Another smash-and-grab hit Sunvalley Mall this week, and like clockwork, the finger-pointing began. Some are quick to blame the mall itself, as if its glass counters and jewelry displays somehow invite chaos. But let’s be honest, jewelry cases have been at Sunvalley for decades, and so have bustling holiday crowds, back-to-school sales, and generations of families shopping together. For years, nothing like this happened. The mall wasn’t some lawless hotspot; it was, and still is, an anchor of the community—a place for commerce, jobs, and connection. Sunvalley Mall, like most shopping centers, invests in security, partners with local law enforcement, and provides a safe space for thousands of shoppers every single week. It didn’t tell three thieves to walk in with hammers, smash display cases, spray an employee with mace, and run off with stolen jewelry. That was their choice, and theirs alone. Blaming the mall for the actions of criminals isn’t just unfair, it’s absurd. It shifts the conversation away from where it belongs: on the people committing these crimes and on the politicians and prosecutors who keep making it easier for them to get away with it. California’s soft-on-crime laws and the District Attorneys’ reluctance to throw the book at repeat offenders have created a revolving door. The same crooks smash, grab, and stroll right back out, because the system all but tells them they can. If we want safer shopping centers, we don’t need more blame aimed at the victims, we need tougher penalties, meaningful prosecution, and laws with teeth, not excuses from Sacramento and the county courthouse. Sunvalley Mall didn’t break the law. It didn’t endanger anyone. It didn’t spray anyone with mace. That was all on the criminals and the soft-on-crime politicians. And that’s exactly where the blame belongs.
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Feel free to add your comment below….
imho – it’s not the mall’s “fault” – just the actions, activities, crimes occurred there makes it unsafe for some …. if I’m going to a brick & mortar I don’t feel comfortable looking over my shoulder all the time, wondering if my car is getting broken into at that very moment. Until the politicos allow LW to do their complete job, including a DA that will prosecute to the full extent , crimes will probably continue and malls such as SVM will feel the brunt of it. To the stores – some people WANT to go to the brick and mortars – and the more we hear the phrase” I can order it for you” instead of having inventory – you’re doing it to yourself as we can order it from the safety of our homes as well.
It’s the Mall’s fault. They should have armed guards on the rooftop, a TSA style screening process with metal detectors and full body scans at every entrance. Patrols should be roaming the mall with dogs. Alarm buttons should be in every store and if pressed will lock down the entire mall. One of the large shops should be turned into a holding sell if anyone is caught they can be immediately detained and visible behind bars to other mall patrons. Seriously not! We need harsher penalties for perpetrators so they won’t consider these actions or a a life of crime. For those that do, they need to spend long periods in jail.
I love Sarcasism, I hope others get it! This kind of CRAP should never be tolerated!!!
I like the dogs idea, like they used to have. Have a guard dog in the back, waiting at the ready. Give the attack command when they flee.
Until California stops electing the liberal left politicians and eliminates activist judges and district attorneys, this will never stop happening. Soft on crime policies harm businesses and citizens but it continues anyway. Common sense dictates that keeping things as is will never improve anything.
The malls fault? That’s a liberal Democrat excuse. After all, they are the party of blame, excuses, zero accountability and lack of a sense of responsibility. For them it’s always something or someone else’s fault.
p.s. It’s all Bush’s fault. No scratch that – Now it all trumps fault.
The Mall needs to change its image. It caters to gang style monument. There is theft there everyday and the businesses want to blame the employees, but there is no way you can stop these ghetto clowns
without putting yourselves in harms way, I cannot walk down the mall corridor without following saggy pants and suspicious characters. I used to love it for the kids, but now it makes me feel carsick just pulling into the parking lot.
Sorry for the truth..
You NEVER give in to a bully. NEVER.
The blame, as always, falls on “we the people”.
“We” have not voted out the politicians who are supposed to represent us, but prefer to be called leaders.
“We” have not taken steps to recall these worthless politicians.
“We” have allowed all these things to happen without holding our representatives accountable.
Until “We” take appropriate actions, nothing will change.
I blame the designated hitter rule.
Everything went to hell after that.
with regard to the “soft on crime” aspect, these smash and grabbers when caught, need to be hurt. I don’t mean mob style broken knees (though I am not necessarily opposed to) or Saudi style hand loppings, but a damn good beating. Bet that kid in Singapore who got his rump caned never did whatever it is he did again. Hurts like mad but causes no long-lasting effects (other than perhaps behavior modification). Putting them in a cell with a tv and basketball court and weight room, with 3 squares, with their friends that we all have to work to pay for, is not much of a deterrent.