One Bay State congressman is tired of having to ask CVS clerks to unlock products, pointing to how he believes Democrats need to improve their policing of quality-of-life violations to save the party.

Newton Democrat Jake Auchincloss has laid out five ways “Democratic mayors can improve education, affordability, and law & order,” including a suggestion that the party take a different approach in addressing “degradations to public order.”

“Drug use, loitering, panhandling, encampments, vandalism, shoplifting – these compound into lawlessness,” the congressman stated in a blog post on his campaign website Tuesday night. “There’s nothing compassionate or progressive about permitting them.”

“Indeed, I think every time a customer has to ask the CVS clerk to unlock the shampoo, Democrats get less popular,” he added. “Policing high public standards … can create positive feedback loops for law & order.”

Auchincloss’s post came as results in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary started to come in Tuesday night. Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, declared victory after Andrew Cuomo conceded the race in a stunning upset.

Mamdani, if he defeats incumbent Eric Adams in November, has said he would look to create a network of city-run grocery stores. The idea has caught backlash from business owners and customers, with some saying that government-operated supermarkets wouldn’t address shoplifting that has led to mass retail closures.

“Running big cities well is a vital way for Democrats to earn back voters’ trust after the catastrophic school closures and increase in crime,” Auchincloss stated in his post.

“Violent and property crime are the most important to prevent,” the Bay State congressman added. “But degradations to public order also matter.”

Auchincloss sparked criticism earlier this year when he voted against the Laken Riley Act.

The bill, named after a 22-year-old Georgia nursing school student who was killed by an illegal immigrant, changed federal law to require ICE to detain and deport illegal immigrants who commit burglary, theft, larceny and shoplifting.

Auchincloss said in a statement at the time that the bill “undermines the constitution without improving border security.”

Shoplifting remains prevalent in Massachusetts.

Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden announced this week that Boston police officers arrested a Dorchester man on charges that he had stolen $2,331 worth of products from Lululemon at the Prudential Center.

Hayden’s office launched a “Safe Shopping Initiative” last year, in partnership with Boston Police and retailer groups, to “increase consumer safety and help store managers strategize responses to shoplifting and retail larcenies.”

Hayden’s approach is a shift away from that of disgraced former Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins, who had previously served as Suffolk DA.

Rollins had a list of 15 crimes she pledged not to prosecute, from trespassing and shoplifting, to drug possession and resisting arrest, crimes she described as minor and “overwhelmingly … of poverty, mental illness and addiction.”

In a letter sent to members of the Massachusetts delegation, Stop & Shop President Roger Wheeler revealed that the chain’s supermarket locations in Boston and elsewhere in the Bay State are “struggling with the vast impact of organized retail crime,” and action is needed to prevent it.