I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled • Hacker News Board

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#211

Post by stingrae » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:55 AM UTC

narrator wrote: post #105

Cookingboy wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh he absolutely knows it's bad policy, however he also knows it wins votes from people in San Francisco. The problem is a large numbers of voters in SF don't realize it's bad policy, and maybe a bigger problem would be why are district attorneys elected positions in the first place?

Can someone who lives in SF chime in and tell us why you voted for Mr. Boudin? Knowing what I know about bay area politics, I bet half the people who voted for him will say that crime in San Francisco is not the district attorney's fault and blame Regan for closing down the mental hospitals in the 70s. I live just outside San Francisco city limits and everything is peaceful, because the criminals know that the laws a…

I didn't vote for him but remember the time around when he was elected. There was distractive conversations brought up by the progressives around his main rival, Suzy Loftus. I believe the mayor appointed her interim DA right before the election and the progressives called foul, thinking that she was choosing an incumbent that would go on to win the actual election. This combined with a low turnout and an election decided by less than 200 votes resulted in a win for Boudin.

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#212

Post by acadien » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:55 AM UTC

aronowb14 wrote: post #73

Is anybody else getting tired of the constant stream of inflammatory posts ragging on San Francisco or the Bay Area? I feel like I've been seeing one every one or two days that make it to the top of HN. These types of posts just seem to fit into this ongoing narrative that SF (and relatedly, silicon valley), are all falling apart due to poor governance. It's beginning to feel like a strong echo chamber in here. What…

I agree with you there's a lot of anti SF content floating around these days. Just wanted to point out that in this article the author does go on to say he loves SF and thinks any uptick in crime will inevitably be countered. In that respect I felt it was a little different from the rhetoric you mentioned.

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#213

Post by gabereiser » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:57 AM UTC

Crime across the US is up. In Denver, car thefts and break ins were common to the point where police didn’t even show up. I was involved in a head on collision and the cops said it would be 4 hours before a unit would arrive. After waiting 3 I called and was told “just get the other drivers information” (like I hadn’t already) and leave. I couldn’t leave, obviously. I quickly moved away from the city to another state. I’m still out $23,000 for my vehicle because insurance wouldn’t pay without a police report. Crime is up all over America.

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#214

Post by olivermarks » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:57 AM UTC

paxys wrote: post #179

plank_time wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Walgreens has closed over 17 stores due to increased shoplifting. It is 400% higher than the national average in SF. It’s higher in SF because the repercussions are much lower because SFPD doesn’t even bother looking. Look at the reaction to the theft of the camera. The police said the DA need video evidence, eyewitnesses don’t matter anymore, even with a picture of the car. The criminals are free to commit crimes co…

While I'm sure shoplifting is a concern, where I lived (around Market/Van Ness) there were 4 or 5 Walgreens stores within a 3 block radius. And several CVS, Safeway, Whole Foods and many other smaller independent ones on top of that. And I (and everyone I know) still ordered everything on Amazon. A couple of them have since closed, and it was long overdue IMO. Shoplifting or not there was no way they were all profita…

It' easy to find video online of thugs hopping over the counters of shops in San Francisco, hitting shop assistants and strolling out with armfuls of merchandise. They know they will not be caught or punished, so a lot of stores are just closing.

People in affluent areas of SF seem oblivious to all this and keep voting - and donating - to the political class who tell them everything is finally going great... and they assume this is true. https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/walgreens-and-cvs-stores...

https://youtu.be/CLbvtRIo3i8

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#215

Post by diob » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:57 AM UTC

pvg wrote: post #96

olivermarks wrote: post #30

SF District Attorney Chesa Boudin ran for office in November 2019 focusing his campaign on ending mass incarceration with restorative justice models, rather than punitive incarceral methods. Since then crime in SF has absolutely exploded, fuelled by proposition 47 which reduced stealing less than $900 day to a misdemeanor. Add in a massive opioid crisis and the result is a rapidly growing crisis of shoplifting, petty…

half US homeless are in California with migrants arriving daily crime in SF has absolutely exploded These don't seem to be reflected in easily googleable stats https://www.usich.gov/tools-for-action/map/#fn[]=1400&fn[]=2... https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/stay-safe/crime-data/crim...

Thanks for actually linking to stats. I've been to San Francisco, it's not as bleak as the anecdotes folks constantly try to put on it. One of my favorite cities to visit.

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#216

Post by stingrae » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:58 AM UTC

elygre wrote: post #161

olivermarks wrote: post #30

SF District Attorney Chesa Boudin ran for office in November 2019 focusing his campaign on ending mass incarceration with restorative justice models, rather than punitive incarceral methods. Since then crime in SF has absolutely exploded, fuelled by proposition 47 which reduced stealing less than $900 day to a misdemeanor. Add in a massive opioid crisis and the result is a rapidly growing crisis of shoplifting, petty…

As a foreigner, though a frequent watcher of American crime shows: what exactly is a misdemeanor, and why is it bad that stealing is one? What changed when it was reclassified?

In this case a misdemeanor for the theft of less than $950 is handled with a ticket and fine. There is no jail time and they go free after the ticket is handed over.

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#217

Post by yupper32 » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:58 AM UTC

insert_coin wrote: post #156

yupper32 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This was my third time in SF. > Also, I've always refused to move to Silicon Valley > The author is in denial. > it is a really expensive shithole I'm always amazed by people who have visited a place a few times as a tourist and think "I'm qualified to shit on people who choose to live here". What makes you think you have any say in the situation? SF has massive neighborhood diversity as far as living situations go…

> SF has massive neighborhood diversity as far as living situations go. Yeah, the downtown and tourist areas suck. The fact that you needed to say that says a lot. While describing most cities of the world, most third world country cities of the world, you would never even mention the word feces, much less defend its presence on the streets.

And in most cities I haven't had to bribe a cop, like the one time I went to Mexico.

And in most cities I haven't heard the result of an acid attack outside of my hotel lobby, like one of the times I've visited London.

I'd take feces over those examples any day. And yet, I'm not going to shit on those places, because I was a tourist. I get that some places, especially some tourist and downtown areas, are more dangerous than others. And I get that my tourist experience doesn't necessarily reflect the day-to-day of normal residents.

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#218

Post by girvo » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:58 AM UTC

Cookingboy wrote: post #93

yupper32 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This was my third time in SF. > Also, I've always refused to move to Silicon Valley > The author is in denial. > it is a really expensive shithole I'm always amazed by people who have visited a place a few times as a tourist and think "I'm qualified to shit on people who choose to live here". What makes you think you have any say in the situation? SF has massive neighborhood diversity as far as living situations go…

>What makes you think you have any say in the situation? He doesn't have a say, but that doesn't mean he can't have valid opinions as an outsider with a more unbiased perspective. To be clear I've lived in SF Bay Area for 10+ years and I've also traveled extensively/lived in other world class cities. SF really is a more expensive shithole. It doesn't mean there aren't any charms but anyone who doesn't acknowledge SF'…

Being an outsider has nothing to do with being unbiased. Those are entirely orthogonal. And frankly, that commenters bias was pretty evident, regardless.

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#219

Post by seanhandley » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:58 AM UTC

Cookingboy wrote: post #118

kenneth wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if they weren't, people would elect a Mayor on a progressive no-prosecuting-crime platform who'd then hire an awful DA… The problem isn't with the position of DA, it's with "progressive" voters.

I consider myself liberal, but I agree with you, the California/SF branch of progressivism are extremely toxic. Much of the platform is based on feelings and ideology instead of facts and problem solving, but it manages to even be worse than the right wing counterpart somehow because it comes served with a side dish of "holier and smarter than thou!"

Plenty of "holier than thou" to go round on both sides of the political spectrum.

Re: I Was Robbed in San Francisco While the Cameras Rolled

#220

Post by dude187 » Tue, May 25, 2021, 5:59 AM UTC

kenneth wrote: post #32

>My story originally happened to run on the same day the New York Times did a piece on the growing problem of shoplifting in the city and the reluctance of local law enforcement to police minor thefts. Clearly, this is a trend that will not play well politically and will result in changes sooner rather than later. I found this naive optimism almost hilarious. SF is in no way about to magically get better once voters…

I wouldn't be so pessimistic as to call it "beyond fixable". It just takes a real effort at restoring law and order, where people who commit crimes know they will be attacked for doing so. That there's an expectation that they will be worse off for committing those crimes than if they were to not do so. A direct juxtaposition of the status quo where most of these people see "not stealing" as a less optimum outcome than "steal something and gain more stuff/money".

Granted, that's a tall order, but not a cycle that cities in the US have not had to go through in the past. The hardest part as I see it, is that at it's core it takes a political shift away from the kind of "progressives" that view those committing the crimes as the victims and those being victimized as the "oppressors".

The challenge is how to make people wake up and see it before things hit even more of a rock bottom. Not just see it, but vote out those who do not and vote in people who actually make protecting victims of crime as their top priority.