Ross: Let people loot, save on police overtime
Aug 11, 2020, 7:00 AM | Updated: Aug 13, 2020, 10:54 am

A mannequin lies inside of a ransacked store after it was looted on May 31, 2020 in Bellevue, Washington. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)
(Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)
Do you ever wonder what looters are thinking when they loot?
I realize it鈥檚 unfair to stereotype someone as simply a 鈥渓ooter鈥 because you see them looting. They鈥檙e also someone鈥檚 son or daughter, they probably remember birthdays and would help a neighbor in need 鈥
They just need to break windows and take stuff from time to time. It鈥檚 an adventure for them. One of the Chicago looters actually posted a first-person video narrating her raid on the Dolce & Gabbana section of a department store 鈥 trying to find the tool that removes the security tags. Not sure why she鈥檇 bother.
But she was delighted to be getting away with it.
Although I wonder 鈥 once she puts her loot in the closet 鈥 if someone were to break into her home and re-steal it, would she be OK with that?
I don鈥檛 know. But what I DO know is that she鈥檚 helping the police collect a LOT of overtime: 5.3 million in Portland, 5.8 million in Boston, 6.3 million in Seattle, and in Chicago, 47.1 million in police overtime just for the month of June.
Which gives me an idea:
If people need to loot 鈥 why not just let them?
First Thursday of every month, stores let people take whatever they can carry, and write it off. People would peacefully take what they need; no broken glass to clean up, no police overtime.
It鈥檚 either that, or stop building stores with street level windows.
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