San Francisco put up an indication outdoors a Louis Vuitton retailer in late June 2024 telling thieves any gadgets they steal should price lower than $950.
Though the signal was actual and was positioned outdoors a Louis Vuitton retailer, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Division of Public Works informed Snopes no authorities entity put it there. Likewise, a spokesperson for the town’s police division informed us the signal was unauthorized and later eliminated.
On June 30, 2024, an X account posted a photo of an indication outdoors a Louis Vuitton retailer in San Francisco that informed thieves any items they steal should price lower than $950.
“Is that this signal for actual? Is San Francisco actually this far gone?” the X account requested.
The signal appeared to reference Proposition 47, Californian laws that turned thefts of products value lower than $950 into misdemeanors in 2014.
(@WallStreetSilv / X)
One other X person who shared the image stated it confirmed “theft is now absolutely legalized” in San Francisco. A third claimed it was an “common” San Francisco avenue signal.
Collectively, the posts instructed the signal was official and had amassed greater than 9.3 million interactions on the time of this writing.
Similar claims appeared elsewhere on X, in multiple Instagram posts, on Reddit and in a YouTube video.
Nonetheless, though the signal was actual — in that it was really erected outdoors a Louis Vuitton retailer in San Francisco — a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Division of Public Works (SFDPW) informed Snopes it was not put there by a authorities entity. Likewise, the town’s police division — the SFPD — informed us the signal was unauthorized and eliminated, which is why we now have rated this declare as “False.”
SFDPW’s director of coverage and communications, Rachel Gordon, informed Snopes through e mail the indicators had nothing to do with the town and county of San Francisco.
“The reported indicators weren’t put in by a authorities entity,” she defined.
Gordon stated her division didn’t know who positioned the indicators outdoors the Louis Vuitton retailer.
When requested whether or not San Francisco permits folks to steal items with a price of lower than $950, she replied: “After all not.”
In the meantime, public data officer Robert Rueca of the SFPD informed Snopes through e mail the unofficial signal had been taken down.
“We are able to affirm that this unauthorized signal was posted and was instantly eliminated upon discovery,” he stated.
“California doesn’t have a legislation that permits for theft,” Rueca added, citing Proposition 47, which acknowledged (on page 27): “Proposition 47 amends numerous provisions of the Penal and Well being and Security Codes to cut back private possession drug offenses and thefts involving lower than $950 from a straight felony or a ‘wobbler,’ to a straight misdemeanor.” It seems the faux signal was erected as a satirical swipe at that legislation.
Snopes debunked claims made in July 2021 that Proposition 47 lets thieves steal items with a price of lower than $950.
