The iconic In-N-Out Burger restaurant chain announced Sunday that it will be closing its one-and-only location in Oakland, California, due to crime.
And given the soft-on-crime policies permeating the “Golden State,” it should come as no surprise, but it is a shame.
In-N-Out was founded in southern California in 1948 and has grown to locations throughout the West. The chain of over 400 restaurants has plans to move east of the Mississippi by opening locations in the Nashville, Tennessee, area by 2026.
Regarding the decision to close its Oakland restaurant, Denny Warnick, the company’s chief operating officer, said in a statement that it was “due to ongoing issues with crime,” according to KRON-TV in Oakland.
“Despite taking repeated steps to create safer conditions, our customers and associates are regularly victimized by car break-ins, property damage, theft, and armed robberies,” the statement said.
JUST IN: The only In-N-Out Burger in Oakland, California is closing down due to rampant crime.
You can thank liberalism for that.
The In-N-Out, like almost all locations, is busy and profitable however crime is getting so bad that the restaurant is closing down to protect… pic.twitter.com/HTZQR5gnQs
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 22, 2024
The statement noted that all the employees at the Oakland location will be able to transfer to other locations in the San Francisco Bay area, if they choose.
“We are grateful for the local community, which has supported us for over 18 years, and we recognize that this closure negatively impacts our Associates and their families.
Would you feel safe visiting California?
“Additionally, this location remains a busy and profitable one for the company, but our top priority must be the safety and wellbeing of our Customers and Associates – we cannot ask them to visit or work in an unsafe environment.”
Security guards for Allied Universal and Brosnan Risk Consultants told The San Francisco Standard, an online publication, that the Oakland In-N-Out location generates more theft reports than any other place they patrol. It regularly sees as many as five break-ins per day, with some days the number being almost too many to report because they are “back to back.”
The last day the restaurant will be open is March 24.
SFGate, another online publication, reported the Oakland In-N-Out location is just over two miles from the Oakland International Airport, “where rental car companies have recently cautioned customers returning vehicles to watch their belongings and avoid filling up on gas at stations in the immediate vicinity.”
Oakland police told the news outlet that a Shell gas station near the airport had 271 auto burglaries, along with 15 robberies, and five vehicle thefts in 2023.
Overall, violent crime and property crime were both up over 6 percent in 2022 in California over 2021, according to statistics compiled by the state.
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao faces a potential recall election after being accused of creating a public safety crisis in her city.
The group organizing the recall says Thao is “systematically dismantling” the Oakland Police Department among other ways by firing and failing to replace the chief of police, according to the Standard.
Additionally, a recall campaign called Save Alameda For Everyone (SAFE) seeks to remove Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price — a former civil rights attorney — for her soft-on-crime policies. Oakland is the county seat of Alameda County.
Price’s own laptop was stolen from her car last fall.
“Price’s critics blame recent increases in crime on her philosophy as a prosecutor — the DA has made a point of not always seeking the maximum possible punishment for criminal defendants. Critics have accused her of being too lenient in several high-profile cases,” the online news site The Oaklandside reported in November.
In an August report about Price, The Washington Free Beacon pointed out, “As district attorney, Price made eligible for parole gang members who killed a toddler in a freeway gun battle, slashed a triple murderer’s sentence, and gave just seven years to a teen linked to three killings.”
In 2022, San Francisco voters successfully recalled District Attorney Chesa Boudin, a prosecutor backed by progressive billionaire George Soros, due to his soft-on-crime policies.
In-N-Out just may be doing the good people of Oakland a service by leaving.
It sends an unmistakable message: “Your leaders have lost control of your city. You need to vote people in who will restore public safety.”
And if that does happen, orders for In-N-Out Double-Doubles may one day be heard again in Oakland.
