control. people are scared to go into these stores, people with disabilities, children, and it s just happening brazenly. reporter: with few consequences. according to police data, less than 3% of theft cases have netted an arrest, which some believe invites more criminal behavior. ultimately we do need more police officers, and it s important that we have the sufficient staff to walk the beat. there s no easy solution to this. i feel like the theft is outrageous, and it s obvious that people are taking advantage of the fact there are zero consequences. reporter: for business owners like adam, it adds to the disparity felt on the streets aggravated more by the pandemic, open-air drug use being common. last year overdoses mainly fentanyl doubled the deaths of those who died of covid. there s a high amount of
we need more police officers. it s important to make sure that we have the sufficient staff to walk the beat. there s no easy solution to this. i feel like the theft is o outageous. and people are taking advantage of the fact there s zero consequences. reporter: for business owners, the chronic theft just adds to the despair being felt on the streets, aggravated more by the pandemic. visible homelessness surging. open-air drug use and is in common. overdoses, resulting in a record 712 deaths according to city data, doubling those that died of covid. there s a high amount of crime. safety concerns and it seems to shrink tremendously. reporter: as to whether the walgreens shoplifter has been apprehended, san francisco police department tells us it s