America grapples with “zero dollar purchases” and increasing resignations of police personnel – Dainik Savera Times
Over the past few days, a group of people in the US organized via social media to rush into stores to “clean out stuff,” and then quickly run away with whatever items they found. . Such blatant acts of robbery were even derided by Americans as “zero dollar purchases.”
A glass cabinet was broken at the Macy’s department store in Northridge Mall in Los Angeles, US, and perfume worth $20,000 was lost.
Dozens of people looted Nordstrom, a high-end department store in Los Angeles, and an Yves Saint Laurent store was also looted in Glendale, California. Goods worth approximately US$300,000 were lost… Recently, several similar cases have been reported in the US. In fact, such incidents have been happening frequently in recent years. A report released by the US National Retail Federation shows that organized crimes against the retail industry in the US will increase by 26.5% in 2022 compared to 2021.
In 2021, losses related to the US retail industry reached US$94.5 billion, up from US$90.8 billion in 2020. Faced with this crisis, retailers had no option but to close down their merchandise. Los Angeles, once known as a “shopping paradise,” has suddenly become very deserted, and many retail stores have closed. Faced with such widespread robbery, should the US police increase law enforcement?
However, the reality is that America is facing a shortage of police personnel. According to multiple media reports, under the pressure of high crime rates, high-intensity work, and conflicts between police and citizens, the number of police resignations in the US was expected to increase by 47% in 2022 compared to 2019. There are a lot of cases, but very few police officers. According to US Labor Department data, the US unemployment rate in August increased by 0.3 percentage points from July, reaching the highest level since February 2022.
Facing high inflation and a high cost of living, some Americans can’t even afford groceries or a tank of gas. Some analysts said that these things reflect the huge gap between the rich and the poor in American society. The report shows that by the fourth quarter of 2021, the total wealth of the richest 1% of people in the US reached a record $45.9 trillion. On the other hand, the poverty rate in the US reached 11.4% in 2020, an increase of 0.9 percentage point from 2019. Currently, 37 million people in the US still live below the poverty line.
(Courtesy-China Media Group, Beijing)
