In today's urban America, if you are a thief, why wouldn't you smash a glass door or glass display case and grab all the merchandise you could? Seriously, why wouldn't you? In the old days you wouldn't because you would be scared that you would get caught.
In the past, "smash and grab" robberies occurred, but it was a very infrequent occurrence. It was rare because thieves understood if they were caught there would be consequences, and even punishment, perish the thought! A criminal would have to raise bail to be released. If not, he would have to spend weeks or even months in the slammer.