# Opinion: The perverse incentives behind the ‘smash and grab’ wave

- Link: https://www.widthness.com/opinion-the-perverse-incentives-behind-the-smash-and-grab-wave/
- Published: 2021-12-01T10:00:54-06:00
- Author: Curated by John Wysocki

Photo of Union Square, San Francisco taken December 15, 2016 by Dllu – CC BY-SA 4.0. Opinion article by Charles Lane. The Washington Post – November 30, 2021. It has been two weeks since hammer- and crowbar-wielding thieves descended en masse upon retail stores in San Francisco’s Union Square, opening a surge of attacks, caught on video, that has frightened shoppers and employees across the country — and made “smash and grab” a household expression. Tragically, the wave has precipitated at least one fatality: […] Click here to view original web page at www.washingtonpost.com Video: US sees spate of flash mob robberies | ABC News – November 22, 2021. Related articles: $25,000 in luxury purses stolen in latest ‘grab and go’ theft in California: What to know | USA Today – November 26, 2021. Black Friday Smash And Grabs: Here’s The Cities That Were Hit | Forbes – November 27, 2021. ‘Flash mob’ thieves target U.S. retail stores on Black Friday | Reuters – November 27, 2021.