It is time we reverted to the era when crime was bad. Society diluted hat ethic, but recent signs of a return to old values give hope for better days to come.

Confused about right and wrong, modern society has taken to viewing criminals as morally equivalent to the victims of their crimes.

Since the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, a chunk of society has demonized all cops. Police officers who risk their lives to uphold peace are not heroes. They are oppressors who make trouble for virtuous offenders.

Nowhere has the modern inversion of justice been more apparent than in retail. In post-pandemic America, executives of major retail chains go public with new policies that forbid employees from confronting or detaining shoplifting suspects.

Just last month, news emerged of King Soopers firing five employees for detaining a shoplifting suspect and calling police. Fired employees say the suspect used a box cutter to remove the security tag from a mobile phone he attempted to steal.

“It’s hit my family hard financially, emotionally,” said fired employee Julie Olivett, 62, as quoted by Denver Fox 31 news.

“I’ve lost my health insurance. I lost all my benefits for something that’s just unfair because I did nothing wrong.”

Teresa Maldonado had worked at the store for 31 years when she was fired on suspicion of trying to stop the suspect.

A company statement said employee safety is the highest order and “nothing in our stores is worth sacrificing that core value and their safe return home.” Yet, it seems OK to render them jobless, unable to pay bills and feed their children.

All over the news we hear about major retail chains that have security tags and egress alarms and policies that tell employees to look the other way. The fashionable policies assure thieves they can take anything from a store — even the largest and most expensive jewelry or big-screen TVS — without fear of disruption or consequence. One must ask why merchants attach security tags if employees can’t approach suspects who set off alarms.

Left-wing pressure to embrace thieves comes at a cost. Walgreens executives cited rampant shoplifting as rationale for closing five stores in San Francisco. Following the ensuing blowback, CFO James Kehoe changed his tune and told shareholders that “maybe we cried too much last year” about shoplifters. His new excuse for the closures was spending too much on in-store security measures.

Executives of major retail corporations can easily express tolerance for thieves. They can close high-theft stores, which typically harms customers in our country’s lowest-income neighborhoods.

In high-income communities the same executives simply pass along the cost of inventory shrinkage — products

“Left-wing pressure to embrace thieves comes at a cost. Walgreens executives cited rampant shoplifting as rationale for closing five stores in San Francisco.”

bought by retailers but never sold because of theft — to consumers who can afford higher prices.

A corporation’s woke approach to crime mostly burdens customers who pay when they shop and lack the depravity of thieves.

Thankfully, we see signs of a return to fighting theft.

Just last week Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill that makes car theft a felony regardless of the vehicle’s value. This may bring justice to low-income households that cannot afford to replace an old car that goes missing.

Another development last week should also put criminals on notice. The Colorado Supreme Court ruled against provocateur William Montgomery, who made a hobby of routinely refusing to show receipts to Walmart employees who asked for them as he left stores in metropolitan Denver. After initiating conflict, Montgomery filed five lawsuits claiming Walmart falsely imprisoned him by asking for receipts.

Walmart has reason to screen for theft. The company’s niche is low prices, and theft raises prices.

In the ruling against Montgomery, Judge Matthew D. Grove cited a Colorado law known as “Shopkeepers Privilege.” It says a merchant or any employee “may detain and question” a suspect “in a reasonable manner for the purpose of ascertaining whether the person is guilty of theft.”

It is official. Colorado law may not punish employees who protect store merchandise in a reasonable manner. Employers may fire them but do so at a high cost to law-abiding customers who should object to such behavior.

The hard-working, law-abiding majority — rich and poor alike — cannot afford to subsidize crime. That’s reason enough for a quick return to the days when crime was bad and stopping it was good.