Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says • Hacker News Board

Re: Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

#281

Post by pclmulqdq » Fri, Oct 21, 2022, 2:16 AM UTC

icelancer wrote: post #265

x86x87 wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Law enforcement is useless if they pick and choose which laws to enforce. Laws themselves are pointless if they are not enforced (or even worse: selectively enforced)

Prosecutor's office has a large role here. No reason for cops to investigate crimes that won't be tried.

This is really up to the prosecutors, not the cops. They tell the cops "we are not charging people for doing X," so the cops don't arrest anyone for X. At least in NYC and SF, there are written statements from the DA's office to this effect.

Re: Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

#282

Post by icelancer » Fri, Oct 21, 2022, 2:16 AM UTC

tchaffee wrote: post #132

Here's a good place to compare to other cities, if comparing is even a reasonable thing to do [1]. Sort by Total for Property Crime. Notably Albuquerque, Spokane, and Memphis have higher total property crime rates. But perhaps wouldn't make such an interesting headline for those in tech. Also notable that Orlando, FL is high on the list. But Irvine, CA and Tampa, FL are at the bottom of the list. Please also read the…

The Bay Area has two of the top ten cities for total property crime (SF, Oakland). Not surprising, of course.

EDIT: This chart is accurate to 2019. The picture for SF/Oakland must be much worse using EOY 2021 statistics.

Re: Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

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Post by zdragnar » Fri, Oct 21, 2022, 2:16 AM UTC

inferiorhuman wrote: post #143

i_like_apis wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is more about a breakdown in the rule of law. The DA wasn't prosecuting and the police weren't arresting. Blaming it on "inequality" feels like a cop out for the criminals. There are plenty of ways to get by in the world without resorting to theft. It's a lifestyle choice more than it's any significant source of income. Stealing a loaf of bread to feed your family is one thing. Virtually all of the theft in SF i…

The DA wasn't prosecuting Boudin prosecuted a higher percentage of cases than Jenkins. In fact Jenkins dropped a number of cases that Boudin brought and she disbanded the group investigating and prosecuting corruption within SFPD ranks. the police weren't arresting. This, however, is completely true and hasn't changed since Breed installed her pick for DA. Let's not forget that Breed required pre-signed resignation l…

Boudin prosecuted felonies brought to him, but only around 3% of arrests for misdemeanors. Petty theft had about around a 7% conviction rate- most cases ended up being dismissed or diverted out of court.

Re: Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

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Post by alex_young » Fri, Oct 21, 2022, 2:16 AM UTC

I’ve been burglarized 4 times, in 4 different cities, in 2 US states, and once in Europe.

I’ve lived in SF twice and in a few other Bay Area cities, and I honestly can’t tell you that my personal experience with crime in SF is all that different from the norm in most urban areas.

There are places I’ve lived which seem devoid of crime, but these places seem to have more community in common than leadership or laws.

Although I’ve experienced crime, I also know that the level of crime, violent or not, has dramatically dropped over my lifetime and the probability of experiencing it is greatly reduced by living in densely populated areas.

Re: Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

#285

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Oct 21, 2022, 2:16 AM UTC

x86x87 wrote: post #244

lxe wrote: post #166

Got a $1500 bike stolen from the inside of my locked apartment in Potrero Hill back in 2015 or 16. Was very bitter about that -- it was one of the few things I brought with me to SF. Police ignored it. For weeks after I was walking through all the homeless chop shops looking for it. About a month after the theft, I received a call from someone who bought a frame (just the frame) with my serial number at a San Jose fl…

Law enforcement is useless if they pick and choose which laws to enforce. Laws themselves are pointless if they are not enforced (or even worse: selectively enforced)

[deleted]

Re: Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

#286

Post by NotYourLawyer » Fri, Oct 21, 2022, 2:16 AM UTC

x3n0ph3n3 wrote: post #168

mmmpop wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The weather is mild and predictable for large portions of the year. Good seafood, killer Asian cuisine, and Union Square has an AG store for your quality pant needs. What more could one want?

People really fail to grasp just how awesome the weather is.

San Diego weather is better.

Re: Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

#287

Post by bombcar » Fri, Oct 21, 2022, 2:17 AM UTC

caddemon wrote: post #221

khazhoux wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The headline made me think of car break-ins and stolen packages.

Smashing into somebody's car is a bit more severe than porch pirating. But yeah it's not on the level of mugging ofc.

We’ll know porch piracy is bad when Amazon begins offering free lockboxes for people to put on their porches.

Re: Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

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Post by lambdasquirrel » Fri, Oct 21, 2022, 2:17 AM UTC

rrdharan wrote: post #248

Since folks are sharing stories.. I lived in the Mission for about 10 years (2003-2012). My apartment was broken into, my car was broken into multiple times, my roommate was mugged at knifepoint and stabbed (she was fine), my bike was stripped for parts (they stole the handlebars / shifters and seat while it was locked up), and my car was stolen, driven around the neighborhood in broad daylight when I spotted it at 1…

Wow that's something. And I thought I had the best story for getting my roof rack stolen from off my car.

It wasn't particularly bitter – just, wtf. Bitter was when I was bedridden because of a flu, and when I finally had energy to go out to get some food, my bike got stolen in the 10 minutes I was in the grocery store. It was a miserable trip back home.

Re: Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

#289

Post by taeric » Fri, Oct 21, 2022, 2:17 AM UTC

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #188

taeric wrote: post #125

Without comparing to other high density cities for basic theft, I don't really find this that useful. :( To wit, in Seattle we had our car broken into once. We also had a habit of forgetting the car keys /on top of the car/, such that we would have said we live in a very very safe place. Despite the time the car was broken into. When I lived in Atlanta, the general practice was not to lock your car, so that they woul…

> Without comparing to other high density cities for basic theft, I don't really find this that useful. :( Why not? High crime rates are bad in any city. It doesn't become okay if multiple big cities have high crime rates. It's weird to see how so many people are trying to normalize crime rates this high.

I mean, yeah? But if the majority of the problem is porch theft, you have a lot different of a reaction compared to if the majority of it is armed robbery. (Or, really, personal robbery period.)

My point is, as someone that doesn't live in San Fran, I don't know how this compares. Is it actually high? Or, is half actually low for comparable density locations.

Back when I was in a low population area, but lived in duplexes, I had my apartment broken into. And way more petty theft than now that I live where I do. Yet, I don't know that I would expect crime is higher there.

Re: Nearly Half of San Franciscans Have Been Victims of Theft, New Poll Says

#290

Post by galangalalgol » Fri, Oct 21, 2022, 2:17 AM UTC

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #162

baby wrote: post #24

Reading this headline I thought to myself, this can't be possible. But then I remembered I got two packages stolen in two different neighborhood of the city, and during NYE someone broke the door of the backyard to probably see what they could steal there.

> Reading this headline I thought to myself, this can't be possible. But then I remembered It's funny, this is exactly what happens when I talk to my SF friends about crime. They have an immediate defensive reaction to insist it's not that bad, but then they slowly start recalling various crime experiences they've had in the past year . It's as if the constant background level of crime has reset their expectations of…

My response was "only half?". Seriously, isn't this true everywhere? I've jad things stolen in small towns and in big cities that are "tough on crime" and have citizens that vote for that. Theft is just part of life right? If I've just lived in bad places, where would one suggest that most people don't experience theft?