Shoplifters at a San Francisco Walgreens ripped off the plastic screens on its locked-up shelves on Monday night, a store manager said.

Stores from Safeway to Home Depot have been increasingly locking items behind screens to deter shoplifting in the Bay Area and across the country. Customers and staff in San Francisco stores recently described the security measures as irritating, with it taking several minutes to access basic items like toothbrushes or high-value items such as liquor and power tools.

Walgreens manager Chanh Luu said the group entered the Bernal Heights store at around 8 p.m. and began smashing the shelves in two of the store’s aisles, where laundry soap and dental products are locked away behind plastic shields due to rampant shoplifting in the city. The shields were torn away so the thieves could get their hands on the items but were already replaced by Tuesday when The Standard visited.

[Calling this ‘shoplifting’ is a category error. This is not shoplifting — it’s looting, pure and simple, and the city is failing to react accordingly. There has to be a muscular response to these looters, including the deputization of civilians to use force to put an end to looting, and lengthy prison sentences for it when apprehended. Only when significant disincentives get applied will looters stop looting. And only when a government acts to put an end to looting can there be actual peace in the community. — Ed]