OpEd: 'The cultural response to this smash-and-grab wave reveals just how little last year’s uprisings have been able to break through this reality.'
, the group planted license plate reader cameras anonymously in the neighborhood to crack down on retail crime. This isn’t the sort of people power I was hoping to see after last year’s unrest. Although Melrose Action cites a rise in crime as a need for the cameras, the cameras also feel like a reactionary move by those who did not like seeing predominantly Black and brown youthWhen I shop, I’m already used to being surveilled as a Black person.
What I’m most afraid of is a new law-and-order crackdown in response to property theft that will only further endanger not just Black people but the poor and desperate. The police may have some luck finding and arresting people who participate in organized retail theft, but extra patrols will likely end up focusing on people they suspect of shoplifting,As media outlets, politicians, and business owners continue to advocate for harsh penalties, we must realize that.