CA passed proposition 47 in 2014, making theft of property valued less than $950 a misdemeanor. At the time, my wife was working at a national department store and saw the immediate effects: folks putting big screen TVs, microwaves, diapers, and formula in a cart and walking out, unchallenged. There were groups that went store to store until their cars were full, sold the stuff, and then did it again the next week.
It must be cheaper to absorb these theft losses than to hire full time security.