”. Proposition 47 was recently brought to my attention, this proposition stated that if you commit a nonviolent crime( commercial theft ) that's under $950 you won't face any harsh punishment. I personally believe if you shoplift anything no matter its value you should be charged with some sort of consequences.

After doing all my research this has brought me to realize that there are many issues that need to be resolved in order to prevent organized retail theft. The main ones are increased security, by increasing the security in the shopping center would hopefully make people not want to shoplift. I believe having multiple security offices surrounds the area. Each of them have their own assigned section. Hopefully by doing this it can scare away the robbers and make the shopping center a safer place for people to shop. Another solution that can potentially prevent retail theft is to increase the punishment for shoplifting. Increasing the punishment for shoplifting can be effective because people aren't going to want to face harsh punishments.