Coronavirus Philadelphia: Some Center City Business Owners Boarding Up Shop To Protect Against Potential Looters
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Business owners in Philadelphia are boarding up their properties to protect them from potential looters while the city's stay-at-home order is in place due to the coronavirus. A handful of businesses on 13th Street are boarded up as their owners attempt to protect what they have left, but not all are so lucky.
It was a business owner's nightmare. Police were called to the Mitchell & Ness Nostalgia Co. store located at 12th and Chestnut Streets at about 8 p.m. Tuesday. They were responding to a burglary in progress.
To prevent similar attacks, business owners across the city are now boarding up their windows.
"Certainly, the look isn't great, but we understand considering the contents of particular stores, especially liquor stores or the like," Mayor Jim Kenney said, "that there's concern about breaking windows and people taking items."
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Data released by the Philadelphia Police Department shows that burglaries to commercial properties are down 23% since the stay-at-home orders were issued, but many business owners aren't risking it.
However, with the plywood comes graffiti.
"The graffiti is unsightly and unfortunate, but there's a lot of things going on besides graffiti," Kenney said.
CBS3 reached out to industry representatives about the business owners choosing to board up, but too many feared to speak out because they don't want to be a target.
The mayor's office says the police department is increasing staffing levels in Center City.
"Given the deployment changes that Commissioner (Danielle) Outlaw announced last week, we actually have more officers on the street protecting these areas as well," Philadelphia Managing Director Brian Abernathy said.
In addition to burglaries of commercial properties being down, police data also shows that burglaries for residential properties are also down.
