As retailers were beginning to dig out from under losses caused by the COVID lockdowns last year, a number of high end stores in the larger cities were hit by brazen smash-and-grab thieves who were selling their stolen goods online.

CEOs of companies like Target, Neiman Marcus, Levi Strauss & Co. and Walgreens sent a letter to Congress, urging legislation that makes it harder for criminals to “hide behind fake screen names and false business information” on third-party marketplaces.

Today, instead of shoplifting from stores, some thieves - known as porch thieves - have switched tactics and their targets of opportunity. Before they make it to the porch at your home, packages are being stolen from railroad cars.

Los Angeles is once again at Ground Zero, as looted boxes and packages litter the tracks where thieves broke into trains, took what they wanted and then tossed the rest aside. The discarded cardboard boxes strewn about once contained purchases from Amazon, and other online retailers. A number of unused COVID tests were found at one site.

Union Pacific, in charge of security along its tracks, reported a surge in thefts of 160 percent since December 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the railroad laid off employees across the system, including some of its police force and the company says it has brought in agents from other states.

Robert Vega, an eyewitness who lives near the tracks, said he noticed a sharp spike in thefts after the police presence was cut back about seven months ago. On any Friday night he could see sparks flying as thieves were cutting the locks and the trucks being loading up with goods and products.

Gov. Gavin Newsom visited the Union Pacific train tracks near downtown Los Angeles last week and the scene did not put the “Golden State” - or the governor - in a very favorable light. Standing amid the looted boxes strewn along the tracks, Newsome seemed confused by the modern-day train robbers and simply determined that the thieves and people who fence the stolen goods “need to be held to account.”

“I see what everybody’s seeing, asking myself, what the hell is going on? It looks like a third-world country,” he remarked.

Newsome need not look any further for one answer to the lawless pillaging than the soft-on-crime policies of L.A. District Attorney George Gascon.

In a letter to Gascon, Union Pacific explained how a 2020 special directive made certain misdemeanors, like trespassing, less severe. A no-cash bail policy has emboldened the thieves, and served as a revolving door for criminal behavior.

If caught and arrested, they are then turned over to local authorities for booking and arraigned before the local courts. Charges are reduced to a misdemeanor or petty offense and after paying a nominal fine, the individuals are generally released back onto the streets in less than 24 hours.

The fact that people and businesses are leaving California in droves is no surprise. According to the Hoover Institution, 272 companies moved their headquarters to other states between early 2018 and June 2021.

There are many reasons for the business exit - high tax rates, punitive regulations, high labor costs, high utility and energy costs - top the list. Another major reason is a decline in quality of life.

The brutal killing of Brianna Kupfer, a 24-year-old UCLA graduate student who was working at a luxury furniture store during the random daytime attack, is a tragic example. The murder suspect, Shawn Laval Smith, reportedly has a lengthy rap sheet with previous charges out of California, North Carolina and South Carolina. Online records show at least 11 arrests in Charleston, S.C., dating back to 2010.

Los Angeles Councilman Paul Koretz described Brianna as “a rising star in this community whose ascent was unnecessarily cut short by a heartless criminal.”

One can put the blame squarely on liberal DA’s like Gascon for allowing criminals to run rampant on the streets.

By JIM ZBICK | editor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.