In a much-needed win for retailers, shoplifting arrests are up more than 261% in Boston compared to the five year average in the city, according to recent police data.

It’s a welcome change from the progressive “retail theft is no big deal” attitude that has prevailed in recent years.

Police Commissioner Michael Cox said that shoplifting is “an issue in our city,” and asked retailers at a community meeting to be in communication with the department about it.

“Our officers in every district are now trying to reach out to the business community to be as responsive as possible,” Cox said at a CompStat meeting focused on shoplifting in Back Bay. “We need to hear from you.”

This is how you keep businesses in Boston, and how you attract retailers to set up shop here. Why would a store owner want to stay in a city where thieves end up on a “do not prosecute” list? That was a policy hallmark of former Suffolk DA Rachel Rollins, who had pledged not to prosecute shoplifting and other misdemeanors, arguing that those acts “are overwhelmingly crimes of poverty, mental illness and addiction.”

That. of course, didn’t negate the fact that retailers lost inventory and revenue, but their plight was seen as secondary to that of the people who stole from them.

Retailers Association of Massachusetts President Jon Hurst slammed changes to Massachusetts larceny laws in 2018 that increased the value threshold for misdemeanor larceny from $250 to $1,200, saying, “We went off the rails dumbing down the laws.”

But we seem to be back on track in the Boston area.

“Everyone from law enforcement to elected officials to the retailers themselves are taking this much more seriously and actually looking at enforcing the law,” said Hurst.

We have the Safe Shopping Initiative to thank.

“We fully anticipated an increase in shoplifting arrests and prosecutions because of the targeted police operations as part of the Safe Shopping Initiative,” said Suffolk DA spokesperson James Borghesani. The initiative is a combined effort of the city, police department, DA’s office, and businesses to increase shoplifting enforcement.

Enforcement is a four-letter word to progressives, and a crucial part of keeping businesses in business. Stores across the country have closed locations in recent years due to problems with theft, taking with them jobs, tax revenue, and the community benefit of local shopping.

We want to keep Boston as a shopping destination, for visitors as well as residents.

“It’s good news,” Hurst told The Herald. “It’s good that everyone is now considering this an important thing.”

Hurst said that the higher arrests don’t show that more shoplifting is happening. “I don’t feel like it’s that the incidents have increased. I think it’s the enforcement of such,” he said.

New stores have recently opened in the city, including a J.Crew  flagship store on Newbury Street, and Uniqlo in Downtown Crossing. We want them to stay, we want them to thrive. And that happens when shoppers feel safe and store owners feel confident that law enforcement takes theft seriously.

Editorial cartoon by Chip Bok (Creators Syndicate)